It’s one of those terms that not everyone is familiar with, but once you’ve witnessed “palliative care” in the case of a loved one, you’ll never forget it. According to the World Health Organization, palliative care is a medical approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing complications associated with life-threatening illness, often through the prevention and relief of suffering by treatment of pain and other problems. These treatments are offered regardless of whether or not there is any hope of a cure by any means.

While palliative care has been available to humans for decades, more and more veterinarians and pet parents are advocating for similar treatments for companion animals, too. As a pet parent, you owe it to yourselves – and your companion animals – to watch this special episode of Pet Talk.

This month, we’d like to highlight another financial award given by the Dr. Jane HealthyPetNet Foundation, this time to Angela's Angels Cat Rescue, a donor-supported, non-profit, no-kill, cage-free cat rescue in Columbia, North Carolina. What began as a personal experience caring for and rescuing sickly and abandoned cats, quickly became the established rescue organization we honor here.

A small, tightly knit organization, their focus is on saving felines from euthanasia at high-kill shelters, while also taking in stray, abandoned and surrendered cats. They actively work to maintain relationships with other no-kill rescues, shelters and vets in the surrounding area, thus creating a strong network of caring individuals working in tandem to save as many cats as possible, placing them in loving, permanent homes. The majority of their rescues are in temporary foster care, although some of their adoptable cats currently reside in the cage-free “Cat House” on the founders’ property. More...