DECISION MAKING TOOLS
How to know when the time has come
Preparing for the loss of your companion is very important. It can help the process of grieving for you and your family and will make saying goodbye less stressful and painful. Pets are part of the family, and every family is unique, you and your pet deserve to choose how this meaningful moment will go. Here are tools to help plan, prepare and do before.
EUTHABAG
Buying your respectful pet body bag in advance and personalizing your EUTHABAG can be very soothing and can help the grieving process, especially for children.
Recognize when the time has come
Knowing when the time has come. Various tools and questionnaires have been developed by professionals to assess your pet’s quality of life and know when it’s time to say goodbye.
Questionnaire How do I know when it’s time? adapted by Ohio State University.
Quality of life scale: How to assess the quality of life of families.
Pet Quality of Life Calendar - By Dr. Mary Gardner, simple and easy to understand, 1 page.
When to euthanize a pet: a nice tool for families to assess when to choose the moment, by Andy Roark, DVM.
Pain Detection
Animals do not cry or complain, but their nonverbal language speaks. To help you understand this language and detect pain in your pet, there are tools and pain scales.
BEAP Pain Scale: well illustrated and developed by Dr. Shea Cox, collaborator of CAETA.
BEAP scale for dogs / BEAP scale for cats
Feline Grimace Scale: This great and simple tool was developed by a team from the University of Montreal in 2019. You will find a PDF version and there is also a mobile application available on the Feline grimace scale website!
Feline grimace scale (PDF)
Feline grimace scale (Free Application)
Disposal of the body after euthanasia
Deciding between cremation, aquamation, burial at home or burial in a pet cemetery? Your veterinarian will be able to explain what cremation and aquamation consist of and can guide you through the options. If you choose a home burial, check with your city to see what the laws are regarding burials at your residence. Our document Aid to burying a pet can help you. If you choose a burial in a pet cemetery, see our page Honoring your pet for more details.
Understand reasons why proper containment and burial regulations matter: see our blog on pentobarbital toxicity.
Prepare your children for the transition
It is essential to prepare children for pet grief to facilitate the transition.
Consult our document "Children and Pet Loss" for you to read on how to handle such a delicate matter. We included exercises specifically for children to do to help them as well.
Many books adapted for them are available on the subject.
Enlightening Texts
If It Should Be: A touching text to help owners feel less guilty when euthanizing their pet.
Stages of Grief, to understand the normal stages of grief.
The Heartbreak We Choose, by Megan Kendall in the Huffington Post. A magnificent testimony on the weight of the decision of a devoted dog owner. To read with a tissue at hand.
Talk about it with your family and your veterinarian, together you can choose the best options for you and your companion.
Before EUTHABAG, there were no functional alternatives to plastic bags which are usually used to dispose of our companions.
Pet owners care about how their pet’s body will be handled after they pass and as pet lovers and veterinary professionals,
we do too.
That’s why we created EUTHABAG, a respectful, practical, dignified, and ecological pet body bag.
Veterinarians & Pet Owners now have an appropriate option for the transportation, cremation, aquamation, and burial of deceased pets that is, most importantly, respectful for the animal.