When someone is very sick, a house can feel strangely quiet.
In that silence, the small things start to matter more. The warmth of a blanket, the sunlight on the floor, or the steady breathing of someone nearby. For many people, that someone isn’t a person, but often it’s a dog resting on the rug or a cat curled up at the foot of the bed.
We don’t usually think of pets as “medicine,” but research suggests that maybe we should.
For a long time, our appreciation for pets was based purely on emotion. Today, science supports what we’ve always intuitively known. Recent research into animal-assisted therapy shows that spending time with animals provides measurable biological and emotional comfort during palliative and end-of-life care.
While pets cannot cure a disease, they ease the burdens that matter most. They combat loneliness and help individuals reclaim their sense of identity, allowing them to feel like themselves again rather than just a “patient.” In fact, spending just a few minutes stroking a gentle animal can physically soothe the body by working to:
This happens because the calm presence of an animal prompts our bodies to release “feel-good” chemicals like oxytocin and serotonin. Humans are social creatures, and for thousands of years, that social bond has included the animals living alongside us.
In many Australian hospitals and care settings, therapy dogs are increasingly common visitors. For someone who has been in a hospital ward for weeks, the sight of a wagging tail can make a clinical room feel like home again. Animals have a special way of bringing dignity and joy right to a person’s bedside.
Calvary’s Pet Therapy Program
Pet therapy is a vital part of care across many Calvary locations. A beautiful example of this can be seen across their South Australian hospital sites – Calvary Adelaide, Calvary North Adelaide, and Calvary Central Districts. Here, a dedicated team of around nine pet therapy volunteers brings eleven animals to patients, staff, families, and visitors each month, contributing more than 50 hours of voluntary time.
The Mary Potter Hospice goes a step further by hosting visits from Therapeutic Dogs Services Inc., alongside occasional petting zoo encounters and miniature pony visits. They even arrange interactions with friendly native animals, some of which are organised especially for family celebrations.
The program reaches many long-term patients, particularly those who are missing their own pets and the comfort of home. Staff frequently report that after a visit, patients appear more engaged, more communicative and noticeably uplifted. But it is not only patients who benefit. Calvary staff observe that families and carers often respond just as strongly, finding in the animals a positive distraction, a source of comfort, and a reason to focus on something beyond illness or treatment. The whole atmosphere on the ward shifts: the clinical environment becomes, for a moment, something warmer and more human.
Where clinical staff agree it is appropriate, Calvary also supports visits from patients’ own pets. For people living with a life-limiting illness, this can provide an enormous sense of familiarity and connection to home and identity. Not long ago, a patient died peacefully in the Hospice with her beloved cat curled up alongside her – a quiet reminder of the profound comfort animals can bring at the very end-of-life.
The Worry That Comes With Love
While pets bring joy, they can also bring a specific kind of worry: “What will happen to my friend if I pass away first?” Kate Hoelter, from the RSPCA’s Home Ever After program, hears this all the time. Many people, especially those living alone, are afraid to get a new pet because they don’t want the animal to be left behind. This worry can stop people from enjoying a friendship that would benefit both them and the animal.
“I feel strongly about older people being able to enjoy a pet,” Kate says. “It can be a wonderful relationship, especially for a shelter animal who may have had a rough start in life.”
Planning for Their Future
Loving an animal means making sure they are okay even after you have died. It’s not a sad task; it’s a final act of kindness. Kate suggests a few practical steps:
1. Talk to family and friends: Ask who would be willing to take your pet. Don’t just assume – have a real conversation.
2. Write it down: Put your wishes in your Will and write a letter about your pet’s routine, favourite foods, vet, and any other details you consider important.
3. Have a backup plan: Programs like the RSPCA’s Home Ever After allow owners to register their pets so that if no one else can take them, the RSPCA will find them a perfect, loving new home. Find out more at rspcainyourwill.org.au/hea
A Final Gift
What pets give us at the end-of-life isn’t a miracle, it’s something better. It’s the sound of a heartbeat in the room and the simple fact that someone still needs to be fed breakfast.
By planning for their future, we give them a gift in return: a promise that they will be loved, even after we are gone.