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The Healing Power of Love: Animal Hospice and Palliative Care

Updated: Oct 1

Telos Companion Animal Services: Leading the Way

 


As pet parents, we all must face the day when we will have to accompany our beloved dogs and cats on their end-of-life journey to the rainbow bridge.  We can never really be prepared for the emotional heartbreak we will endure from the loss of our companion animals, but we are not alone in the journey.  With compassion and empathy, a Certified Animal Hospice Practitioner can provide support and guidance throughout a terminal illness, guide you through the tough decisions that may lie ahead, provide suggestions for making your animal comfortable, and be there to offer support during the inevitable process of dying. 

 

Courtesy Lorrie Shaw

One of the leaders in the field of Animal Hospice and Palliative Care is Lorrie Shaw of Telos Companion Animal Services, LLC located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Lorrie has blazed a trail in the field not only in pet care, comfort care, and end-of-life care for companion animals and support for their caregivers, but in the education of professionals in the field and the development of guidelines, resources and protocols for animal hospice and palliative care.  With her vast experience, knowledge and skills, and her dedication and commitment to palliative and hospice care for animals, she has raised the bar on animal care, caregiver support, and the journey of animals to the rainbow bridge.

 

Awareness of hospice and palliative care most often comes from the human hospice world after an experience with a loved one or family member under hospice care.  But many companion animal caregivers are unfamiliar with animal hospice and palliative care, so amplification of the field is an important part of informing and empowering animal caregivers who are facing a pet’s terminal illness or age-related decline.  For Lorrie Shaw, this means providing comfort care for companion animals and support for their caregivers, as well as providing education for caregivers and those in the animal services and veterinarian fields through her coaching and an online learning hub. 


Lorrie moved toward hospice care after developing empathetic distress while providing professional pet sitting services to her Michigan community and caring for animals in advanced stages of life and poor health. Empathetic distress results from taking on and experiencing the pain and suffering of those you are supporting.  She realized that she was “falling short in understanding what was happening and how to provide the best care” for her animal clients.  She knew she needed to get educated and enhance her skills or “get out of the industry” for her own mental health. There was no one to teach her, so she researched and studied, committed to educating herself and becoming the best at what she does while maintaining self-care.  Now she shares that knowledge with others by teaching about hospice and empathetic distress among other related topics. 

 

Courtesy Lorrie Shaw

Lorrie stands by the definition of hospice as “a philosophy or program of care that addresses the emotional, social and physical needs of pets who are in advanced stages of progressive, life-limiting diagnosis, disability or age-related decline without a curative direction, but instead with comfort care.”  It is comfort care with medical care supervised by a veterinarian. Her goal is to serve caregivers and their animal companions in ways that make sense to those families and provide the support and guidance they need. She approaches it with love, compassion and empathy. Lorrie specializes in senior animals often with life-limiting or complicated medical issues.  With her vast and honed specialized skills she provides overnight pet sitting and care along with palliative and hospice care and accompanies families on the end-of-life journey of their animal companions often going above and beyond to provide exceptional support and guidance.  Her concierge level services often include 24/7 crisis telephone support in addition to both virtual and in-person appointments.


Courtesy Lorrie Shaw

Along with her dedication and commitment to animal care and hospice care, a key feature of her services is the educational component for veterinarians, vet clinic staff, animal practitioners, and companion animal caregivers through her online learning hub. When Lorrie first started in the field with her pet sitting business, she began to see an underserved community of animal caregivers who needed guidance and support.  Her dedication and commitment to being the best and doing the best in service to her clients fueled her desire to expand her knowledge and skills becoming a Certified Animal Hospice Practitioner, Fear Free Certified Professional, Certified Professional Pet Sitter, Dog Bite Safety Educator and Certified Pet Loss and Grief Companion. But she didn’t’ stop there. She saw a need for improvement and advancement for other practitioners, veterinarians and pet families leading to the development of her online learning hub that offers a wide range of training from how to navigate a conversation with your veterinarian (for families and caregivers) to understanding empathy and avoiding empathetic distress (for veterinarians and staff).

 

Through Telos Companion Animal Services, LLC, Lorrie provides an invaluable service to her community of companion animals and their caregivers, often at the most difficult time of their lives.  I can say from my own personal experience, that without her kind, compassionate and empathetic support I would not have been able to get through a traumatic experience with my own dog, for which I am eternally grateful to her.  Lorrie understands the nuances of communication and interacting with families, approaches each situation with kindness, compassion and empathy, and has the exceptional skills and knowledge to offer the highest quality in care and support that is unmatched in the field. 

 

For more information about Lorrie Shaw and her services, visit Telos Companion Animal Services, LLC.

 

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