Palliative care nurse Dale Heim explores the profound role animals play in end-of-life care. Drawing on decades of experience, Dale discusses how dogs, cats, horses, and other animals intuitively sense their owners' physical and emotional states — often detecting pain, fear, and even the approach of death before medical staff do.

The episode features moving stories from Dale's book: Leo the cat, who appeared unbidden to comfort a chemotherapy patient and vanished the day she died; Joe's two schnauzers, who jumped onto his chest at the moment of his passing; and Peter's dogs Roxy and Ruby, who were included in the full death process to help them grieve. Dale also covers equine therapy, the legendary story of Lawrence Anthony's elephants keeping vigil after his death, and Candice's bucket-list swim with dolphins.

Practical topics include the importance of including pets in end-of-life planning, allowing animals to process bereavement through scent and presence, and why Dale encourages families — and palliative care staff — to let animals onto the bed.

Topics covered: animal-assisted palliative care, cat purring frequencies, equine therapy, spirit animals, pet bereavement, end-of-life planning for pets, dying at home.

"We don't know how to die, we only know how to live. We were born to die but we only know how to live."

In this episode, Dale Heim reflects on how the dying process has shifted over the past fifty years, noting that medical advances now keep patients alive far longer, which has extended the active dying phase and brought a serious increase in morbidity and frail care.

She contrasts the earlier norm of dying at home surrounded by family with the modern tendency to leave patients in hospital, where responsibility is offloaded but the patient’s emotional needs can be overlooked—an issue she ties directly to her recurring question, “Is your suitcase packed?”

Dale gently encourages advance planning and open communication about personal wishes, framing a terminal diagnosis as a “green light” that grants time to complete unfinished business.

The conversation covers the vital role of integrative medicine, with its focus on gut health as “brain number one,” alongside conventional surgery, and the persistent authority of doctors, whom she says patients still treat as “god.” Dale also discusses iatrogenic error, the reluctance of some communities to talk about death or donate organs, and the deeply rewarding nature of palliative care, where the caregiver’s task is simply to be there and listen, because “you are not important, it’s only what your patient wants.”

Why do clergy and medical professionals avoid talking about death?

Dale also explains how the 12 steps can help patients and families process the end of life, covering practical challenges like family guilt, unresolved personal history, the importance of advance planning with living wills, and how the book is for both the dying and those left behind.