Kinship Health Relationships: Reconfiguring the “Good Death” in Mixed Species Families

Abstract

Through an innovative interspecies analysis, this article explores narratives surrounding the medical treatment of humans and pet animals at the end of life among U.K. veterinary surgeons, medical practitioners, and members of the public. Contrasting the care options open to pet owners with those available to human patients, and through a thematic focus on treatments and medicines, euthanasia, and palliation, this article pays close attention to the ways that practitioners and members of the public make sense of—and express ideas about—interspecies family kinship at the end of life. We highlight the utility of interactionist approaches for understanding microsocial human-animal kinship ties and argue that health policy and practice during end-of-life care should better reflect the lived reality of the multispecies family. In so doing, we highlight the significance and complexities of interspecies conversations for the development of contemporary end-of-life care debates.