Silver Sands Veterinary Center Celebrates the Human Animal Bond Part II-Connecticut Pet Hospice

Silver Sands Veterinary Center Celebrates the Human Animal Bond Part II

Connecticut Pet Hospice
Milford,CT-South Central District

Donald H. DeForge, VMD

September 26, 2013

Silver Sands Veterinary Center in Milford, CT has been a General Practice of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery for 40 years.  Recently, Dr. DeForge added Urgent Care to assist families who need an ER room that does not necessitate 24/7 care.  24/7 patients are referred to local specialty centers as necessary.

In 2012, Dr. DeForge opened a new area of care at Silver Sands, Connecticut Pet Hospice. It is modeled after Pawspice, the first pet hospice in the United States, created by Dr. Alice Villalobos.  Dr. Alice Villalobos was the 2005-2006 President of the American Association of Human-Animal Bond Veterinarians.  She is Director of Animal Oncology Consultation.  Dr. Villalobos is, also, Director of Pawspice, an end of life care consultation clinic in California. She writes and lectures on animal cancer care at national and regional veterinary conferences worldwide, sharing her unparalleled 40 years of experience in the field.  It is my honor to call her mentor and friend.

Dr. Villalobos quotes Dr. Fred Myers from the University of California, Davis School of Medicine who states: "Palliative care should not be the last resort.....or about giving up.  It's about increased quality of life and enhanced coordination of care.  It is not about dying.  It is about living with cancer.  It's not less care.  It's more care."  

Dr. Villalobos continues, "The Pawspice-Pet Hospice option gives pet owners more time to let go of their geriatric cancer pet or {terminally ill patient} slowly and peacefully.  Many tender moments of quiet emotion and sweet conversation are shared between the family members and their dying pet."

Dr. Villalobos also created the HHHHHMM Quality of Life Scale which has been adopted at Connecticut Pet Hospice in Milford, CT. at Silver Sands Veterinary.

Attending doctors and nursing staff at Silver Sands Veterinary share this Quality of Life Scale with the owners of aging, very ill, debilitated, and/or terminally ill pets.  It is strongly applicable to the cancer patient.

I would like to personally thank Dr. Villalobos for the creation of this Quality of Life Scale.  I share it below, with you, as a starting point for any individual that has a pet at home that is very sick or aged and not doing well.  I encourage taking a few moments to review the Scale carefully and then discussing it with your primary care veterinarian.

Hurt-Pain assessment daily
Hydration-fluid intake monitoring daily
Hunger-nutrition and calorie intake monitoring
Hygiene-clean and free of contaminants from soiling multiple times per day
Happiness-every day....every hour
Mobility-Is your pet moving well without discomfort and going about routine activities
More GOOD days than bad-VERY important....a series of bad days is a red light to call your Pet Hospice practitioner or your LDVM for immediate help

In these trying economic times there are many of our companions with debilitating diseases including-cancer; liver and kidney failure; pancreatic disease; severe orthopedic pain; and spinal problems.  Connecticut Pet Hospice will work with your primary LDVM or oncologist to make sure that the increased quality of life and enhanced coordination of care that Dr. Myers writes about is in place and functioning. Nutrition, fluid therapy, and pain control will be reviewed.  Working together your pet's journey can be comfortable and happy.  Connecticut Pet Hospice is not about death but respecting the love of the Human-Animal Bond.

Dr. DeForge looks forward to seeing the establishment of Pet Hospices by other veterinarians in north east CT; south east CT; south west CT; north west CT; central CT; and north central CT.

With this regionalization, there will be a coordination of Hospices with LDVMs and the local 24/7 emergency rooms closest to that patient.  It can happen and will happen if we place the importance of the Human-Animal bond above all else.  Hospice is about returning unconditional love and nothing more! 

Questions or Comments:
Call or write Dr. DeForge
1-800-838-3368
DoctorDeForge@yahoo.com
Animal Doc AM Multi-Media
http://animaldocammultimedia.blogspot.com
Silver Sands Veterinary Center
17 Seemans Lane
Milford, CT 06460

Silver Sands Veterinary Celebrates: The Human-Animal Bond

Silver Sands Veterinary Center

Celebrating Forty Years of the 

Human-Animal Bond

Donald H. DeForge, VMD

"Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies."  Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Four decades of animal care as a veterinarian have slid right by as though it was only a moment in time.  As Silver Sands Veterinary Center begins its next decade of care, it is a time of great excitement!

I have had two questions asked of me over the years.  The most common is: Why did I become a veterinarian?  The second question always is: How do I balance the many hours that I spend in animal care with the rest of my life?

I became a veterinarian because I was blessed to be brought up by parents who loved their children and explained to them the importance of helping others.  I was drawn between human medicine and veterinary medicine and chose the latter.  A choice that I would never change after forty years of being privileged to meet and help animals in pain and suffering.

The second question is much harder to answer. I was blessed to meet Sister Rose Curtin in the late 80's.  Sister Rose was the most humble person that I have ever met.  She said to me once....."we must strive to help those in need to the point of great exhaustion because if we don't they may not find others who will do the same."  She went on to say: " Don, you do that in your care of animals each and every day.  You remove the suffering of the animal and you console the suffering pet owner; what an awesome responsibility!"  Sister Rose took me to rooms of care and opened my mind to the importance of assisting all in need.  She would call at night and say: "Don pack a bag we have a job to accomplish."  I would answer: "Where are we going Sister?" She would always reply: "Not very far...... but I do want you to be prepared once more to help others as we have done together so many times in the past."  Sister Rose will always be my personal saint.  She may never be canonized but I will always consider her as part of the trilogy of St. Teresa the Little Flower and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.  Read the words of Mother Teresa below that Sister Rose followed in her life. 

"Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.  Life is beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it."

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

That is my answer to the second question: How do I balance the many hours that I spend in animal care with the rest of my personal life?

Dr. George Whitney, my mentor as a freshman veterinarian over 40 years ago, said to me on a program I hosted on Talk Show Radio WICC the following: "Don, I do not envy you practicing in a time of great disrespect for the veterinarian and in a time of anxiety, distrust, and hate."

Doc Whitney went on: "I practiced in the golden years of veterinary medicine....starting in the 60's-it was a time when the veterinarian was as loved as a member of your family.  Today, it is quite different."

There is a lot to be said about Doc Whitney's revelation about world change.  It does not just encompass veterinary medicine but it encompasses our entire world.  People cheat, lie, steal, defame, and seek ways to make money by hurting others.  They use the court system to sue the innocent; they utilize the Internet to attempt to destroy reputation; and they use all their awake hours to spread venom in the form of prejudice, distortion, and falsehoods.  They wear ugly masks and congregate with other disciples of evil.  Their energy is not found in helping but in hurting. Their brains are fed by this hate.  Doc Whitney saw this and it made him quite sad.  Mother Teresa also saw it and it made her fight even harder to help those in need.

"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile."  Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Look at the child in the picture of this blog building a sand castle.  In each handful of sand there are a 1000 bright while shiny particles of sand and one distorted irregular particle.  As the child sifts the sand through their fingers, the distorted irregular particle disappears.  We must live our lives accordingly.  Forget the negative people and concentrate on the 1000's that need our help.

This next decade at Silver Sands Veterinary will be even more exciting than the four decades that have passed.  With new technology and Silver Sand's Veterinary affordable animal care, there will be further opportunities to remove pain and restore a quality of life as the decade of the Human-Animal Bond is created at Silver Sands Veterinary.

As Sister Rose would say if she were here with us today: "Pack a bag Don there is much work to be done!"  

In honor of Sister Rose Curtin, I dedicate this new decade at Silver Sands Veterinary as "The Decade of the Human-Animal Bond."  Silver Sands Veterinary is a designated Animal Hospice Center modeled after Pawspice.  With the new emphasis on affordable animal care there will be more pets reunited with their owners that seek problem resolution and quality of life.  

The Human-Animal Bond is not just a veterinary concept. It is a uniting force!  Pet owner, veterinarian, and emergency rooms must act together as primary advocates of care and establish a vehicle that removes suffering and pain.  It is a difficult road but a road that Mother Teresa of Calcultta walked every day.

"Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies."  Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Questions: Call Dr. DeForge or E-Mail him at:

Phone: 1-800-838-3368

E-Mail DonDeForge@aol.com

Dr. DeForge is Animal Doc AM Multi-Media at Blogspot:

htttp://animaldocammultimedia.blogspot.com

Silver Sands Veterinary Center

17 Seemans Lane

Milford, CT 06460

22September2013

9-11: A REMEMBRANCE 2013

9-11 

2013

A REMEMBRANCE

You are viewing one of the most memorable photos that we as citizens of the United States will ever view.  It is about courage; it is about love of country; and it is about honoring our fallen heroes of 9-11.

It is now 9-11 and the year is 2013.  Do you remember where you were 12 years ago when this American tragedy unfolded?  Do you remember the way people treated each other the first month after 9-11?

I remember it like it was yesterday.  Besides the pain and the death and the families that were sent into turmoil, I remember that people changed for a few short days.  I remember strangers talking to each other in stores; in parking lots; at gas stations; and sharing a bond that was remarkable.

It was a short lived bond.  This bond was forgotten and broken many years ago.  Sadly enough many will not even think about 9-11 in 2013 or look at the news programs and the memorials occurring all over our county.

What did we learn from 9-11?  We learned that we are a country that is not free.  We also learned that we are a country that can be damaged by zealots.  We also learned that America is strong and that we will fight those that kill innocents.  We can never forget that with freedom comes responsibility and that only working together we can decrease the threats of the insane that threaten our freedom.

Leo Buscaglia my mentor had it right when he said:

“The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot
learn, feel, change, grow or love.
Chained by his certitude, he is a slave; he has forfeited his freedom.
Only the person who risks is truly free.” 
― Leo Buscaglia

That is the lesson of 9-11!  Life is precious and very short.  We never know when it will be snuffed out and we will leave planet earth.

"Only the person who risks is truly free" -that is what Leo stated and that is how he lived his life.

So on 9-11 in 2013 let us not let the day pass without committing ourselves to risk.  Risk in helping others; risk in sharing our vulnerability; risk in placing ego at #10 and LOVE at #1; and risk in diminishing ourselves as we elevate others.

To the families who have lived with loss for 12 years and for eternity, I send my love and prayers.

To those who were not born when 9-11 -2001 happened, you must pick up the torch of risk and bring freedom to others with the gifts of compassion and concern.

Don DeForge, VMD

Animal Doc AM Multi-Media

9-11  ---2013

E-Mail DonDeForge@aol.com with comments about this Blog