Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice & In-Home Euthanasia

Dr. Jessica Gibson was there for me at my time of need. My 14 year old Maine coon was my best friend. He began to decline for about an entire year before making the hardest decision of my life. Lap of love was recommended to me by a friend who had lost her dog a week earlier. Jessica came next day. She informed me that due to covid she would only be in the room to give him his “meds”. She was patient, kind, thoughtful of my kitty and informative. She provided me with 2 paw prints and a bit of his fur to keep. As hard as this was, Dr. Jessica made the process as easy as it could be. For anyone questioning if the time is right but you are dreading the call- Lap of Love would be my choice. Thank you again and Thank you Jessica

I thank God for Dr. Elyse. Paulie was my 'prince of peace', as I called him. I adopted him from a shelter about 10-years ago. I struggled with sometimes crippling anxiety and panic attacks. When I was in the throws of one of these attacks, he would lay down with me and put his weight on my back. He crossed the country with me twice, and was my trusted co-pilot each time. We did everything together. He was my entire world. He was probably around 4-5 when he came into my life. The last year we noticed he was turning grey and slowing down a lot. Instead of our normal 2.5-mile walks every evening, I often found myself carrying him in my arms for longer and longer. Finally, his last walk was when I carried him the entire way-and I am so grateful for the opportunity to do so! He hadn't eaten in 2 weeks and was in kidney failure. I force-fed him baby food through a syringe 5-times a day. He became unable to relieve himself outside of his bed. I don't believe he was in physical pain, but he was hurting. After some treatments, and prayers I called Dr. Elyse. She was the answer to our prayers. If you're like me and struggled with the decision to euthanize, to take a God-given life, you are not alone. I found myself praying for Paulie to pass in the evening so I would not have to make that decision. When Dr. Elyse arrived, she was kind, gracious, and loving of our Paulie-as if she had known him her whole life! She allowed Paulie to peacefully go in his own bed with DIGNITY and her loving kindness. My husband and I were also recipients of her kindness anther follow-up with us some days later. Although I wish Paulie were still here and Dr. Elyse never had to come to our home, I am HUMBLED and GRATEFUL for the blessing that her presence provided Paulie and us. Saying good-bye to my 'prince of peace' was excruciating, and Dr. Elyse even allowed me to carry Paulie to her car, where she took him home with her...I could not have asked, hoped, or prayed for a more perfect dog than Paulie or for his final care-giver to be any more perfect than Dr. Elyse. If you are grappling with making a similar decision for your own beloved 'prince (or princess) of peace', rest assured in trusting Dr. Elyse. She has a heart for you, and your prince or princess and you will be comforted by her grace and professionalism. You are in my prayers, Sal Settineri

I want to express my gratitude to Laura and to Lap Of Love for helping our family. Without Laura and the service provided by Lap Of Love we dread to think of how saying goodbye to our dog Jack would have gone. Jack was a character. When we first got him we had maybe six months worth of normal, and since then it's been anything but. He was a jerk at times, didn't like people, didn't like other animals, he was a lawsuit waiting to happen. On the flip side he was a sweet, loving, and often comical dog with those close to him. He was adventurous and was ridiculously strong for his size. It was often said that if he had ended up with any other family they would have either given him away or have him put down. We couldn't do that, it's not in our nature as people. It wasn't easy to care for Jack because of his aggression and on top of that he developed special dietary needs early on that was taxing on him physically and mentally for his whole life. We couldn't bring him to the vet, we had maybe twice in his life because it was a traumatic experience for Jack, the vets, and for us and it took considerable planning and even still a very traumatic ordeal. Having said that, we worried over the years about when his time would come. We had numerous emotional talks about it, we didn't know if he'd be going down fighting and biting, or if he were to have an accident and we were forced into it-what do we do. Mind you, Jack wouldn't even let us..people he loved and knew were there to help him, clip his nails or groom him. I can count the time's the number of baths he's had. He was so stubborn and he would even bite us if we did something he didn't want us to do. He had gone to a number of classes for training but that didn't work, he continued to be aggressive..want to bite people and other animals. We also had two cats early on, Greyson and Sam that Jack had gotten used to but we in the beginning had to protect the cats and it was learned he couldn't kill the cats. There was only ONE dog he made a connection with and that was a small black dog named Ozzy. We ended up moving, and so he really just had us, and we had him. So this was weighing on us, our family, what are we to do..what can we do. When we decided it was time for Jack, things just happened to fall into place and work out..honestly better than I could have hoped. Laura was so considerate and professional and gave us all the time we needed to be with him in his last moments. The day of, Jack was having one of his better days..we took a nice long walk and just like so many times after a nice walk he laid down in the front yard, he was relaxed, and and Laura brought him a hot fudge sundae and a cheeseburger which I'm sure he loved because he could never have these things because of his allergies. As he laid on the grass we all said our goodbyes, I believe he knew and was ready, and he slowly went to sleep, and he passed so peacefully. It was a huge relief and I am beyond thankful that we could give him that. That's all we ever wanted for him when his time came. The only thing we wished had happened is if the sun was shining..he loved basking in the sun. Though the weather forecast was calling for rain, which thankfully didn't happen. All in all, it couldn't have gone any better. So I really want to thank Lap Of Love and to thank Laura for being there and for all that they have done for Jack and for our family. I can't recommend their services enough, they thought of everything and really put us at as much ease as possible during a very difficult time. Yes they do put prices on their service..but for what they were able to do for Jack and us truly is priceless and it meant so much to me and all of us. From the bottom of my heart, Thank you Laura, Thank you Lap Of Love for everything you did and all that you do.

It is difficult to express in a few words our deep appreciation to Dr. Kiley for her aid in enabling us to give our last, best gift of love to our beloved Sadie at home. She spent time getting to know our sweet girl, making her feel comfortable and relaxed, while allowing us to share our stories and helping us to deal with our grief. Our earthly angel received her heavenly wings happy, comfortable, gobbling up treats and surrounded by so much love. Dr. Kiley created a beautiful, tender experience for us to say our final goodbyes, and we are indeed grateful.

Our beagle-mix, Smores, was over 15 years old. She'd torn her ACL but was too old to survive the surgery. Within five weeks she declined so rapidly because she could barely walk. I'd hoped she would pass away in her sleep but that's not the way her body declined. The final three days made us realize that she needed to be put down to end her suffering. Smores hated the vets. She would shake like a leaf whenever we went. I dreaded that ending for her. When I spoke to my vet about this they recommended LAP OF LOVE which provides in-home euthanasia. I called and from the very start they were so compassionate. From the administrator to the veterinarian. Dr. Laura was so kind and gentle. Very sensitive to what we were going through. We really loved our dog. She was like one of our children. Dr. Laura understood that. She was so calm with Smores that the dog had zero fear. Smores was able to stay in her bed, in our home, and simply go to sleep. The sedative worked quickly. She never knew what was going on. She just closed her eyes. Dr. Laura gave us time alone with Smores before then after. I highly recommend this service to everyone. This is the way we will go with our other dogs when their end of life comes. What a great idea for the pet and family. Thank you Lap of Love!