Lap Of Love Launches Pet Hospice, Euthanasia Provider Directory

LUTZ, FL — While preparing a family for a euthanasia late one night at an emergency veterinary clinic, veterinarian Dr. Dani McVety recalled the pet owner looking up and asking, “Please, can you leave her on my lap instead of that cold, sterile table?”

Only a few months out of vet school, McVety had been taught to take pets to the “treatment area” in the back of the clinic to begin the euthanasia process. But she said the pet owner's request was too powerful, too meaningful for her to refuse.

With some quick improvising, she gave the little Chihuahua a peaceful passing in the comfort of her owner’s lap. At that moment, McVety said she realized that every pet deserved a dignified experience where they feel comfortable and safe in the arms of their owner.

Shortly after, she founded Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice & In-Home Euthanasia in Lutz in 2009 as a part-time venture to pay back her student loans. However, the venture soon grew into a full-time passion for pets, their owners and the doctors who care for them.

Today, Lap of Love, based at 17804 N. U.S. 41, Lutz, consists of a network of 280 veterinarians in 36 states dedicated to making the end of life as comfortable as possible for aging and terminally ill pets.

It is the nation's largest network of veterinarians solely dedicated to end-of-life veterinary care providing in-home euthanasia, veterinary hospice, teleadvice and pet loss support services.

Partner, veterinarian Dr. Mary Gardner, joined Lap of Love in 2010 as the company’s co-founder with almost a decade of experience in software design before becoming a veterinarian. She led the development of the company’s proprietary practice management software.

Lap of Love offers hospice care, including quality-of-life assessment, pain and anxiety management, and end-of-life consultation for a peaceful euthanasia, all in the comfort of the pet’s favorite place—home.

It is modeled after hospice for humans, with a focus on palliative and pain management, not on curing a pet’s disease, McVety said.

Since Lap of Love’s inception, its member veterinarians have helped more than 400,000 pets and their families. Last year alone, veterinarians helped more than 105,000 pets and their families.

Now, Lap of Love has launched an In-Home Pet Hospice & Euthanasia Provider Directory to support the growing number of requests for pet end-of-life care and euthanasia services in the home.

The new nationwide directory connects families to local providers who specialize in pet end-of-life care needs.

“At Lap of Love, we want to ensure we connect all pet parents with the end-of-life care and euthanasia services they are seeking,” said Gardner. “Currently, our support center receives over 10,000 calls a week and, when all our doctors are booked with appointments, we need to refer calls to other end-of-life and euthanasia in-home providers. When one of our doctors isn’t available, or if it is an area that we do not currently service, we plan to direct families to this new directory. Our top priority is ensuring pets at the end stage of life get the care and services they need, whether it’s from Lap of Love or another caring veterinarian.”

The online directory is free for pet families to use and veterinary providers specializing in end-of-life pet services can create a profile listing at no cost.

"We consider the human aspect of a pet’s end-of-life care just as important as the medical aspect," McVety said. "Lap of Love doctors know that discussing when to say goodbye is the most important conversation a veterinarian ever has with a family. Our veterinarians offer compassionate, open-minded guidance to pet parents who are deciding when, how and why to either euthanize or continue medical management for their pet. Our group’s philosophy centers around the human-animal bond and the need for that bond to be as undisturbed as possible during this most difficult time."

Gardner and McVety have received a number of accolades for their work.

Among them, McVety received the 2013 University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award, making her the youngest recipient of the award to date. Gardner followed, receiving the same award in 2016.

McVety also received the Florida Veterinary Medical Association’s President’s Award, the Pet Industry Woman of the Year by the Women in the Pet Industry Network and the first-ever Innovative Practice of the Year award from the Veterinary Innovation Council, a division of the North American Veterinary Community.

In 2017, Lap of Love was listed on GrowFL Companies to Watch List and was a semifinalist in the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce’s 2017 Small Business of the Year awards.