Companion Animal Doula

Compassionate non-medical support

for pet owners and their pets.

Compassionate non-medical support

for pet owners and their pets.

Tenets of Companion Animal Doula Care

Accept that death and dying are a normal part of life.
Companion rather than treat.
Understand common end-of-life trajectories in companion animals and helpful interventions to ease physical and emotional suffering.
Provide non-medical, nonjudgmental emotional/spiritual support.
Promote informed consent for each client.
Help gather relevant information and connect clients to beneficial resources.
Work in harmony with a client and companion animal’s chosen care team.
Support clients in developing end-of-life wishes and after-death care, including memorializing the enduring bond between clients and their pets.
Trust in the inherent wisdom of each person to decide and discover his or her own best path.
Empower and encourage a client’s friends and family members to operate within their comfort zones; fill-in support gaps as they arise.
Nurture a compassionate, calm presence and environment during euthanasia or natural pet death, if requested.
Recognize and support anticipatory grief, mourning, and bereavement, and identify and address complicated pet loss.

Adapted from: Arnoldy, Francesca. Cultivating the Doula Heart: Essentials of Compassionate Care. Contemplative Doula, 2018.