Euthanasia: not an every day experience

The aim of this article is to look at ways the veterinary team can improve on handling euthanasia cases, ensuring that clients do not feel like ‘just another number’ to the veterinary team. Small gestures such as paw prints, fur clippings, sympathy cards and follow up phone calls can go a long way in improving the client experience during this very difficult time. However the real key is how veterinary professionals act and behave, before, during and after the experience. This behaviour is what the client will remember and the aim is to guide them through the stages of grief (Figure 1), being able to finally reach acceptance as smoothly as possible (Watkins, 2014). Myers (2015) stated that: ‘A team that demonstrates compassion and kindness will help clients turn sad goodbyes into loving memories’.

The initial phone call is key to whether a euthanasia is going to run smoothly or not. Get this part wrong and you could end up with a very stressed client and veterinary team; and a rushed non-compassionate euthanasia. Tait (2003) stated that two of the most important veterinary visits are the first visit, where an initial impression of the veterinary team will be made; and the final visit which will be remembered for a long time afterwards. This phone call will likely not be like the usual call to book in a booster. From experience the author has found that clients will often not go straight to the reason for the phone call; they will often talk about costs, or not mention the reason at all and just want to book a check up appointment. This is when the veterinary team should first show how compassionate they can be using appropriate communication skills such as active listening and showing the client that they care about their animal by using personal anecdotes. For example, the author always likes to use the pet's name straight away and ask how they are getting on after a previous consultation, which can often lead into the real reason for the phone call. This subtle way to lead into the discussion can show clients that you know about their case and it does not automatically jump to the euthanasia conversation which can be upsetting for the client.