International Symposium on Veterinary Hospice Care

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The First International Symposium on Veterinary Hospice Care was held at UC Davis in March 2008. The following descriptions were part of the symposium announcement:

The Nikki Hospice Foundation for Pets (www.pethospice.org) and the Assisi International Animal Institute (www.assisianimals.org) are proud to sponsor the First International Symposium on Veterinary Hospice Care, held at the University of California, Davis, on March 28-30, 2008, at the School of Veterinary Medicine.

This event (the first of its kind) is highly recommended for veterinarians, holistic veterinarians, veterinary technicians and students, clinical practice managers, hospice professionals and volunteers, nursing personnel and medical staff, psychologists, grief counselors, social workers, bereavement facilitators, death educators, animal health care workers, shelter and SPCA staff, animal communicators, pet massage therapists, and the general public.

CEUs will be offered to LCSWs, MFTs, veterinarians and veterinary technicians. Please join world-renowned practitioners of veterinary hospice care, human hospice professionals, and other well-known experts as they come together to discuss a fascinating and emerging field that is quietly revolutionizing both human hospice care and veterinary medicine.

Symposium Overview

This symposium will explore veterinary hospice care, based on human hospice models, which addresses the needs of people who wish to care for their dying animals in the comfort of their own homes—under the guidance and assistance of veterinarians and a professional, qualified staff. By training caregivers to provide comforting palliation for their pets and by offering extensive support services as well as effective pain management, veterinary hospice gives dying an'mals and their people the opportunity to spend meaningful, quality time together before the pet's final journey. By compassionately closing the "circle of care," veterinary hospice care honors the human-animal bond, never losing sight of either the companion animal or its caregiver in the total equation—and ultimately serving both in the best possible manner.

Symposium Highlights:

• The relevance of human hospice to veterinary hospice care
• The mobile hospice veterinarian
• Pharmacological protocols in veterinary hospice care
• Setting up a veterinary hospice facility
• The value of holistic medicine in veterinary hospice care
• The role of pet nutrition in veterinary hospice care
• Working with grieving and dying companion animals

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