\n Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care took care of Michael from Hertfordshire in his final weeks while he was suffering from renal cancer and chronic kidney disease.\n<\/p>\n
\n Michael’s cherished companion during this time was his rescue cat, Coco.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rachel, a healthcare assistant at Rennie Grove Peace, said: “We visited daily to help with personal care, such as making sure he was clean and comfortable, and making breakfast \u2013 for him and his cat.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We always made him a cup of his favourite Chinese tea.\n<\/p>\n
\n “He was very appreciative of the visits, as he lived alone.”\n<\/p>\n
\n She spoke of how much Coco meant to Michael, and how this was his main concern as he neared the end of his life.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rachel said: “Coco was his constant companion.\n<\/p>\n
\n “She sat on his lap all the time and they were really loving and affectionate with each other.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I know he was worried about what would happen to her when he died.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Rachel quickly took action after Michael’s daughter, Mary-Anne, told her she had promised her dad she would find Coco a new home.\n<\/p>\n
\n She said: “Mary-Anne couldn\u2019t take Coco because she already had a cat and wasn\u2019t sure what to do with Coco \u2013 a 13-year-old lap cat who was used to being the only pet.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I knew how much Coco meant to Michael, and I wanted to give both him and Mary-Anne peace of mind that she would be okay.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Michael died at the end of August after spending his final days in the Rennie Grove Peace Inpatient Unit in Watford, leaving Coco suddenly without her beloved owner.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rachel helped Mary-Anne to share Coco\u2019s story on a local cat rescue Facebook page.\n<\/p>\n
\n Within hours, a 70-year-old woman, who also lived alone and was looking for an affectionate companion, stepped forward to adopt Coco.\n<\/p>\n
\n Jackie Tritton, chief clinical officer at Rennie Grove Peace, said: “Michael\u2019s story is a powerful reminder that hospice care is about much more than medicine.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It is about supporting the whole person \u2013 their relationships, worries, and wishes \u2013 and helping families prepare for what comes next.\n<\/p>\n
\n “That might mean symptom management, emotional support, or in this case, making sure a much-loved pet finds a safe home.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Hospice care is about dignity, compassion, and helping people to get the best out of every day while living with a serious illness.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care took care of Michael from Hertfordshire in his final weeks while he was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-197932","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}