A Loving Farewell

Saying goodbye to your pet at home

Mobile Tierarztpraxis Huber | Farewell at home | Euthanasia at home

The decision to euthanize your pet is a difficult one. Being able to let go, putting the animal's welfare above our own, that takes a lot of strength. There may be a lot of fear and uncertainty.
In-home euthanasia is the last service we can do our furry companions. It allows us to prepare, plan HOW and WHERE to say goodbye.
For our closest relatives and ourselves, no one wishes to say goodbye in hospital, in a strange place, surrounded by medical equipment and smells. Instead, we wish for a peaceful death, surrounded by love and security. This also applies to our animal family members.

Frequently asked questions

In-home Euthanasia

At home your animal feels safe. It is in its familiar surroundings, surrounded by familiar smells, together with the people who have meant the world to it all its life. There is no need for transport, which many animals find very stressful, frightening and sometimes painful (e.g. in the case of severe arthritis). Your animal may pass in peace and love.

This question cannot be answered in a general way. I am happy to discuss this in advance in a telephone call so that you can make a decision that is right for you.

During the last weeks and days of your pet's life, its quality of life is all that matters. This last time belongs entirely to you and your pet. What do you both enjoy? What does it like to eat the most? What is its favourite place? If you think your pet is in pain, discuss it with your vet. If you wish, I am also available for this conversation.
Prepare for the last day together. Do your favourite walk again, spend time together, read a story to your pet, spoil it. All that counts now is love, closeness and security.

Euthanasia literally means "beautiful death". If carried out correctly, it is an almost pain-free procedure. Your animal will only feel the first injection for sedation. This can be compared to a vaccination. During euthanasia, your animal is given an overdose of narcotics. It will lose consciousness first. Breathing changes, the animals hardly breathe at all or take a few deep breaths after longer breaks. Heart and circulation stop quickly after that. It can happen that the animals still move individual limbs or that a skin and muscle twitch is seen. But these movements are all completely unconscious. Your animal will not notice any of this.

Animals do not know a fear of death, because they are always perfect in the moment. However, a great tension of the owner can be transferred to his animal and lead to them behaving insecurely or even fearfully. This behaviour is then rather an expression of concern for you and only one of many signs of the great connection between you both. Our preparatory talk, your conscious decision to euthanasia and the calm course of my visit usually help a lot that your animal is not worried at this moment.

The passing of the family pet is often the child's first experience with death. You as parents know your child best. You know best how to accompany your child lovingly during this painful time. Openness, honesty and empathy are extremely important here. Children ask questions and often deal with the subject matter candidly. Discuss with your child what is going to happen and ask him or her if, how and up to what point he or she wishes to be involved. Saying goodbye to a beloved animal is very painful for everyone involved. Children often let their emotions run free. This is a good thing. The important thing is that parents are emotionally available for their children at this moment and in the time afterwards.

We cannot explain to the other animals the sudden absence of the dead animal. Give them the opportunity to choose if and how close they want to be at the farewell. Allow them to go to the body of the deceased animal. I have never experienced or heard of an animal being harmed by being present at the euthanasia of another animal. On the contrary, even animals need an opportunity for closure. Those who have not been given this opportunity often look for their housemate, are stressed, miss him, sometimes become depressed.
However,I would never force the other animals in the household to be present during euthanasia or to approach the body of the deceased animal.

It is important that you inform me about aggressive or fearful behavior of your pet in advance. This gives us the possibility to plan for a safe and peaceful euthanasia.
I reserve the right to cancel a visit on short notice, if I have not been informed in advance about aggressiveness of the pet.

I will arrive at your place within the agreed time window. We will take some time to discuss any questions that may have arisen in the meantime since our phone call. The first thing I will do is to give your pet a sedative injection while you stroke or feed it and give it a little reassurance. This works very quickly and ensures that your dog or cat is put to sleep without any stress, pain or anxiety. Your pet will become tired, lie down, its reflexes will weaken and it will no longer be aware of its surroundings. Its eyes usually remain open. In rare cases, vomiting may occur during this phase. I therefore advise against overfeeding your pet before saying goodbye. You should and may spoil it beforehand, but having a full stomach is by no means pleasant.
You can be very close to your pet during this entire sleep phase. Depending on what is right for you and your pet and the circumstances, your pet will be injected with an overdose of an anesthetic either directly or via a venous catheter. It will no longer feel this. In this way, it slips deeper and deeper from a state of sleep until it comes to respiratory and finally cardiac arrest.
During the euthanasia process, I will examine your pet several times and regularly check its reflexes, breathing and heartbeat. I will only tell you that your pet has started its journey over the rainbow when I am absolutely sure. If you wish, I will then withdraw to give you more time alone with your pet.
What happens next will also depend on your wishes.

Like birth, the death of an animal is a very individual process. Sometimes the death of a four-legged friend comes suddenly and unexpectedly, sometimes the death drags on for a long time. The natural death can, but does not have to be peaceful. A possible classification distinguishes four phases of natural death.
In the first phase we may notice the following: The dog or cat declines, loses weight, eats less, does not groom itself as before, is less active, retreats more. Some become restless, change their day-night rhythm. They suddenly become active in the middle of the night and start meowing, barking or howling for no apparent reason. They may appear temporarily confused or absent. Incontinence or constipation can become an issue.
In the second phase, the changes described from the first phase are intensified. Changes in breathing may also occur. Some animals also experience short moments of improvement in their condition during this time.
In the third phase your animal seems increasingly absent to apathetic, its daily routine becomes unimportant to it, an uncontrolled urine or faeces disposal, even on the sleeping place, does not seem to bother it anymore. Twitching of individual body regions or generalized seizures may occur, paleness, cold limbs, increased discharge of mouth, eyes or nose may be noticed.
In the fourth and last phase, the animal's gaze appears empty and rigid, it hardly or no longer reacts to external stimuli. There may be twitching of the body or the limbs. The pulse is weak. The body appears cool. The animal pants or breathes strained with open mouth, breathing becomes irregular, some animals hardly breathe. In this phase death is imminent.
Death occurs as soon as there is complete cardiac and circulatory failure.

During the euthanasia I will examine your animal several times. I will regularly check his reflexes, his breathing and his heartbeat. First it loses consciousness, then it stops breathing, and finally the heart stops beating. I will only tell you that your animal has started its journey over the rainbow when I am absolutely sure.

No, animals don't close their eyes when they die.

There is no right or wrong here. Many owners stay with their pet during euthanasia, for some it is too painful and it feels better not to. Others stay until their pet is deeply and peacefully sedated and don't want to be present when the injection for euthanasia is given. Some owners notice during the process of euthanasia what feels right for them and decide at short notice. Everything is fine. It is very important to me that the farewell from your pet feels right to you.

This is possible. However, due to the current extraordinary situation caused by COVID 19, it must be ensured that a distance of 1.5 m to me can be kept most of the time. Therefore, if several people are present, the euthanasia cannot take place in small rooms.

This can be very different. Some animals start their journey over the Rainbow very quickly, some take their time. Everything is fine. It is very important to me that you never feel rushed during my entire visit. I'll take all the time you need. In most cases my visit lasts 30 - 60 minutes.

During my visits I reserve a time window of about 1 hour. This has two reasons. On the one hand, I would like to enable every owner to say goodbye to his animal at his own pace. On the other hand the traffic volume cannot be predicted.I always try not to keep you waiting unnecessarily and in case of a longer delay I will contact you as soon as I can. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

In case of an emergency, please do not lose any time: contact immediately a veterinary clinic with 24 h emergency service in your area to save your animal unnecessary fear and pain.
My visit for in-home euthanasia is always planned and takes place by appointment only as my service exists to make it possible for owners to say goodbye in peace and without rush. Thus, I am rarely able to leave spontaneously for a visit. Thank you for your understanding.

Knowing what it means to be able to say one's final goodbye to a beloved pet in the comfort of home instead of a clinical setting, I am deeply grateful for the possibility to serve animals and their owners by my work.

I accompany dogs, cats and small mammals on their peaceful way over the Rainbow Bridge.

This depends on various factors. You can find a price overview here. If you have any questions or requests, please feel free to contact me.

I am a mobile veterinarian for palliative care, acupuncture and the euthanasia of dogs and cats at home, traveling about 20 km or up to 30 minutes by car around the Mutschellen (zip code 8965).

I need more time

If you are not yet ready to consider euthanasia your four-legged friend, you may want to learn more about the possibilities of Palliative Care. As long as the well-being of your animal is guaranteed by these treatments, we can try to give you the time you need to be sure of your decision.

Prices for euthanasia (euthanasia) at home

CHF 215 | cat
CHF 265 | Dog up to 15 kg
CHF 315 | Dog > 15 kg
CHF 145 | pet

excl. travel; an urgency fee is charged for appointments made at short notice (3-23 h before the appointment)

Included

    • Telephone consultation
    • Home visit
    • Empathetic consultation for the farewell on site
    • In-home euthanasia of your pet in peace and dignity
    • Notifying your veterinarian of your departure upon request
    • Logging off from the database
    • Cremation form filled out according to your wishes

Travel costs

for zip codes 8964, 8965, 8967: none
per km round trip from/to zip code 8965: CHF 2

respectful transport to the practice CHF 25

incl. careful preparation for the subsequent collection by the crematorium
For animals > 15 kg, I thank you for your support with an assistant to lift your animal into the car.

Please note that you will be invoiced directly by the crematorium for the collection of your pet from you or from the practice. Here you will find the services and prices of the pet crematoria Seon/ Dübendorf and Schafisheim.