Services and Fees
Orchestrate your plan and become empowered to act at the appropriate times.
Walk with your pet to the Rainbow Bridge, in control of the journey until their last breath.
Avoid doubts and guilt and gain peace of mind knowing you followed your "path of least regrets" through our...
"Partners to the Bridge"
Animal Hospice Coaching for Pet Parents
Allow veterinarians to provide your pet's medical care while Michelle guides you through our unique coaching and counseling program. Together, you will transform the end-of-life journey you share with your animal companion from an emotional rollercoaster into confidence, competence, and empowerment for you and quality of life until their end of life.
Also included: our curated collection of home care tools, tips, animal hospice planning, and decision-making tools. With access to our multi-talented network and interdisciplinary team of Animal Hospice Practitioners, you will unlock care for yourself and your animal family member in ways you never knew possible.
The "Quadruple E" framework is at the core.
Michelle Nichols, Animal Hospice Educator and Coach, will guide you to:
- Explore your emotions surrounding the death of a beloved pet and THIS death, in particular, allowing you, the pet parent, to overcome fears and face the future.
- Examine your options, considering veterinary recommendations about your team of supporters, your pet's course of treatment, the preferred manner of death, and, within all of the possibilities, what you see as your pet’s best life while with you on earth.
- Envision an end-of-life plan and a backup plan consistent with your values, goals, and beliefs for you and your family that is based on all you have explored and examined.
- Empower you to act on your plan, making decisions that are timed appropriately and according to your wishes for your pet.
The USD $849 "Partners to the Bridge" Animal Hospice Coaching for Pet Parents includes:
- five private 1-hour online Animal Hospice Coaching videoconferencing sessions
- reflective exercises to workshop during sessions and complete on your own
- a 15-page "Partners to the Bridge" e-booklet covering home care during the end-of-life period, euthanasia decision-making, planning for a hospice-supported natural death, aftercare, and memorialization
- a"Planning a Peaceful Euthanasia" preparation checklist
- a curated packet of home nursing care and quality-of-life tools
- a "Rainbow Bridge Sendoff Plan" for you to convey your wishes and share with your veterinarian(s) and other care team supporters
- one 90-minute Bonus Remembrance Session, utilizing art therapy principles to engage hands, heart, and mind and promote healing
- unlimited support, over email to address bereavement and referrals by request
We know that, just as in birth, death is hard to predict, but it is made easier with a team of Animal Hospice Practitioners to walk beside you. No one can erase the pain when they are no longer physically by your side, but with the realization you have followed your "Path of Least Regrets," healing from the loss of your companion animal(s) will come more naturally and completely.
We can be of most “Help” when you contact us sooner, so don't hesitate to contact the AHELP Project for Animal Hospice support and guidance.
Just follow these three easy steps to get started:
1) scroll down and click the green button to "Contact Us Today"
2) complete the 5-question Family Information form
3) Michelle will contact you directly over email to set up a 30-minute call to address your three greatest concerns and for you to learn how we can help
*HELP FOR ANIMAL HOSPICE CAREGIVERS FUND*
Thanks to the nature of our nonprofit and donations from our community, our "Help for Animal Hospice Caregivers Fund" can contribute to the fees to cover our Coaching sessions. We'd be happy to discuss this fund and how it can help you in our 30-40-minute initial phone consultation.
We look forward to hearing from you and helping you, your family, and your animal companion.
Care for the Caregiver (you!)
How will I get over the loss of my best friend? We in AHELP have come to know that you don’t get OVER a loss; you get THROUGH your loss…
We commonly hear, "what can I do to feel better?" In this post we offer a few practical tips that can be "a Help" to you and your family during the hospice period and after their passing.
A ceremony at your companion's favorite spot can be a valuable in helping you get closure after their passing. Michelle Nichols and her daughter Zoe sprinkle Sora's cremains at the beach she had loved. (Photo: Chris Nichols)
Read moreCaregiver Tips and Tails Blog
Preparing your Home for an Animal in Hospice
Posted by Jane Sandwood · February 15, 2018 12:29 PM · 2 reactions
A Caregiver's Tale: FIV Lessons Learned from Russ
Posted by Suz Garcia · February 28, 2015 11:56 AM
Care for the Caregiver (you!)
Posted by Michelle Nichols · January 27, 2015 3:52 PM · 1 reaction
Join our AHELP Community!
Get Involved. Make a difference. Be part of our Professional Network or become an AHELPer Volunteer. Signup today - Professional Network Signup, AHELPer Volunteer Signup, Get Our Newsletter and/or keep up with our Caregivers' Tips and Tails Blog. Also, learn about our new partnership with PrizedPals - an online network of support by creating your own CareCorral.
| Meet Our Community of AHELPers |
Also, take a look at our Upcoming Events to see if you would like to join us for Caregiver Support Circles or AHELP Special Events. Please contact Michelle at [email protected] if you are interested in sponsorship. Help spread the word (below):
Start recruitingAnimal Caregiver Support Program
Why Caregiver Support Matters
You’ve heard it before: “Please secure your oxygen mask first, then assist your loved one.” We all know that we can't take good care of our loved one if we don't take care of ourselves - but how can you when your focus is 100% on your pet? "Why do I need caregiver support?" We hear it often! Your animal friend cannot do it without you attending to their needs, however, you can only provide the best care for your pet if you also attend to YOUR needs.
That's why we focus on caregiver support; animal caregivers need support just like those caring for ill and aging human patients. Together, we will empower you to achieve a good quality of life for your pet until the end, you know you've forged your path of least regrets and healing comes with more ease.
Scroll down to learn how caregiver support helps address these pet parents' common concerns...
|
Do any of these concerns sound familiar to you?
“I just want my furry friend to be comfortable and don’t know where to turn.”
We know the value in seeking guidance and companionship while considering options for comfort care versus more aggressive treatments to cure their illness. You may seek more support than your veterinarian alone can provide. Our framework ensures you feel seen, heard, and understood. We help you explore the best care options for your pet based on your values and goals, and build an end-of-life plan you can confidently share with your veterinary team.
“I want to know when it’s time for euthanasia.”
Deciding when to euthanize a beloved pet is hard. Even with your vet’s advice, uncertainty can remain. There isn’t a perfect moment—only the best decision made with love. We’ll help you assess your pet’s quality of life, talk with your vet, and ensure your pet doesn’t suffer. Our goal is to support you in making a compassionate decision you can find peace with.
"My veterinarian offered me unsettling options: surgery, another round of tests, or ‘call-me-when-you-want-a-euthanasia.’"
It breaks your heart to imagine life without your furry friend, but the same clinical tests yet again don’t seem to change anything, and surgery seems unfair to her. Our guidance and decision-making fundamentals will give you what you need to make informed choices and feel in control again.
“I can’t get over how guilty I feel about my last pet’s passing. I don’t know how I could do that again.”
You second-guessed yourself last time, hoping for a recovery that never came, and by the time you called on your veterinarian, you felt sure she was suffering. Bottling up your pain over this weakens you and makes you question your faith in yourself. Our steps will help you explore and heal from past emotions, giving you a more confident outlook for the future.
“I’m running out of energy to continue this level of pet care, yet she still really needs me.”
Burnout is a real risk for dedicated solo animal caregivers and is more common than you think. You might feel exhausted, stuck, or even ashamed to admit you are overwhelmed. Trust in AHELP to help you find heart-centered and compassionate solutions to continue caring for your beloved pet without sacrificing your well-being and with self-care in mind.
“I was on an emotional rollercoaster, and I’ll never forgive myself for letting her go too soon.”
You feel terribly that you might have stopped short of understanding your pet’s end-of-life options, yet forgiving yourself seems impossible. You want to look back this time, knowing you did all you could. Our guidance and support in animal hospice and palliative care can help you build a plan you can trust in, look back on your journey without regrets, and lead you smoothly to healing.
"We have a veterinarian I trust, but I wonder if they are ALL we need right now."
You have heard about other approaches to comfort and caring, and feel it's time to explore if they are the right fit for your needs at this crucial time. We know that your pet needs a veterinary team you can trust so good for you - and for your pet - if you already do. Feel free to ask about our network of providers who treat body and mind more "whole-istically." Your furry friend's end of life experience often benefits when adding a hospice-aligned practitioner or a veterinarian to your team.
“The thought of another expense like pet hospice care will overwhelm my finances.”
Another trip to the vet clinic, another $1,000 spent. Your heart says to do everything, but that nagging voice persists. Did you know that pet hospice care is typically more affordable than traditional veterinary services? We understand the financial burden and can help you find cost-effective alternatives for your pet, while also supporting yourself and your loved ones. Also, discontinuing aggressive treatments and opting for pet hospice comfort care can often give you more precious time together.
At AHELP, We Understand the Challenges of Animal Caregiving.
We get you! We know that providing hospice care for your furry friend can be deeply rewarding and create lasting memories, but it can also be challenging.
Our mission is to provide companionship, expert guidance, affordable solutions, and compassionate support to ensure you and your pet navigate these harrowing times with peace and confidence.
Comfort. Choices. Empowerment.
Animal Hospice, End-of-Life, and Palliative Care Project
About AHELP
When a multitalented group of seven, from veterinarians to senior care pet sitters to spiritual counselors, sold out a one-day workshop at the Kirkland Women’s Club on a crisp fall day in 2010, it became clear that other animal lovers wanted to know more. Following the “Introduction to Animal Hospice and End of Life Home Care,” we recognized that animal hospice awareness should become a nonprofit mission. However, we weren’t clear about how to accomplish that. So we would become a “Pet Project” until we finally landed on the looong name that would grow with the organization. But it was begging for an acronym, and AHELP Project was the perfect choice.
Thanks to our community supporters and sponsors, we realized our mission to promote human hospice ideals in animal care through community awareness programs. Sponsors assisted us to get our 501c(3) status in 2013. We held Open Houses featuring practitioners whose services contributed to comfort, an animal hospice certification program, and mentorship and training for volunteers at the Seattle Veterinary Specialists-Blue Pearl Kirkland. To keep up operations and contribute to our “Help for Animal Hospice Caregivers Fund,” we held FUNdraisers at pet-friendly venues such as Northwest Cellars (Kirkland) and Norm’s Eatery and Alehouse (Fremont, Seattle). Local artisans taught us to use hands, hearts, and minds to create memorials to remember our pets at our art therapy-inspired Creative Healing Workshops. These principles inspire us today.
In time, AHELP became an animal hospice resource for pet parents in greater Seattle, and families began reaching out for individualized caregiver support. Pet parents found solace in our Animal Caregiver Support Circles led by AHELP Co-founder Diane Dyer. Michelle Nichols assisted caregivers solve homecare challenges and companioned them to ensure they could comfortably follow their pet's care plan Comprehensive Care Home Visits. AHELPer volunteers with skills and talents in animal massage, aromatherapy, and energy work contributed to comfort for the pets. Active listening was and still is a guiding principle of any AHELP Care Team Member, and our pet parent mantra is “we get it!”
In 2024, we are modernizing our programs to meet more pet parents where they need help the most, in the home. As an animal hospice resource that extends beyond greater Seattle, we offer our coaching over videoconferencing, are developing an online class to reach pet parents more affordably, and look toward launching the "Animal Hospice Podcast" in late 2025.
Core Values
Respect
Compassion
Teamwork
Community