Pet Peace of Mind Helps Seriously Ill People Care for Their Pets

By Pet Peace of Mind

January 2022

Pets play an important role when their human is facing a serious illness. Seriously ill patients should not experience anxiety related to their pets’ well-being and Pet Peace of Mind aims to eliminate their anxiety. 

Pet Peace of Mind’s purpose is to enrich the quality of life for seriously ill patients and the pets they love by keeping people and pets together through life’s transitions. By respecting the relationship between people and their pets at the deepest level, we actively advocate for the pet’s role as an important member of the caregiving team. In Pet Peace of Mind’s world, a pet is never “just a pet.”

We are driven to preserve the bond of love and we help hospice, home health organizations, and hospitals understand the importance of that bond in the lives of their patients. Pet Peace of Mind is the only national program providing a care model for the pets of seriously ill patients, including helping orphaned pets find a loving new home when necessary. Our program trains healthcare organizations how to support each patient’s pet care needs in practical ways by using specially trained local volunteers to help patients with their pet care needs.

Pet Peace of Mind was founded in 2009 as a solution for a problem that hospice and palliative care organizations faced.  Pet Peace of Mind recognizes and actively supports the unique bond between patients and their pets by allowing patients to complete their end-of-life journey without worrying about their pet’s current or future needs. 

We have over two hundred partners in 43 states and serve 4,000 pets a year.  We partner with hospices, home healthcare agencies, and hospitals.  Our partners work with their animal welfare communities to recruit volunteers who have experience working with pets.

This story from a long-time program partner shows Pet Peace of Mind’s mission in action.  

Nellie is a 9-year-old Chihuahua mix who was missing several teeth.  Nellie’s original owner was still alive but had grown too sick to care for her.  She went to live with the new pet mom, and the new pet mom brought Nellie to visit her previous owner before he passed away.

Nellie ran up to the couch and tried to sit on his lap and lick him, but he was too weak to hold his legs up.  Nellie’s new mom put a chair next to his wheelchair and put Nellie on her lap so he could pet her. He kept saying she was his “Nellie girl” and pet her as much as he could. He was very weak and not able to stay awake the whole visit, but he and his son were both very thankful that she brought Nellie for one last visit.

Nellie’s new mom was suffering from the isolation effects of COVID-19 and explained that Nellie helped her cope with the loneliness she was feeling. She said Nellie gave her a purpose outside of her own worries and provided unlimited snuggles during the most uncertain of times.  She even sits on her lap during Zoom meetings.  She told us “Last year took so much away from the both of us, but it also brought us together. We became the sunshine for each other during a storm of grief. “  

If you’d like to learn more about Pet Peace of Mind, visit  https://www.petpeaceofmind.org/