Discover our latest blog posts, where we share heartfelt stories, expert advice, and practical tips to guide you through the emotional and challenging aspects of pet care, loss, and remembrance. Each post is crafted to support you and your beloved pet with compassion and understanding.
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! Why is euthanasia the automatic response to a terminal pet diagnosis – even when it isn’t truly serving the pet, the pet parent, or the veterinarian? Euthanasia has become the default response to a terminal pet diagnosis, even when it isn’t truly serving the pet, the pet…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! What is a certified animal hospice practitioner and why have most pet parents never heard of one? A certified animal hospice practitioner is not a veterinarian – and that’s exactly what makes them so valuable. They are trained companions for the caregiving journey: the person you can…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! Is your pet facing a life-changing diagnosis? Preparing for a pet’s death doesn’t mean giving up – it means showing up. In this episode, Karen Wylie and Gail Pope walk pet parents through the physical, emotional, spiritual, and practical dimensions of end-of-life preparation, so that when the…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! When a pet receives a life-changing diagnosis, fear and overwhelm set in fast. You just left the vet’s office with news that changed everything. Your mind is racing, your heart is breaking, and you’re not sure what to do next. This episode is for you. Karen Wylie…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! When a pet stops eating the way they used to, it’s one of the most alarming and heartbreaking experiences a caregiver faces. One of the first signs that something is changing with an aging or ill pet often shows up at the food bowl. Maybe they’re eating…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! When your pet’s vet says the words you’ve been dreading, everything changes – sometimes before you’ve even left the parking lot. The fear rises fast. The questions multiply. And the language used in that exam room – life-threatening, life-limiting, terminal – can plant a seed of dread…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! What does it really mean to care for a seriously ill pet when nothing feels certain? Living with uncertainty is something most of us were never taught to do – and when a beloved pet receives a serious or life-changing diagnosis, that uncertainty can become emotionally overwhelming…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! If something happened to you tomorrow, what plan do you have in place for your pet – and does anyone else know how to follow it? Most of us have a vague plan. Maybe a family member once said, “Don’t worry, I’ll take them if anything ever…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! If you’ve ever searched for hospice care for your pet and walked away feeling like something wasn’t quite right – like the clinic was saying the word, but not meaning what you thought it meant – you were picking up on something real. This episode grew directly…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! The animals left behind grieve too. When a beloved pet dies, we tend to focus on our own grief – but the animals who remain are mourning too, each in their own quiet, sometimes surprising way. In this heartfelt conversation, Karen Wylie and Gail Pope explore what…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! When a pet dies, most of us are handed silence. There are no formal rituals handed down to us. No community gathering to share stories. No bereavement leave from work. And yet the grief is completely real – sometimes the deepest grief we have ever known. This…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! What if your pet had a DNR? Most of us have heard of a DNR – a Do Not Resuscitate order – in the context of human medicine. It’s a deeply personal document, a loving act of planning that says: when my time comes, let me go…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! If you’ve lost a pet and can’t stop replaying every decision you made, this episode is for you. If you’ve ever lain awake at 3 in the morning replaying every decision you made for a pet who is gone, you know the weight. Not just grief –…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! Have you ever said the words, “I want my pet to die peacefully at home” – and then immediately wondered if that was even possible? You are not alone. And you are not naive. In Episode 058, Karen Wylie, EdD and Gail Pope have an honest, compassionate…
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents! If you’ve been living with grief long before your pet has died – you’re not doing anything wrong. That grief is real, it has a name, and it deserves the same care and attention as the loss that comes after. This is Part 2 of a four-part…