There was an informative newsletter issue of The Latham Letter (http://www.icraeastbay.org/LL_08_FA.pdf) devoted to veterinary hospice care.  It is Volume XXIX, Number 4, Fall, 2008.

A very good book on the subject is Kindred Spirit, Kindred Care: Making Health Decisions on Behalf of Our Animal Companions by Shannon Fujimoto Nakaya, DVM.  My clients and a few veterinarians in my area love it.  Here's a link:  http://www.kindredspiritkindredcare.com/book.html.

CD proceedings of both the 1st and 2nd International Symposiums on Veterinary Hospice Care held at UC Davis can be purchased from the Nikki Hospice Foundation for Pets, website:  www.pethospice.org.

I also understand that the 3rd International Symposium on Veterinary Hospice Care is slated for August, 2011.  More to be revealed I'm sure.....

Lastly, but oh so not leastly, is our own AVFP Credential Module I which contains a section on "End of Life Issues" (which I hope we will expand significantly at some point).  It seems to me that if we give this aspect the attention it deserves, we will be helping our clients and their pets move much more seamlessly through their living and into dying.  Too often it is currently a very bumpy ride.

I want to point out that there are numerous and varying conceptions of Hospice care--what it means and what it entails.  While Hospice philosophy has been around for a very long time, its fullness is still in its infancy in becoming known and embraced.

I think it would serve us well to explore some of what people (and we) understand as Hospice care, to look for the 'more' of it, and to make some discernments as to AFVP's understanding of the practice prior to charging numerous individuals with the task of speaking on the topic on AVFP's behalf.

If we could somehow enlighten ourselves as to the enormity of Hospice's potential and impact on each and every client and animal in their own ways, and offer this to all, we would be doing very well indeed.