CARE FOR PETS AT TAIL END OF LIFE

Megan is helping animals to die with dignity

- BY DANNY DE VAAL

A VET who adopted a dog with health problems decided to launch Ireland's first pet palliative service after seeing the significant improvement he made with proper treatment.

Dr Megan Anderson went about setting up Rainbow Bridge Veterinary Services after she welcomed Pip into her life at the end of 2023.

The Westie, who passed away at the age of 17, had a myriad of health problems, including a tumour on his shoulder, dementia, diabetes, and arthritis.

Initially, she only expected him to live for a couple of weeks, but soon realised that with proper management of his ailments, “time had reversed”.

After seeing firsthand how much Pip improved, along with the knowledge that there was a “gap” and “limbo period” between an owner receiving a chronic or terminal diagnosis for their pet and their death, she decided to take the leap.

The first-of-its-kind initiative, which was launched earlier this year to help pets through their final stages of life, means euthanasia isn't the only option for aging and sick pets anymore.

She explained: “The first opinion vet has 20, 30, or 40 patients to see in a day, and they're doing their best.

“There's also a limit in terms of the amount of time that they can give you because they have lots of patients.

“Sometimes these pets just kind of disappear off their radar.

“They go home with some meds, and vets try to advise people on what could happen and what to look out for, and some of them they will see back regularly, and that's great, but some of them they don't see again.

“They don't come back for meds, and then two, three, four months later they see them back, and you know it's for euthanasia, or some of them you never see again.

“And you just wonder what happened there? Was it fear? Was it that they were afraid that if they came back, I was going to tell them they had no choice but to put them asleep?