Managing mobility challenges in palliative and hospice care patients.

Some pet owners may have more difficulty managing a pet's mobility challenges than any other disorder. This problem is especially frustrating because the pet is often otherwise healthy. The decline in mobility is also connected to many disease processes, such as the neuropathies seen in poorly regulated diabetes and the weakness associated with degenerative myelopathy. As death nears, a decline in mobility toward becoming recumbent or moribund is expected. The progression of the mobility disorder will vary according to the disease process. As the pet's mobility declines, the burden of care will increase. This article addresses how to care for pets with mobility changes.