On the Wednesday, July 29, 2026, episode of The Excerpt podcast: Most people are familiar with hospice for people, but did you know there’s also hospice for our furry loved ones? While not exactly a new trend, the availability of pet hospice care and end of life options has dramatically expanded in recent years. Dr. Becky Frank, a veterinarian with Lap of Love, a nationwide pet hospice organization, joins The Excerpt to talk through this shift in end-of-life care for the animals in our lives.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Dana Taylor:
Most people are familiar with hospice. It's a compassionate, holistic approach to caring for someone who's terminally ill, has no chance of recovery. But did you know there's also hospice for our furry loved ones? Well, not exactly a new trend, the availability of pet hospice care and end-of-life options dramatically expanded in recent years, giving families greater control over how their loved ones' last days are spent. Hello, and welcome to USA TODAY's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Wednesday, July 29th, 2026. Joining me to talk about this shift in end-of-life care for the animals in our lives is Dr. Becky Frank, a veterinarian with Lap of Love, a nationwide pet hospice organization. Thank you so much for joining me, Dr. Frank.
Dr. Becky Frank:
I'm happy to be here. Glad to talk about my passion and my work.
Dana Taylor:
It's not often that we hear the words hospice and pet in the same sentence, but pet hospice as an available service has become much more mainstream in recent years. What is it, what isn't it, and how long has it been around?
Dr. Becky Frank:
Well, pet hospice started probably in the late '90s, but our organization started around 2008 with two doctors in Tampa who saw a need for this end of life care. And they went out on a limb and started this company, which, in turn exploded. They had so many calls that they had to start hiring other doctors to do this, and they didn't want to just do in-home euthanasia, but also hospice. And a lot of hospice in pet medicine is a lot of guiding. So in human medicine, you can only enter hospice if you are terminal, you are likely to die within the next six months. And many people don't actually enter hospice until the final weeks of their life.
In pet hospice, it's a little bit more fluid. We have a lot of conversations where you've gotten this diagnosis of cancer, congestive heart failure, et cetera, and then you don't know what to do. You know your pet is going to die, but you are not at that step of euthanasia yet. So you want to focus on comfort care. Just like in human medicine, you want to make the best of those last days. So we have that very common goal of keeping pets comfortable throughout that terminal diagnosis. What isn't is really invasive care. We're not going to be putting IVs and feeding tubes and everything else with your pet. We are going to do our best to keep them comfortable until euthanasia usually occurs.
Dana Taylor:
When you're advising families about whether or not to engage hospice care for their pets, what kinds of issues should they consider? Are there some breeds, some illnesses, some temperaments that are better suited to hospice care than others? And then how do quality of life considerations play into the decision?
Dr. Becky Frank:
A lot of that goes towards A, is my pet going to be amenable to me doing things with them? Both my dogs, really easy to do stuff with them. My cats, not so much. There's very much a give and take with knowing the personality of your pet and what they're going to allow you to do to keep them comfortable. And then, the flip side to that is what is the disease process? I tell families all the time, there's three things I don't love to wait on. Breathing, heart, hemangiosarcoma, simply because when they decline, it can happen really, really fast, and it usually ends up being an emergency. So saying goodbye a little bit sooner and maybe shortening that hospice process a little bit is usually in the best interest of that pet, even if it's tough for us.
Dana Taylor:
All of us here on the podcast team at USA TODAY, we're all pet owners, so we each know personally how difficult it is to even consider the passing of our pets. How important is planning here, though? Many people might think, why not wait until I really have to?
Dr. Becky Frank:
It really depends on your goals at end of life care. A lot of people don't want to be in a situation where it's an emergency. When it becomes an emergency, that's when true suffering is happening. Your dog, your cat doesn't wake up in the morning going, "Well, I have congestive heart failure, and I need to take it easy." They just know how they feel. So they're going to try and do their normal until they absolutely can't. In some disease processes, you have a wider window in order to prevent suffering from happening. But in some disease processes, you do not. It will occur very quickly and waiting till that last second might not align with your goals of avoiding an emergency, making sure that my pet doesn't suffer, and making sure that my pet stays out of really intractable pain.
Dana Taylor:
For many of us, it's nearly impossible to gauge just how much pain our pets are experiencing. What do you tell people?
Dr. Becky Frank:
We usually do a lot of education in our appointments because like you said, it is hard to tell when a dog, a cat, or your reptile, your bird is painful. So for example, in dogs, panting is a classic sign of pain. A lot of people just think their dog is warm, and they'll just put a fan on them, when really they need to be starting to pick up that they're actually ouchy. So we will come in and we'll give you tools and help you assess, "Hey, my dog is actually painful. That's why he's limping on his front leg. Oh, that's why she doesn't want to do the stairs anymore," or, "Hey, that's why she doesn't want to get up on the bed to sleep with me anymore."
Dana Taylor:
With human hospice, we often consider how to help our loved ones die with dignity. How does that translate for our pets?
Dr. Becky Frank:
So with pets, we have that option of euthanasia. And euthanasia, at its core, is a Greek word. It literally means good and right death. Again, dogs and cats, they don't get up in the morning knowing that they have a terminal illness. They just know how they feel. With euthanasia, we have that option and that gift in order for them to not have to experience a painful death. With euthanasia, we can basically artificially do what we as pet owners want them to do, which is basically go to sleep and then not wake up. The caveat to that is that we have to help them make that decision. And that's where it becomes really, really tough for pet owners.
Dana Taylor:
Some listeners and viewers may be familiar with a film almost 20 years old now called The Bucket List. It starred Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Is there such a thing as a bucket list for our pets?
Dr. Becky Frank:
Absolutely. In fact, I have enacted it in my own life. Again, this is a reflection of your bond with your pet. In 2023, my cat was diagnosed with abdominal cancer, completely incidental on exam. My colleague is the one who caught it. And at that time, after sobbing, driving home, I came up with a bucket list of things that I was and wasn't going to do with him. One of those things is that we would never go in the car again because he hated it, and that was my promise. But I also let him eat an entire salmon filet. I had a leash. We went for walks in the yard. We did all of...
I let him have a catnip party. One of the things I've seen one of my colleagues do is they had a going-away party for their dog with terminal cancer. Everybody came, there was hotdogs, hamburgers. Dog was a golden retriever, absolutely loved it. So making those days that we have with them a gift and making them golden helps us to know that we've done everything we can, helps our anticipatory grief, and helps our grieving afterward.
Dana Taylor:
A big part of living for all of us is the process of dying while at-home euthanasia wasn't even an option just a few years ago. It's much more widely available today, albeit it's usually more expensive. So what should people consider when trying to decide if this is the right option for them and their pets?
Dr. Becky Frank:
I would say firstly, look at the bond that you have with your pet. Again, one of my goals with my cat was never to take him in the car again, so I already knew I was going to do in-home euthanasia. So knowing the bond and the personality of your dog or your cat. Some people have a really great bond with their general practice veterinarian, and they want them to be the ones that do that, and that's absolutely fine.
A lot of people have problems crying in front of people, so allowing this to occur in the home allows them to be much more private. It allows that grief to be much more focused on the pet. They don't have to deal with going into a waiting room. Just those small touches. And again, like you mentioned, it is more expensive, but it's more of a concierge service.
We're coming to your house. We're dealing with the wear and tear on our vehicles. And then even then thinking about aftercare, do you want a private cremation, communal cremation? Do I want to bury here? If you're going to bury, but then you go over to your regular vet, you're going to have to transport that dog back. So just all these small considerations of what do I want and what do I think my pet wants their last moments to be? If it's out by a shady tree eating chicken nuggets and chocolate, then in-home euthanasia is probably for you.
Dana Taylor:
Dr. Frank, how do you advise people when it comes to spiritual or religious beliefs?
Dr. Becky Frank:
I allow people to express their spiritual beliefs as best I can. I actually run a Christian pet loss support group at my church. So I myself am spiritual. And so I often have families who will pray as we're doing a euthanasia or they'll ask for a moment afterwards or they'll send... I've had dogs sent with rosaries, and I just allow them to participate in that spirituality because oftentimes that is the best way and the most supportive way that they can help themselves through that grief.
Dana Taylor:
As for saying goodbye to a pet, timing is always a big worry for pet owners. How will I know when the time is right? Is a frequently asked question. What do you tell people?
Dr. Becky Frank:
In the end, a lot of it comes down to that education of what is the disease process here? What is my pet going to experience towards the end? What sort of death are they going to have? And what does my timing need to be in order to prevent pet suffering?
Dana Taylor:
Finally, the grieving process for pet owners can be especially wrenching because of the sheer amount of time we spend with our animals. You talked about your spiritual pet support group at your church. What's the best advice for those who are looking for ways to ease their grief or find connection at this difficult time?
Dr. Becky Frank:
My best suggestion is know where your support lies. A lot of people who go through pet loss, they feel very isolated, not even just because maybe they're at odds with their family, as to the timing and whatnot, but also that dog walking group that you belong to and you connected with and they were your support system. Well, now it hurts to go walk with them. So now you need to find other support.
I started my group in my area because I saw a need. I had so many people, especially after COVID, who needed that physical just hug, that affection, and they didn't have a support system, even within their family of going through the grieving process. So finding a support group and even just leaning on the friends and the family who will listen to you and help you memorialize that pet as you deal with the day-to-day life is the best thing you can do if you're in the midst of it.
Dana Taylor:
This will be so helpful for so many people. Dr. Becky, thank you so much for joining me on The Excerpt.
Dr. Becky Frank:
Thank you for having me here. It's been a pleasure.
Dana Taylor:
Thanks for listening to USA TODAY's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. That's today's show. Like and subscribe so you're back with us tomorrow.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The rise of pet hospice means more choices, better goodbyes | The Excerpt
