Companioning Animals at End of Life
Honoring the animal-human bond in life and death.
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4 LIVE Classes
Online via Zoom -
A Library of Resources
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Online Curriculum
Always at your fingertips -
Personalized Care
We are here to support you
About this course
We will explore:
- What conscious dying can look like for animals
- How to navigate end-of-life decisions with clarity and care
- Ways to support your animal emotionally, physically, and spiritually
- The role of ritual, ceremony, and meaning-making in the grief journey
- How to tend to your own heart before, during, and after loss
Rachel Cao is an end-of-life doula for pets and their humans since 2019, supporting both people and the animals they love through aging, dying, death, and grief. Her passion for this work is both personal and professional. The loss of many animals throughout Rachel's life, along with the deep bonds she has shared with cats, dogs, rabbits, turtles, lizards, guinea pigs, hamsters, fish, and even millipedes, has shaped her calling in meaningful ways. Through her work with families, Rachel has become deeply committed to compassionate care and advocacy for animals, and to creating spaces where the human–animal bond, the grief that follows loss, and the wisdom animals offer us can all be honored.
You’ll also have the opportunity to learn from guest speakers—including an animal chaplain, veterinarian, and intuitive medicine teacher and channeler of animal consciousness—who will offer diverse perspectives and invite deeper understanding of the animal experience.
You’ll also have the opportunity to learn from guest speakers—including an animal chaplain, veterinarian, and intuitive medicine teacher and channeler of animal consciousness—who will offer diverse perspectives and invite deeper understanding of the animal experience.
Course Outline
Module 1: The Animal-Human Bond
This opening module explores the depth and significance of the human–animal bond, and why the relationships we have with animals can feel so profound, life-shaping, and often unlike any other. We will look at the many roles animals play in our lives, the ways they companion us through joy and hardship, the evolution of pet death care, and how anticipatory grief often begins long before loss arrives.
Module 2: Honoring the Spirit of All Beings
This module makes space for the spiritual, meaning-centered, and often mysterious dimensions of life with animals. Together we will explore animal consciousness, diverse spiritual and secular perspectives on animal life and death, ritual and ceremony, continuing bonds, and the wisdom animals may offer us about presence, love, and the cycles of life and death.
Module 3: End-of-Life Care & The Transition
This module focuses on the practical realities of caring for an animal nearing the end of life, helping participants feel more informed, grounded, and prepared. We will cover signs of aging and decline, quality-of-life considerations, comfort care, working with veterinarians, end-of-life planning, euthanasia decision-making, creating a supportive environment for death, and immediate after-death care.
Module 4: Grief, Ritual & Ceremony
This closing module turns toward grief, remembrance, and the ways we make meaning after loss. We will explore the unique nature of animal grief, supporting children and families, cultural perspectives on mourning, ritual and memorial practices, continuing bonds, and ways to carry the love of our animals forward.
