Palliative and hospice care for companion animals with terminal illness focuses on quality of life through pain management, comfort and family support during the final phase of life.
Palliative and hospice care for companion animals is a welfare discipline that prioritises quality of remaining life when curative treatment is no longer appropriate. Pain is the primary welfare concern in terminal illness - uncontrolled pain causes suffering that can often be alleviated through appropriate pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical management. Quality of life assessment tools provide structured frameworks for decision-making about treatment continuation and euthanasia timing. The welfare goal is that animals experience their final weeks and days with minimal pain, in familiar environments, with family connection, and with timely euthanasia when that quality can no longer be maintained.