Caregiving Resources for Families
CAREGIVING RESOURCES · FOR FAMILIES & CAREGIVERS
As a pet's needs change — through age, mobility challenges, or a life-limiting diagnosis — the right tools and information can make an enormous difference. Not just to your pet's comfort, but to your own confidence as their caregiver.
What follows is curated, not generic — every product, article, and tool below has been used and trusted with the families Telos serves. Browse by category, take what's useful, and reach out any time you need more than a resource page can provide.
Products, Tools & Articles
Mobility
A pet's physical ability to move changes with age — osteoarthritis, muscle loss, and maladaptive pain all play a part. Practical strategies and trusted products to support your pet's mobility, whatever stage they're in.
Hygiene
Keeping a pet clean and comfortable is essential at every stage — and especially central to hospice and end-of-life care. Practical ideas you can implement today, plus the products that make it easier.
Medication administration
One of the most common challenges families face — and one of the most essential to get right. Practical techniques and tools to make medicating your pet easier, for both of you.
Comfort
Comfort care is at the heart of palliative and hospice support — and small adjustments often make the biggest difference. What comfort can actually look like for your companion animal.
Appetite support
Watching a pet eat well matters enormously — especially during their later years or while receiving hospice care. A flagging or absent appetite has more causes than most families realize. Insight on what to do when it happens.
Safety
Safety first, always — in how you interact with your pet, and in how your home and outdoor spaces support their changing needs. A curated list of products Telos families rely on to bring it all together.
Enrichment
No matter their stage of life, a pet's emotional and mental wellbeing thrives when their body and brain stay engaged. Strategies for low-impact enrichment, plus the Telos-curated product picks that support it.
Supporting Ourselves & Others Through Grief
Everyone grieves and mourns — even after the loss of a pet, and even when the people around them don't fully understand why it hurts so much. Whether you're supporting someone through this loss, or you're the one grieving, there are tools to help you navigate it with more confidence: how to listen well, how to advocate for your own grief at home and in the workplace, and how to simply move through it without judgment.
Explore grief & loss resources
If you'd prefer one-on-one support rather than self-guided resources, Lorrie also offers private grief companioning sessions — virtually, anywhere in the U.S.
Tools for Assessment
Quality of life, pain, and body language can be difficult to read in a pet — especially when changes happen gradually, or when a pet is skilled at masking discomfort. The validated tools below are used by veterinary professionals, hospice practitioners, and families like yours to bring more objectivity and confidence to that assessment. None of these replace your veterinarian's judgment — but they can help you communicate more clearly with your vet, and trust your own observations a little more.
QUALITY OF LIFE & WELL-BEING
— Telos Quality of Well-Being Assessment Tool
— HHHHHMM Quality of Life Tool
— Lap of Love Quality of Life Tool
— Journeys Quality of Life Calculator
PAIN ASSESSMENT — DOGS
— Helsinki Chronic Pain Index (HCPI)
— Cincinnati Ortho Disability Pain Index — particularly useful for working/sporting breeds
— Liverpool Osteoarthritis in Dogs
PAIN ASSESSMENT — CATS
— Zoetis Osteoarthritis Quiz for Cats
PAIN ASSESSMENT — OTHER SPECIES
BODY LANGUAGE & ENRICHMENT
— Telos Low-Impact Canine Enrichment Strategies — sensory experiences for dogs with declining mobility, vision, hearing or cognition, and those on bed rest after injury or surgery
CANINE & FELINE COGNITION
Resources can take you far — but there's a limit to what a webpage can do. If your pet's needs have outgrown what these tools can address, or if you simply want a credentialed professional in your corner as things continue to change, that's exactly what Telos provides.
The best first step is an email.
When families first reach out, they’re often overwhelmed and carrying a lot. Email gives you the space to share what’s happening at your own pace — and gives Lorrie the space to respond thoughtfully, with real information, rather than reactively. It’s how this works best, from the very first contact.
Lorrie personally reads and responds to every email — typically within a couple of hours, and always the same day. You will not be waiting.
Or, book a 15-minute Zoom conversation — $35
For families who'd rather talk than type. A brief, focused conversation to share where things are, ask questions, and figure out together whether Telos is the right fit. No obligation beyond the conversation itself.