PETS: BEYOND EUTHANASIA

When Kathryn Marocchino's 13-year-old cat, Nikki, was diagnosed with kidney failure in 1996, Marocchino's veterinarians told her euthanasia was the only option. It was then, but it isn't now. Marocchino had Nikki euthanized, but the experience prompted her to create the Nikki Hospice Foundation for Pets, an organization that teaches owners to care for their pets until they die naturally. "It's new, it's revolutionary, it's exciting," she says. "And it's very needed."

When a pet owner chooses hospice care, he or she works closely with a vet, who prescribes painkillers and offers instruction on how to care for the animal at home. Marocchino has a network of 30 vets who offer this service; they report that some 30 percent of their clients now opt for it over euthanasia. Vallejo, Calif., resident Eileen Kinder chose it for her 12-year-old rabbit. "It provided closure," she says. "The biggest benefit was that there were no regrets."