pet quality of life

Your vet has a tool for assessing whether your dog is doing okay. It's called the HHHHHMM Scale, and it looks at seven things: hurt, hunger, hydration, hygiene, happiness, mobility, and whether they're having more good days than bad. Most owners have never heard of it. Here's what it is, how it works, and why tracking these indicators over time gives you something far more useful than a single assessment.

Learn how veterinarians assess pet quality of life using the Five Domains Model. Understand what to monitor daily in your senior or terminally ill dog or cat.

When a pet is ageing or seriously ill, it can be hard to know whether changes reflect temporary setbacks or a deeper decline. This post explains how vets assess quality of life, why patterns over time matter more than single bad days, and how tracking daily wellbeing can support clearer, more compassionate end-of-life decisions.