Pain management for veterinary palliative care and hospice patients.

When negotiating the challenges of end-of-life care for animal patients with clients, veterinary health care providers must continually engage in ongoing evaluation of the pet's quality of life, as well as assessing the client's quality of life to ensure that the best decisions possible are made. By combining regular physical evaluations, including careful palpation to unmask pain, with open and honest dialog with the client about the pet's day-to-day reality, the partnership of pet owner and veterinary health care team can accept the challenge of anticipating, preventing, finding, and relieving pain in the veterinary palliative care and hospice patient.