When Jacques Hennig’s Australian Shepherd mix Alex collapsed at an Aurora park in January 2024, he knew it was time to say goodbye.
“It’s a feeling in your gut; I knew immediately the cancer had come back,” he said.
He also knew how Alex would die: at home, with Hennig and his partner Max Donald by his side. A year earlier, the couple had used in-home euthanasia for their other dog, Oliver.
“It’s a horrible thing to have to deal with,” Hennig said. “You don’t want them to ever go; you want them to be with you forever. But it was important to me they were happy in death as well. I didn’t want their last vision to be the vet with fluorescent lighting and lots of noise.”
Veterinarian H Howells, who performed the service for both Alex and Oliver through her company Peace Wings, is among a subset of veterinarians who offer in-home euthanasia. These mobile veterinarians come to the pet owner’s residence, where they administer medication so the pet can pass in their home, surrounded by their owners and often, other family pets.
In-home euthanasia is a fast-growing service, with a network of veterinarians that includes local, independent doctors like Howells, Conifer-based Amy Holtschlag and Franktown-based Julie Hasenfratz of Hometown Veterinary Hospice, as well as national companies like Lap of Love that employ a network of doctors.
As in a clinic setting, veterinarians performing in-home euthanasia typically use two medications: one to sedate the pet, and a second that stops the heart. Some vets also use oxygen to help the pets relax further.
While fees vary, the service costs more than an in-clinic euthanasia service. The personalized nature of the service, time spent with each client and transportation costs are all factors in setting prices, veterinarians said.
The three veterinarians who spoke for this story charge between $350 and $775, their rates varying with the type and size of animal and the services included. Some charge separately for cremation, urns, memorial keepsakes and other items and services, while others include it in a flat fee.
‘The last act of love’
Many pet owners say it’s worth it, and the best way they’ve found to close the final chapter in a beloved pet’s life.
When Commerce City residents John and Jan Leiker adopted their Great Dane Kiara, John Leiker said she was an aggressive, poorly socialized, “out-of-control” rescue. They spent two years training and loving her, “to turn her into the wonderful Great Dane that she was. She had a wonderful life.”
Giving her a peaceful ending was their final act of caring, and Hasenfratz helped them give her that.
“Dr. Hasenfratz took her time and let us know everything she was doing, every step of the way,” Leiker said. “She just sat down with Kiara petting her, letting her sniff everything. She gave her the proper drug to just relax.
“You still cry when they go; it’s never easy. But this is so much easier on the people and the animals. It’s the last act of love you can do. I will always do it this way if possible.”
Hasenfratz also offered the couple a memorial paw print with Kiara’s name imprinted on it, which the couple treasures.
“When it’s time for our current Dane to go, Julie will be the one we’ll call,” his wife Jan agreed.
Despite the pain of loss that accompanies an in-home euthanasia, owners describe the service as personal, intimate and soothing. And most veterinarians say they work hard to make it that way.
“People have a lot of anxiety around this decision,” Holtschlag said. “And pets are often not relaxed when they come to the vet clinic; there’s that innate panic they have coming through the doors. That fear is not there when they’re home with their people.
“I want the experience to be as peaceful as it can be for both the pet and the people, and a memory the owners can cherish going forward,” Holtschlag continued.
Holtschlag treats each appointment as its own service.
“I usually do a little information gathering before I get there,” she said. “I have the family tell me if they have any special requests or wishes, and who is going to be there. There are things we can do at home we’re not able to do in a clinic to make it meaningful for them; they can set up the experience the way they want it to go.
“When I get there, I spend a lot of time going through what will happen, explaining the process so they know what they’re going to see. They can hold their pet, or be right next to them throughout.”
In December 2023, Holtschlag helped Evergreen residents John and Sue Dunlop say goodbye to their 10-year-old standard poodle Reggie, who’d suffered a series of debilitating seizures. Dunlop described Holtschlag and her assistant as patient, respectful and “very compassionate.”
“While it was heartbreaking, it was great that he was here in our house, in a place he was comfortable,” John Dunlop said. “It was easier on us, too, because we didn’t have to walk out of the vet’s office and leave our (deceased) pet behind.
“We’ve been down this road before, and this was so much more comforting. There’s no easy way. But in our mind, it was the most compassionate thing we could do.”
After Reggie passed, John Dunlop brought his other standard poodle Cooper into the room to see the body — an act that would have been more challenging at a clinic.
“We hoped it would give him some knowledge of what’s going on,” he said. “Who knows what they think. But for my peace of mind, I’d like to think he understood.”
The Dunlops opted to have Reggie cremated and plan to spread his ashes on their property.
“I would do it again,” John Dunlop said. “We’ve had pets euthanized in a vet’s office and they were also compassionate and doing the best they can, but it’s not the same. It’s not like being at home.”
Guidance for end-of-life decisions
Veterinarians who provide the service can also guide pet owners in making end-of-life decisions.
“When a pet has a slow-moving illness or a long decline, the owners have a choice in the matter,” Howells said. “When they call me, a lot of them are struggling with the timing. If I wait too long, I’ve been selfish. If I do it too soon, I haven’t been patient enough. The big question that’s underlying that is, ‘Am I killing my pet?’
“The answer is no. Cancer is killing your pet. Kidney disease is killing your pet. Their pets are dying anyway,” Howells continued. “When people can flip that switch, it gives them and me peace. They’re no longer making a life-and-death decision; biology has already made it. In all reality, at-home euthanasia is a happy ending. In many cases, they’ve lived a long life, and they’re in the home in which they’ve been cherished.”
Hasenfratz also provides such consultations and said she understands the struggle pet owners undergo. She tries to emphasize that death is not just inevitable, but natural. And while you can’t keep it from happening, you can sometimes control the circumstances that surround it.
“I lost my mom in hospice care, and that’s when I started realizing how important it is to be home — not just for the patient but the family,” she said. “Saying goodbye is a natural part of living. If we can pass away as comfortably as possible, I think that’s what we all would want.
“I feel very good about what I do because I end struggles,” she continued. “I give the pet a peaceful passing, and I give that peace to their human family too.”
Because the service is so personal, the bonds extend beyond owners and pets to the veterinarian as well. Hennig and Donald chose Howells for Alex because she had previously done the same service for their dog Oliver. The moment Howells and Oliver met is still vivid in Hennig’s memory.
“Oliver used to come over at every meal and lean on you with his forehead; we found out years later that’s a way they bond or say thank you,” he said. “When Dr. H came in for his appointment, she was sitting on the floor, getting her supplies out. Oliver could hardly walk, but he went over to her and pressed his forehead into hers. And I thought, ‘This is OK.’”
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