Northern Colorado’s Western Skies offers services to say goodbye to beloved pets in the gentlest way
Dr. Lisa Burnett believes in-home end of life service is where both the pet and family are most comfortable because it’s private and the animal has its own bed, blanket, toys and smells. She can perform the service inside your home or outside in a favorite spot. Photo courtesy of Western Skies Vet.
By Emily Kemme
Dr. Lisa Burnett believes pets instinctively understand when it’s time for them, or another animal in the house, to die.
“Animals pick up on our emotions and those of other pets in the house. The energy in a house changes, possibly because human family members are spending more time with a sicker pet,” she said.
Animals might nurture a sick friend or they might avoid another animal to give them their space. And when we make the difficult decision to let them go, our body language changes, and they get that, too, she said.
Burnett has practiced veterinary funeral medicine for over four years in a Wyoming clinic and transitioned to practicing only end-of-life care in October 2019 when she started her company, Western Skies. She has completed thousands of euthanasias on animals as large as horses and as small as guinea pigs. She averages about 15 euthanasias a week.
Along the way, she’s noticed intrinsic details about the human-animal bond — like the way a pet will sometimes wait for a human family member to return home for the holidays before they die.
“I feel sometimes they’re waiting for you to say, ‘it’s okay to go, I’m going to be okay without you, you don’t need to stick around for me,’” she said.
She doesn’t know if that’s humans anthropomorphizing their pets — attributing human actions to animals — but thinks communicating by talking to the animal, or even in our actions, can ease the animal’s acceptance of their own death.
A pain-free method for end of life
Western Skies offers in-home end of life service, because Burnett thinks that’s where both the pet and family are most comfortable.
“It’s private, the animal has its own bed, blankets, toys and smells. Veterinary clinics can be scary and loud with different smells,” she said.
It also may be difficult to transport a sick animal.
After she arrives at the home, she visits with the family to make sure everyone is comfortable and has input with the decision.
Dr. Lisa Burnett believes in-home end of life service is where both the pet and family are most comfortable because it’s private and the animal has its own bed, blanket, toys and smells. She can perform the service inside your home or outside in a favorite spot. Photo courtesy of Western Skies Vet.
Burnett gives the animal heavy sedation so it can gently fall asleep in its own bed or in your arms, surrounded by toys, other pets and loved ones. She can also do the procedure outside if your pet has a favorite spot. If your pet is interested in food, it can eat. When the pet is completely asleep, she gives a painless injection of pentobarbital sodium.
“The way I do the procedure is painless because your pet is already under anesthesia. A clinic setting might give the medication in an IV while the pet is fully awake,” she explained. “They won’t have awareness because the medication disconnects the brain from the body, but the surroundings are clinical.”
At-home euthanasia allows a chance for private grieving time with your pet. Burnett makes paw prints and can transport the body to the crematorium.
“You want this to be gentle, peaceful and pain-free. This way, the family members can focus on their pets, and afterwards focus on each other.”
How to know when it’s time to say goodbye
Burnett admits that making the final decision is a tough one that is unique to each situation. She recommends using a good day/bad day calendar resource on Western Skies’ website to track what your pet’s day was like, then make a decision based on how many bad days in a row your pet is experiencing.
Components are both physical and psychological and include whether an animal is eating and drinking normally, can relieve himself without assistance and whether he can move around on his own.
Burnett cautions that even if an animal is still eating that doesn’t necessarily mean he has a good quality of life.
“Some pets, like labs, will eat through anything even though their bodies are shutting down and they’re in pain. Lack of appetite is only one indicator,” she said.
Pain is difficult to assess because a lot of animals won’t show it. Western Skies provides a Colorado State University veterinary pain scale for dogs and cats — each species reacts differently to pain — to help determine your pet’s pain score.
After at-home euthanasia, Dr. Lisa Burnett transports your pet’s body to the crematorium, if you choose to do so. The private service offers a quiet opportunity to grieve your pet. Photo courtesy of Western Skies Vet.
To reach a decision, it’s also helpful to consider what they still enjoy: does your buddy meet you at the door when you come home from work? Is he withdrawn or interested in activities around him? Quality of life is relative: does he still incessantly bark at squirrels even if he can no longer chase them?
Burnett said it’s also important to consider your quality of life. Take into account the amount of extra time you have to care for a sick or elderly animal, including other life stresses and obligations. The stress of a sick animal affects your entire family, human and animal alike.
She points out that an owner can become resentful of their pet if it’s having accidents in the house.
“That can affect the bond in the end when all you’re doing is snapping at a pet or cleaning up after it. You don’t want to be mad at your pet for things they can’t control,” she said.
After euthanasia, Western Skies stays in touch and offers grief counselors to help the process, including anticipatory grief before an animal dies. Burnett also works with families to confirm that yes, it’s the right decision.
The wish for a natural death
While most pet owners hope their pet will die peacefully in their sleep, Burnett said that’s uncommon. Moreover, she cautions that a natural death without pain medication isn’t beautiful. An animal can panic or have seizures.
There is an arm of the veterinary business where pets are kept comfortable on hospice care, but it needs to be vet-supervised. Burnett said it requires a lot of care, medication and oversight.
She’s grateful when people call her to give pets a beautiful ending.
“We need to get rid of the shame that’s around death. We don’t talk about it enough. Euthanasia means “good death.” We want that for our pets.”
To contact Western Skies Vet
Call or text: 970-388-1995
Email: drburnett@westernskiesvet.com
Service area: Serving families in Northern Colorado, including Greeley, Fort Collins, Windsor, Severance, Wellington, Bellvue, Livermore and Loveland. Also serving Cheyenne, Wyoming.