Veterinary palliative care and hospice services for companion animals are growing, offering welfare-positive alternatives to early euthanasia or inadequate end-of-life pain management for animals with terminal diagnoses.
End-of-life welfare for companion animals involves the intersection of pain management science, owner decision-making, and the definition of acceptable quality of life. Palliative care creates a middle path between aggressive curative treatment that causes suffering without benefit and euthanasia before quality of life has genuinely declined. For owners, palliative care provides time with a beloved companion alongside the reassurance that suffering is being actively managed. For animals, appropriate palliative care allows months of positive experience despite terminal illness. The growth of veterinary palliative care as a specialty reflects increasing recognition that the end of life deserves the same welfare attention as any other phase.