My Story

When Temperance, my heart dog, came into my life in 2013, I had no idea the journey that the Universe had in store for us. The day the store owner put her in my arms for the first time, my ex at the time told me “she is healing your heart”. While I had loved and been connected to animals before, the bond that Temperance and I had was something that I cannot fully describe.

In 2023, Temperance was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer. The diagnosis was devastating and overwhelming. Her oncologist gave her one to two years to live. After about 6 months, the different cancer treatments stopped working, her body was no longer responding. Between myself and her team of vets, we decided to keep Temperance as comfortable as possible and let her live her life. Each day, I never knew if it would be the last.

Towards the last few months of Temperance’s life, I had a idea of having a death doula with me to help navigate this very difficult part of our journey. If birthing doulas for humans was a thing, and I had heard of death doulas for humans, surely there was something similar for animals. I locked the thought away.

Temperance passed in my arms on July 4th of 2025. Prior to the holidays that year, that thought popped up again. I started to do research and found that indeed, animal companion death doulas were a thing! I knew at the time, I was not ready to fully dive into what this work would require, and what things would surface. I decided to wait, and allow the holidays to pass, so I could process my grief further, and knew I would be able to integrate that into the work I would be doing with becoming a pet death doula. I needed to know my why before stepping into this line of work.

I know the pain and grief and anxiety and all the emotions and turmoil a person can feel when facing the hardest part of the journey with a pet. Temperance was and will always be, my heart dog, and my little shadow. I think of her daily.

My why is simple. Turning pain into purpose.

My intention is to help families and their animal companions navigate the End Of Life, to be a support system, an advocate, to be a complimentary person alongside veterinary care, to assist with informed decisions, provide compassionate and non judgmental support, and to help ensure a dignified and peaceful transition for both you and your animal companion.