Our vet clinic cat Bob greets me like this every morning when I let him out for the day. He knows how to open doors so we have to keep him in a cage overnight, or else he will eat the fish in our fishbowls! Best part of my mornings.

Stop. I know you read this title and attempted to turn and flee back out the door. I anticipated this and caught you by the back of your shirt. We need to talk about this now.

If you’re reading this blog, you’re likely Millennial or Gen Z. They’re the largest pie slice of animal lovers—one in three owns a pet. And our attitudes about pets are really intense. Half of us describe loving them more than our own mothers. And all of those pets are doing the absolute worst thing any pet can do: getting old without us.

You likely won’t have experience with being solely, directly responsible for managing a living being’s decline and death. So we’re going to explain what’s gonna happen, and give you our very best insights.

A (Hand-Holding) Guide to the End of Your Pet's Life

They’re distracting a nervous dog during a blood draw.