Palliative and hospice care for companion animals is a growing field that prioritises quality of life in the final weeks and months of a pet's life. It represents a major advance in companion animal welfare.
Palliative and hospice care represents a philosophical shift in veterinary end-of-life medicine: from cure-focused treatment to comfort-focused support. The welfare benefit is significant - animals receiving good palliative care spend their final days pain-managed, in familiar environments, with people they love, rather than in hospital settings receiving treatments that extend life without improving its quality. Advances in veterinary pain management, including fentanyl patches, maropitant for nausea, and gabapentin for neuropathic pain, have greatly expanded the toolkit available for companion animal palliation.