SPCA palliative care program gives older pets a second chance at life

As more older pets are being surrendered to its shelters, the Nova Scotia SPCA is seeing higher uptake of its palliative care program that pays medical expenses for animals with chronic illnesses so they can live out their lives in a loving home.

It all started in 2009 when an older mixed-breed dog named Darla was left at the Dartmouth shelter run by the non-profit animal welfare charity.

"It started kind of organically with our first dog named Darla. She was 14 years old. She was actually abandoned at the shelter by someone that kind of dumped her in the cat adoption room and ran," said Sandra Flemming, provincial director of animal care for SPCA Nova Scotia, who helped start the program.

When Darla came into the shelter, staff was concerned that no one would adopt her, said Flemming.

"They kind of looked at me going, how are we going to place this dog with all of her medical needs and her age?"

But once they were able to create a program to cover financial costs, people started to take older pets home.

"We found that when we had really senior animals with a lot of veterinary care needed, that the best way we could get them into a loving home was through our palliative care program and it just kind of grew organically from there," said Flemming.

More older animals are being surrendered now than when the program started in 2009.

Flemming said the SPCA's efforts to spay and neuter pets over the last decade, along with the increased cost of living has led to the SPCA seeing more older dogs with medical needs being surrendered to shelters in the province.

The only condition for someone interested in taking home an animal with significant health issues is to provide a loving home where the pet's needs will be met.

Flemming said there are a lot of reasons for someone to take a chance on fostering an older pet.

"A lot of people look at owning an animal thinking,  I would love to have a pet, I would love to give my time and love and energy to an animal, but maybe they're senior themselves, maybe they don't want a long-term commitment of a young animal," said Flemming.

"Maybe they don't want the work of a puppy, they'd prefer an animal that sleeps the majority of the day, such as a senior dog, and they're looking for something easy to take for walks and they're looking for companionship. But maybe they financially can't afford an animal long-term. So being part of the palliative care program allows them to give back, help an animal, have some companionship, but no financial costs associated with their care."

The program — offered at all SPCA shelters in Nova Scotia  — has an average of 75 to 100 pets living in their retirement foster homes.

Jennifer Nolan, who lives in the Halifax area, adopted Chewie, a 10-year-old Pomeranian and Fred, an 11-year-old chihuahua, this year while volunteering at the SPCA's Dartmouth shelter. Both dogs have a heart condition and are on the same medication so Nolan has a morning routine for administering it.

"Which makes it very easy to keep them on the same schedule, and they love their morning hot dog ritual of getting their medications in hot dogs. So that's like a very exciting time in my home," said Nolan, who said she wouldn't have Chewie or Fred if it wasn't for the SPCA.

"Chewie actually came to me as a stray. He was picked up, kind of just running out at large. He was brought in, in not the best condition, but you think where would he be if no one had found him or ... if the SPCA wasn't able to take on the medical costs?"

Flemming said the program has given a lot of animals a second chance at life.

"Sometimes even with senior pets, once they are on the right medication and once they are on good quality food and once they're in a loving home, a lot of them have really kind of reversed aging," said Flemming.

"So animals that we thought came in and that looked so poor and downtrodden, so many of them, when they're given just all of those little things that improve their overall quality and health, they turn around. And you think that they're on their last legs, but they actually end up being in the palliative care program for years."