Using our Quality of Life Assessment to help guide pet euthanasia decisions.

When you watch your pet decline and suffer through life, a little piece of you dies, because you know the end is near. You also might know that the best thing for them is euthanasia, so their death is peaceful and they won’t struggle through pain or illness for those final weeks of life.

At Goodbye Good Boy, we know how difficult this decision can be to make, and with so much varying information out in the world, it can be hard to find out the right advice, before discussing it with your veterinarian. 

That’s why we created our free tool, a Quality of Life Assessment, to help guide you through this important yet tough decision, and help you plan out the next steps of your pet’s life.

What is the Quality of Life Assessment?

The Quality of Life Assessment allows you to evaluate your pet’s health and wellbeing, looking at key factors that contribute to their ability to live comfortably and have a quality life.

Euthanasia translates to “a good death”. An important part of being a pet owner is knowing it is not worth prolonging your pet’s life when it will be filled with pain and suffering. Choosing euthanasia for your pet is a personal and difficult decision, which is where the Assessment can help you through those first steps.

Read: How pet owners define what is a good death for their furry friends.

What does the Quality of Life Assessment assess?

The Assessment looks at 6 key factors:

• Mobility: how mobile is your pet? Are they still able to move freely?
• Food intake: are they eating normally?
• Water intake: has anything changed with their drinking habits?
• Interactions: how do they interact with your family, or other pets?
• Bathroom habits: are these normal, or has anything changed?
• Interests: do they still enjoy their favourite things?

Based on your responses, the Quality of Life Assessment will give your pet a score, with some information about what you should do from here, whether that is to continue to monitor your pet’s health, or to seek help from Goodbye Good Boy or your local veterinarian. 

How do I use the Quality of Life Assessment?

When answering each question, think about your pet’s life as a whole from the last couple of months. Yes, they might have had good days where they ate all their food, but they might have also had days where their appetite has completely disappeared. Look out for weekly or  long term patterns, rather than day to day.

You can save the following image, print it out and use it as a way to track your pet’s activity for two weeks to get a clearer picture of their overall health.

What can I do next?

If you have found yourself completing the Assessment and full of more questions, we are here to help. You can book a complimentary call with someone from our team to chat and assess your pet’s health in more detail. 

You can head here to complete the Quality of Life Assessment and book in your complimentary call. Alternatively, you can give us a call on 1800 953 619.

About Goodbye Good Boy.

Don’t wait until the very end. It’s important to consider your pet’s end-of-life journey early, so that you, your family and your pet are all supported through the process.

When the time comes, we’re here for you. Goodbye Good Boy provides a range of end-of-life services to make the difficult process of saying goodbye a little easier. 

We offer quality of life assessments from qualified vets, specialist grief counselling, at home euthanasia from dedicated end of life veterinarians, as well as cremation services and memorial options to help remember your pet for their unique character.

We are with you at every step of the journey.

To find out more, you can call our team of passionate pet lovers on 1800 953 619.