
How Do You Measure Quality of Life in a Sick Pet?
When your pet is diagnosed with a life threatening (or potentially fatal) disease, your first instinctive response may be “how long does she have?” What you’re really asking, though, isn’t a question of actual time. If the answer you receive is that your dog or cat could live another year, but it will be filled with pain, discomfort and little in the way of quality of life, how likely are you to want her to go through that?
What pet owners really want to know is the answer to a tougher question: what are we looking at in terms of quality of life? This is never more important than in the realm of heart disease. Now, scientists at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University have developed surveys that can evaluate the quality of life for both cats and dogs diagnosed with heart disease. FETCH for dogs (Functional Evaluation of Cardiac Health) and CATCH (Cats’ Assessment Tool for Cardiac Health) will help pet owners and veterinarians in making crucial decisions for further treatment.
From phys.org:
Researchers found that the FETCH and CATCH scores correlated well to the International Small Animal Cardiac Health Council (ISACHC) classification for disease severity. Results of the CATCH evaluation were published in the May 15 edition of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, building on the earlier publication of the FETCH study.
“Studies have indicated that pet owners value quality of life much more than longevity in their animals,” said Professor of Clinical Sciences Lisa M. Freeman, board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition . “We want our dogs and cats to have happy lives, and we believe this tool is a helpful in evaluating whether our pets still do.”
In some ways, this will create a measure for medical assessment and care of our pets that doesn’t yet exist for people!
Photo credit: from flickr by davco900
Tags: cat, dog, healthcare, Index, petcare
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Good to know because its important to do what’s best for them and not what suits us. The time we have together is never long enough!
Thinking of my little girl becoming ill makes me ill 🙁 but these are good things to know. Thanks for the info!
Thanks so much, David – nice to know that we have a better measure of this vitally important metric than we do for people. End-of-life decisions fro pets can be fraught with just as much emotion as for people. It’s never going to be easy, but perhaps with these new means of assessing quality of life, it just got a bit less hard.
Our latest blog post How Do You Measure Quality of Life in a Sick Pet? http://t.co/xdBgt7Eb
Thanks David. Quality of life issues are always hard to evaluate, and ultimately owners want to make the “right” decision by returning the unconditional affection that our pets share with us.
How Do You Measure Quality of Life in a Sick Pet? http://t.co/wWgLrSDN via @sergeantspet – IT IS ALL ABOUT THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE,
Thurs Aug 2 ’12 I have been there !!! NOt an ezy decision … REMEMBER IT IS!! ABOUT “THEIR” LIFE, NOT HOW MUCH U CARE!!!! Staying purple for animal abuse awareness !!!!!!!!!!!! Vancouver Canada
It’s ALL about their quality of life. As responsible and loving pet owners we have to think of their comfort at all times. Diet, exercise, mental stimulation, grooming, love =) naps together etc.
I agree that the Quality of life is much more important then the length of time. My babies mean the world to me if the could live but ultimately suffer would it really be worth it..
Our Golden Retriever is 14 1/2 years old. He isn’t interested in catching or fetching (literal, not the test). He has arthritis in his back legs, and has developed a “cough.” Quality of life?? The expression on his face when he goes to swim therapy and has the freedom to move like a puppy in the water, how much he enjoys socializing with other dogs at therapy, to see how much he delights in being massaged, how much he loves it when the grandchildren snuggle up to him for a hug & kiss, how much he enjoys taking car rides, among other things. Other people might think this dog ought to be put out of his “misery.” WE know he enjoys life and shows no sign of being ready to give up. I trust him to let me know when he’s ready. Until then, this dog is LIVING. Helping a geriatric dog through their “golden” (pardon the pun) years is not easy. It requires dedication and a ton of patience, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s the pact I agreed to when this Golden angel came into our family.
Our 11 year old Rottweiller has several health issues but I can tell he is not ready to leave us yet. I get my keys and he is ready for a ride, however he also knows that I will be there for him when that time comes and he will never have to suffer for me. Loving an animal means knowing when to let them go in diginty and he will.
If my dog was going to die from a potentially fatal disease, I wouldn’t let her go through that. I would talk to a vet about rather or not I should put her to sleep.
everyone thinks they know what would do if it was their pet, well let me tell you My 5 year old 185 pound mastiff got a bump on her leg which looked like a bee sting so I took her to the Vet and it was Bone Cancer just that fast!! I lost her in less than 3 months.Talk about a fatal disease !! I worked very close with my Vet But I did not let my dog suffer, I loved her too much.
It is always that dreadful time – when you must make a decision. Having a good Vet you can really talk openly to helps, but in the end it is your decision. One of our dogs was 14 and a half and in kidney tailure. One morning he walked to the car door which he never did before. He was losing eye sight but could still see a littlle . I think he knew it was time for him to go to the Bridge. Unfortunately, our furry friends just dont live long enough, even with the best of love and Vet care. But it is all part of pet ownership. We sign up for it every time we adopt or acquire a pet.
Wed Aug 8 ’12 Making that!!!! decison is NEVER EZ!!! Had 2 make it ONCE!! UGH!!!! wans’t heart related though….
Look at all these comments! It looks like this might be a hot topic. Thanks for bringing up this important topic, David. ~Nichole