Pet End-of-Life Care
Albury Animal Hospital provides compassionate end-of-life care for dogs and cats throughout Lavington, Albury, Wodonga, and surrounding communities. Whether you’re seeking guidance about your pet’s quality of life, palliative care, or euthanasia, our experienced team is here to support you with empathy, respect, and personalised care during this difficult time.
Supporting You Through Every Stage
Quality-of-Life Assessments
We help families evaluate their pet’s comfort, mobility, daily activities, and overall wellbeing to support informed decision-making.
Compassionate Euthanasia
When the time is right, we provide peaceful, respectful euthanasia in a calm and supportive environment, always prioritising your pet’s comfort and dignity.
In-Home Options
Where available, we also offer in-home euthanasia, allowing pets to remain in the comfort and familiarity of their own home during their final moments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are answers to some common questions about end-of-life care at Albury Animal Hospital. We understand every family’s situation is unique, and our team is always available to discuss your pet’s individual needs.
How do I know when it's time to consider end-of-life care?
Do you provide euthanasia at the hospital?
Is in-home euthanasia available?
Can my family be present?
Absolutely. We encourage family members to spend as much time with their pet as they need before, during, and after the appointment, according to their individual wishes.
What happens after my pet passes away?
Compassionate Guidance When You Need It Most
Every pet and every family is different. Our role is to provide compassionate guidance, honest communication, and personalised support throughout the end-of-life journey, helping you make decisions with confidence and ensuring your pet remains as comfortable as possible.
Personalised Care
We tailor every end-of-life consultation to your pet’s medical needs, quality of life, and your family’s wishes.
Comfort & Dignity
Our focus is always on maintaining your pet’s comfort while providing a peaceful and respectful experience.
Ongoing Support
From your first conversation through aftercare planning, our team is here to answer questions and support your family every step of the way.
EUTHANASIA
Euthanasia is something unique but common in veterinary medicine. Our vets are trained to weigh up medical or surgical recommendations and make decisions for your pet with you, ensuring you make informed choices that will guide you to give your pet the longest and healthiest life possible. For a range of reasons, euthanasia may be recommended, generally when there is compromise to an animal’s quality of life, but for other reasons as well. It is an incredibly personal conversation, and our vets will do their best to understand what is important to you when making this decision.
When the decision is made to euthanise a pet, our role is to do this with you, in the most compassionate and caring way possible. It is important to us to do this right and make the experience as gentle and caring as possible. For us to be able to do this, we ask you to confide in us what euthanasia of your pet might look like for you and your family, there is no right or wrong answers. We will guide you through the process step by step.
We book a longer consultation time to ensure you don’t feel rushed when saying goodbye to a love one. We are able to accommodate at-home euthanasia, where a vet and a nurse will attend your home, or we accommodate you within our hospital. If you would like to book an at-home euthanasia, please speak with our reception team, and they can let you know all the details.
The process of euthanasia is very peaceful, we administer a strong, painless IV injection of a fast-acting anaesthesia drug. We will set this up for you so you can be with your pet, and even have them sit with you or on your lap during the process.
Aftercare:
Once a pet has been euthanised, we follow your wishes for aftercare. You may choose to take your pet home to bury them, or you may choose group or private cremation. We utilise the services of Eden Hills, who are a beautifully compassionate company. They have a fully traceable cremation service. Private cremation allows you to choose keepsakes and urns that are most meaningful and precious to you and your pet’s memories. Please visit their website for further details https://edenhills.com.au.
Please phone the hospital and speak to a team member about any euthanasia questions. We are here to support you. We know that this is an incredibly difficult and emotional time, we organise everything for you. Trust us to look after your pet.
Pet Grief support is also available via https://edenhills.com.au/resources/
Why Families Trust Us During Difficult Times
Compassionate support centred on your pet and family.
Experienced Guidance
Our veterinarians provide honest advice and compassionate recommendations based on your pet’s individual quality of life.
Respectful Care
Every appointment is conducted with empathy, dignity, and respect for both pets and the people who love them.
