Palliative Care in the ER

When do we as vets accept that a life can no longer be saved, and it is time for an owner to face the sad but inevitable reality of their pet’s passing? Furthermore, how do we handle such a moment in the context of a pressurised and fast paced emergency room?
This lecture will explore this situation in detail, providing guidance on when to recognise a patient's transition from treatable to palliative, ways to modify the management plan, and what it truly means to provide contextualised care and the kind of client communication that is required to prevent these highly charged and emotional scenarios from entering RCVS’s extensive list of end-of-life care complaints.

• Recognising when a pet has transitioned from a treatable patient to a palliative patient
• What are the goals of care for the palliative patient, and how do we implement them?
• Empathetic and effective communication with owners, centred on goals of care

Chairperson

Adam Mugford, BVetMed MVetMed DACVECC FRCVS, Chair Sponsor Relations - EVECC Congress Executive Director

Speakers

Caroline Ficker, BVSc(Hons) CertSAM PGDip CHPV MRCVS, Certified Animal Hospice and Palliative Care Veterinarian IAAHPC - PalliVet - The Palliative Care Vet, London

Delivered by:

Presented at LVS 2025

Thursday, 20 November 2025, 13:30-14:20, Association Content