Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice & In-Home Euthanasia - Des Moines

Lap of Love assists families and their pets in Des Moines and surrounding neighborhoods with end-of-life care in the comfort of their home. Our experienced veterinarians provide compassionate care for your dog or cat, including in-home euthanasia and hospice. Veterinary hospice specifically addresses comfort care and pain management for pets. Our telehospice service allows you to speak with a doctor to discuss your pet's quality of life. We can also assist with some exotic pets too

Dr. Dani McVety started Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice in 2009 shortly after graduating from veterinary school while practicing emergency medicine in her hometown of Tampa, FL. After helping countless families through the loss of their pets, she felt an immense inspiration to combine her previous experience as a human hospice volunteer with her love of people and a desire to make the experience of losing a pet as peaceful as it can possibly be. In 2010, as word spread about a new way for pet parents to say goodbye, Dr. McVety contacted her good friend and veterinary school classmate, Dr. Mary Gardner, to help expand Lap of Love nationwide; Dr. Gardner joined as co-founder, applying her decade of software design experience to lead the development of the company's proprietary practice management software. In 2011, Lap of Love welcomed their first veterinarian outside Florida, in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2013, Lap of Love expanded to serve 20 states. In 2015, Lap of Love established its dedicated Support Center with a team of compassionate professionals to assist families over the phone. In 2017, Lap of Love's team grew to over 100 doctors nationwide and had been honored to sit at the bedside of more than 100,000 pets and their families. In 2020, Lap of Love rolled out a Telehospice service and its team grew to over 200 doctors. As of 2021, Lap of Love has been honored to sit at the bedside of more than 400,000 pets and their families. In 2023, Lap of Love's team grew to over 300 doctors nationwide and Lap of Love launched an internal Certified Veterinary Hospice and Euthanasia Practitioner course

Mission — We believe all pets deserve peaceful end-of-life experiences. Lap of Love is a network of veterinarians around the country with the goal of empowering every owner to care for their geriatric pets. Our philosophy centers around the human-animal bond and the need for that bond to be as undisturbed as possible during this most difficult time. Because pets are family. That's why we do this