The loss of a pet can be as traumatic as the loss of a human family member.
For many families, the final moments with their four-legged companion are spent in a veterinary office after receiving the news the best thing for their pet is humane euthanasia.
“You go into these rooms and you just deliver just terrible, terrible news and break families’ hearts,” said local veterinarian Dr. Rush Holt, who has worked in both small and large animal medicine, and currently in the urgent care department at Cheat Lake Animal Hospital.
“Your first feeling is that you’re in an environment that’s not comfortable. It’s loud. There are smells. It’s stressful. It’s overcrowded. It’s busy and your first thought when you get this terrible news is you want to go home. You want to go home and you want to digest everything and break the news to family and cry together,” he said.
“Unfortunately, for vets, when people say I want to go home, they say well, ‘I can’t let you go.’ They need to be hospitalized with poor prognosis or put down your pet,” Holt said. “And most people aren’t ready for that.”
Wanting to give families more options, a few months ago, Holt started The Next Ridge, an in-home, veterinary euthanasia service that brings professional, compassionate, end of life pet care to your home, allowing your pet to pass in a calm, comfortable environment, surrounded by family.
“This is just such a needed service in the sense that you should have that option and be able to go home,” Holt said. “If you can do so safely, you should be able to go home and there’s just such a need for it.”
Holt said he realized how important a service like this was after having to put down his own dog Fergie a few years ago. When the time came, he was able to take Fergie home to be with him and his wife.
“It was just such a peaceful passing,” he said. “I knew I had the idea before that as far as potentially doing this, but when I did it for my own pet – it was just like wow, this meant the world to me and my family and this is just such a needed service.”
Holt said when you call for the service, they will schedule a time to come to your home.
Once he arrives, it’s a multi-step process.
“So initially, I go and see the pet and the first thing I do is get down and kind of just try to put everybody at ease and just kind of discuss how everything will go through the process with owners,” he said.
Holt said he will then inject the pet with a sedative, similar to valium or ketamine.
“I like using sedation just because I think it gives you a nice middle ground. Your pet will get more sleepy, and if they’re anxious, they settle down, and it kind of puts everybody at ease,” Holt explained.
At this point he will step away for 10-15 minutes while the sedative takes effect.
“Then I come back and the second injection is an IV injection of sodium pentobarbital, so it’s just an overdose of a sedative,” he said. “My goal is to use a back leg, just so that way the owners can be at the front and you know, talking to their pet and be close with their pet.”
As far as after the pet has passed, Holt will check and make sure that they don’t have a heartbeat and “give everybody a big hug because it’s such an emotional time for everybody – and I’m a hugger,” he said.
From there he can help you move the pet if you are doing a home burial or can take the pet for cremation services. He said they often use Almost Heaven pet cremation service, owned by Dering’s Funeral Home, but have also brought pets to High Meadow and All Pets if the owners prefer.
Currently, The Next Ridge serves areas within an hour radius of Morgantown, including Fairmont, Clarksburg and Preston County although Holt said he has traveled as far as Wheeling if time allows.
Holt said he hopes to eventually expand the business to include hospice-style care for pets, but for now The Next Ridge is primarily able to provide euthanasia services.
The most common patients are large dogs, Holt said, but he has served families with cats, horses and other species as well.
Holt said they have had some ebbs and flows in the amount of business they see, but “this time of year I feel like it’s getting busier, unfortunately, just with the weather getting cold and mobility issues with bigger dogs – so it’s been busy.”
Pricing for The Next Ridge’s services vary depending on the type and size of the pet and can be discussed when booking an appointment, Holt said.
To learn more about the services offered or to book an appointment, call The Next Ridge at 304-288-4989 or visit The Next Ridge Facebook Page.
