For many years, the Companion Animal Euthanasia Training Academy (CAETA), has taught the intracardiac euthanasia technique in one particular manner for companion animals. I’ll call it “the common way,” which is to insert the needle into the heart from the lateral side of the chest wall, aiming perpendicular to reach a ventricle, atrium, or honestly, any “heart-ish” space that contains blood to tell us we are in the right location. Intracardiac injections are an alternative to intravenous injections when veins are difficult to find. The heart is like a large vessel with muscle around it, and it ..read more

Pain has no place during euthanasia. By popular demand these days, pet patients are being given sedation medications to relax them into deep sleep before the administration of euthanasia solution, to both relieve chronic or acute pain that may have led to the decision to euthanize, and to ensure that death itself is not painful.  What many veterinary professionals have found, however, is that the injection of these pre-euthanasia medications themselves can be pain-inducing and downright tricky to manage. For many years now, I’ve been fortunate to learn wonderful ways to reduce pain during ..read more

I’m buzzing with excitement after this year’s IAAHPC animal hospice conference. There were dynamic topics related to palliative medicine, hospice care, business, and of course, pet euthanasia.  During one of my talks on the latest in euthanasia research, I found myself looking into the crowd wondering how the energized faces looking back at me were going to teach their coworkers what they’ve learned.  Will their fellow associates be as eager to hear and embrace these new ideas? Turns out it can be very challenging to bring about veterinary protocol improvements that last, regardless ..read more

This week, the Companion Animal Euthanasia Training Academy (CAETA) is adding more Instructors to our team.  Over the past few months, growing our speaker bureau has been a priority, as we prepare for expansion into new markets that need our type of content.  In the spirit of providing a strong start, I want to share what’s been learned by those of us already teaching euthanasia best practices.  Whether you are interested in working with us to train veterinarians, veterinary technicians, support staff and students, or working on your own to spread the message that ‘Endings Matte ..read more

Written by Rebecca Rose, RVT for CAETA When I asked a friend and colleague how they define ‘Self-compassion’, they replied “being selfish”. I imagine several of you reading this feel the same selfishness because of a conditioning occurring in your past. Perhaps someone once told you to always care for others before yourself. Let’s test this assumption, test the conditioning. What if we rephrase it to ‘Compassion for self’?  How does that feel? How about ‘Inner self training’ or ‘Inner resiliency training’?  As veterinary team members, we shower compassion on patients and clients duri ..read more

A quiet death is perceived as a better death.  I’ve never heard it stated otherwise, whether human or animal.  A quiet death denotes acceptance, one without struggle or resistance.  And it’s what every pet owner asks of me during euthanasia services. They’ve either seen firsthand what the body can do as it dies….the agonal breathing, the body stretches, muscle tremors, urination/defecation, and vocalization, or they have learned about it from others who’ve seen it.  Active signs of dying in animals are normal/natural and don’t have to be suppressed, however to the observer ..read more

Hello friends, As you know, my work is always evolving. The Companion Animal Euthanasia Training Academy (CAETA) has grown steadily over the past 6 years and we’ve been honored to provide training in many veterinary schools, hosted events across North America, Canada, and the UK, and increased our team of Instructors. With all we’ve accomplished, CAETA has always known that more robust resources would enable us to reach a wider audience around the world. After careful deliberation, we have chosen to unite with a company that shares our same vision and mission and will provide valuable inf ..read more

When writing this blog, I tried to think of a way to put a fun spin on cleaning pet euthanasia equipment.  Cleaning as a general rule is like licorice…either you love it or you hate it.  For a traditional animal hospital that sees euthanasia appointments among other appointment types, cleaning and disinfecting is pretty standard. It is typically carried out by support staff as part of SOPs. In my experience with home euthanasia and hospice services however, much of the medical support is provided by a microstaff of 1-2 very busy people trying their hardest to stay on time for the nex ..read more

It’s 2023 and talking about death is still hard. Putting the topic of euthanasia front and center to clients, in parallel to other offerings like vaccinations or diagnostics, can feel uncomfortable to veterinary teams. Death can be perceived as a failure and lead vet professionals to avoid discussing it unless absolutely necessary. This is likely a large reason why very few veterinary companies list euthanasia (and aftercare) on their websites. And this includes pet emergency hospitals that have some of the highest euthanasia rates out there. The reality is that almost every veterinary hospita ..read more

The warmer months bring a lovely opportunity to gather outside for companion animal euthanasia services, and this includes animals that already live outside like companion livestock. Owners appreciate the option to be closely connected to nature as their pet departs this earth.  Grassy yards, sandy beaches, mountain tops…you name it.  They have a real appeal to them. I have euthanized almost every pet of my own outdoors, choosing only to be indoors if that’s where my pet was more comfortable or the weather forced it.  Being outdoors has a unique set of considerations to address ..read more