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Actually, at the end of the year, my guinea pig, the first pet I had lived with, passed away, and I spent a lot of time thinking about “parting with pets” during the year-end and New Year holidays. At the end of November last year, Coco, who came to our home as a shelter dog, was　also gone, and we lost two pets in about a month.

Considering the lifestyles of pets and people, pets basically pass away before we do. We understand in our heads that our pets will die before us, and if we are aware of their approaching death, we can make mental preparations to say goodbye.

However, we still feel sad at the moment of saying goodbye. Naturally, we had more enjoyable times together, and we have many happy memories of our pets when we think back on them now. No matter how well prepared we are, it is extremely difficult to be at peace at the moment of their death.

Saying goodbye to a pet is a moment we all want to turn away. However, for pet owners, it is an event that is sure to come and is the most mentally burdened. Is it really sincere to turn away from such a serious event because it has a somewhat negative image and is a sensitive area?

There is a saying, “From the cradle to the grave. This phrase is often used in the pet world as well. However, there is no environment that we seriously consider “from the cradle to the grave” in the true sense of the word and provides appropriate services. If anything, I think the services offered in the “near cradle” phase are more fulfilling. Pet owners are in a high state of well-being when they start living with their beloved pets, so they often have positive feelings and actively use services.

On the other hand, in the phase near the “graveyard,” the range of services is narrow and the quality is very low. Basically, I believe that the time spent in veterinary clinics will increase as the time of death approaches. Pet owners also do not want to accept the sad reality of “parting with their pets,” so in some cases, they continue treatment and medication as a life-prolonging measure.

Is this really a happy situation?

Veterinary doctors can give medically correct advice, and some can understand pet owners’ feelings and communicate appropriately with them. However, our memories and true feelings for our pets are in our own hearts. We, pet owners, not veterinary doctors, understand our beloved pets the most.

Because it is the most painful event, we should make a choice that we will never regret. It is very important to create an environment in which pet owners can actively think and act on “parting with their pets.” Veterinary hospitals have a role to play and a responsibility to fulfill, especially since they have many contacts with pets approaching death.

In general, veterinary hospitals are places to keep pets alive. The mission of modern medicine is to save pets suffering from illness or injury. On the other hand, those who work in veterinary hospitals must have witnessed and faced the death of pets a great number of times. Few pet owners have the experience of saying goodbye to their pets dozens of times. It is a tough environment, but veterinary hospitals provide an environment where people face the death of their pets, and the staff working in veterinary hospitals have experienced saying goodbye to their pets many, many times.

Pet owners are anxious about many things. Such as at what point they should seriously think about saying goodbye to their pets, what they need to do to prepare for the goodbye, and what they should do after the goodbye. Through the experience of saying goodbye to our pets, I also felt that, unfortunately, pet funeral-related services lag behind human funeral services by many rounds. Pet loss is becoming recognized as a social problem in Japan. Still, I keenly felt that pet loss is inevitable under the current environment.

I do not have a clear answer at this point, but considering today’s environment of digitalization and exploding data volume, I believe that the role of medicine, such as modern medical care, in “turning a negative into an even” will become limited. The future of medicine is to provide an environment of prevention and pre-disease. In order to create an environment of prevention and pre-disease, it is essential to collaborate and collect data not only in the area of health care but also in the area of lifestyle in which we live every day.

Through collaboration with companies in the pet and non-pet industries that share and agree with our purpose, we aim to expand the range of our services and improve the quality of each service so that the well-being of pets and pet owners does not decline in all phases of their lives, from the cradle to the grave. We aim to expand the range of services and improve the quality of each service so that the well-being of pets and pet owners does not decline in all phases.

From the time you start living with your pet until after you say your final goodbye, you will experience many happy, joyful, or anxious and sad experiences. We would like to be a company that creates an environment where pet owners and their pets can enhance their well-being from “cradle to grave” in their lifestyles.

 

 

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