• Hero Banner
  • ACVCACVC
  • DVM 360
  • Fetch DVM 360Fetch DVM 360
DVM 360
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
By Role
AssociatesOwnersPractice ManagerStudentsTechnicians
Subscriptions
dvm360 Newsletterdvm360 Magazine
News
All News
Association
Breaking News
Education
Equine
FDA
Law & Ethics
Market Trends
Medical
Products
Recalls
Regulatory
Digital Media
dvm360 LIVE!™
Expert Interviews
The Vet Blast Podcast
Medical World News
Pet Connections
The Dilemma Live
Vet Perspectives™
Weekly Newscast
dvm360 Insights™
Publications
All Publications
dvm360
Firstline
Supplements
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vetted
Clinical
All Clinical
Anesthesia
Animal Welfare
Behavior
Cardiology
CBD in Pets
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes
Emergency & Critical Care
Endocrinology
Equine Medicine
Exotic Animal Medicine
Feline Medicine
Gastroenterology
Imaging
Infectious Diseases
Integrative Medicine
Nutrition
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Parasitology
Pharmacy
Surgery
Toxicology
Urology & Nephrology
Virtual Care
Business
All Business
Business & Personal Finance
Buying or Selling a Practice
Hospital Design
Leadership & Personal Growth
Personnel Management
Practice Finances
Practice Operations
Technology
Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Continuing Education
Conferences
Live Conferences
Conference News
Conference Proceedings
Resources
CBD in Pets
Contests
Veterinary Heroes
Partners
Spotlight Series
Team Meeting in a Box
Toolkit
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vet to Vet
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Advertisement
By Role
  • Associates
  • Owners
  • Practice Manager
  • Students
  • Technicians
Subscriptions
  • dvm360 Newsletter
  • dvm360 Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Choosing Quality Over Quantity

October 30, 2017
Mike Hennessy Sr.
American Veterinarian, October 2017, Volume 2, Issue 3

Euthanasia is the necessary but unfortunate, unavoidable, and unintended consequence to end patient suffering in a manner that minimizes pain, anxiety, and distress.

“To everything there is a season... A time to be born, and a time to die...”

This passage, from the Book of Ecclesiastes (3:1-8), is one of the most quoted from the Bible and speaks volumes in veterinary medicine today. The death of our beloved pets is an unavoidable and brutal fact of life.

Our feature article in this issue—the first of a 2-part series on feline euthanasia—acknowledges that euthanasia is an ever-present moral and ethical dilemma facing veterinarians and support staff in private practice, an emotional upheaval for the pet owner, and a significant source of moral stress and compassion fatigue for everyone involved. Conflicting demands confront the owner, veterinarian, and professional health care team at the end of a cat’s life.

One of the causes of moral stress for the health care team is when a client requests continued care for his or her pet when the veterinarian knows that care will prolong the animal’s suffering. Pets are on solid footing as family members and not simply property, and these requests have, unfortunately, become relatively common in veterinary medicine.

As Dr. William Ray Folger and colleagues so eloquently define it, euthanasia is the necessary but unfortunate, unavoidable, and unintended consequence to end patient suffering in a manner that minimizes pain, anxiety, and distress.

Veterinarians are required to make their patients their first priority. Although modern veterinary medicine can work miracles, veterinarians sometimes need to be reminded that death is inevitable and that when pets are suffering, or soon will be, it is incumbent on them to focus on quality rather than quantity of life to best serve their patients.

Advertisement

Therefore, the authors note, when an animal is suffering and comfort and function cannot be restored, the veterinarian is obliged to open a discussion with that pet owner about quality of life. And, they say, a number of tools are available to help clients come to see the truth about their pet’s quality of life.

Next month, Dr. Folger and his team will round out the series with a discussion of humane euthanasia, including both in-clinic and at-home techniques and considerations.

Mike Hennessy, Sr

Chairman and CEO

download issueDownload Issue: October 2017

Related Content:

October 2017
website logo
Diagnosing and Treating Cancer
website logo
IVECCS 2017: Disclosing Medical Errors
website logo
To Clone or Not to Clone

Advertisement

Latest News

Pride, representation, and inclusion in vet med

Partnership to promote diversity in veterinary medicine and more

Morris Animal Foundation accepting canine cancer research proposals

AI-enhanced MyLabX90VET ultrasound system unveiled

View More Latest News
Advertisement