The nonprofit hospital is combining its 37-year history of grief support with its medical expertise to open a hospice service to help pets and the people who love them find comfort through the animal’s final stages of life.

PORTLAND, Ore. –

DoveLewis Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Hospital has launched a Hospice Care service to honor the lifetime of love that animals and their families share. The expansion into hospice care is to provide families with expert, compassionate, personalized veterinary care and emotional support as their pets enter the final stages of life.  

DoveLewis currently runs the country’s longest-running grief support program for families mourning a pet. Hospice Care is a welcome addition, says Debrah Lee, LCSW, who manages DoveLewis’ Pet Loss Support Program.

“The moments leading up to the actual death of a pet are some of the most difficult experiences a family can face,” said Lee. “People can have such strong emotions on top of the need to make hard decisions. Hospice Care can help them through this journey.”

Hospice patients and their families will be guided by Dr. Stacy Montgomerie who’s certified by the International Association for Animal Hospice and Palliative Care, helping pets maintain a comfortable quality of life while supporting families through this emotional time. The service will be tailored to the patient’s condition and the family’s concerns with sessions that address the animal’s comfort and quality of life, medication adjustments, home environment modifications, pain management, considerations for euthanasia, and more.

“It’s our mission to care for pets and the people who love them,” said Lee. “Hospice does that. We are here as a resource to make the remainder of their pet’s life comfortable to give families as much precious time with their pets as possible. People won’t be alone, even if the loss of a pet can feel that way.” 

Pet owners can sign up for Hospice Care on dovelewis.org.