Provide LOVE with end-of-life care

Mary Swift / stock.adobe.com

Veterinary professionals involved in end-of-life care handle the toughest, most emotional aspect of pet ownership. During her presentation at the Fetch dvm360® Conference in San Diego, California, Mary Gardner, DVM, co-founder and chief information officer of Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice & In-home Euthanasia in Jupiter, Florida, shared simple advice for these fellow veterinary staff to follow: LOVE rules.¹

• L - Little things
• O - It’s all about the owner
• V - Voice (ig, words, tone, silence)
• E - Exceed their expectations

Throughout her lecture, LOVE was evident. Gardner displayed slides with pictures of pets truly loved and cared for at their most critical stage, and social media and in-person comments from veterinary professionals who also handle this difficult task.

Gardner had a road map slide detailing the pathway of the euthanasia experience, and how everything done is from a respectful, caring perspective. She gave advice for every stage, from handling the pet owner’s initial phone call to the office, proper etiquette to prepare for a pet and owner’s arrival, having the appropriate environment in the designated room and to ensure the bill payment receipt never be itemized or list charges. Allowing the owner and the pet ample time to say goodbye, verbal priming to speak compassionately to a pet owner, and so much more were solid tips for conference members to employ back in their offices.

Gardner, who for a decade was a business analyst and software designer, is a “second-career veterinarian.” She got interested in this type of work soon after Snow White, a Simoya mix dog she had since she was a teenager, died at age 13. Snow White was being watched while Gardner was away on a work trip. The dog got in a fight with the pet sitter’s Rottweiler and suffered from 72 bite wounds and a broken jaw. Gardner tried everything to save Snow White, but the latter succumbed to an infection.

“The loss of her just changed my life,” Gardner said. “I went through some grief, and I thought what an amazing and horrible experience I had at that vet clinic. I decided I wanted to go back to school and become a veterinarian. So, her passing is why I became a vet. I graduated when I was 35. I did a year of general practice, but I knew it wasn’t the impact I wanted to make.”

When she reconnected with a veterinary school alumna who did end-of-life pet care and asked Gardner to create software to help her manage drug logs, appointments and more, a light bulb went on.

“I became a veterinarian because of the death of my dog. If I can make it better, then I can come full circle, and I get to build software.”

She co-created Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice and In-Home Euthanasia, a business venture in which she uses her software and that has grown to 127 locations in 35 states, 200 veterinarians, and 150 call center agents. Gardner has also written 2 books about geriatric dogs and cats.

Speaking to veterinary professionals at conferences about the end-of-life process empowers Gardner to inform others on how impactful the topic is. “I love my rooms because they are into what I am doing, and they want to do [end-of-life care] better, too.”

Reference

Gardner M. Creating a good end-of-life experience.Presented at: Fetch dvm360® Conference; San Diego, California. December 2-4, 2022.