Caring for a Dying Dog at Home in Japan: What to Prepare From the Day You Get the Diagnosis

Last updated: August 11, 2026

Maybe you've just been told your pet doesn't have long, and that's what brought you to this page. The first thing worth saying: there's no right answer between caring for your pet at home and continuing treatment as far as possible. Which one you choose isn't something you decide once — it's something you can keep working through with your regular vet, one step at a time.

This page is written with dogs in mind, but almost all of it applies to cats too — the breathing guideline, how to take time off, and how to think about the arrangements don't really change.

1. Know the breathing rate guideline

A resting breathing rate that stays above 40 breaths per minute is generally treated as a warning sign worth noticing. To count it, just count breaths for 15 seconds while your pet is still, and multiply by four.

If your pet looks like they're struggling, don't wait and see — get to a vet as the first priority.

Depending on your vet's judgment and guidance, home oxygen may be offered as an option. We've put together the actual costs in our oxygen rental cost comparison. Most providers combine a base fee of roughly ¥5,000–¥15,000 with a daily rate of roughly ¥650–¥1,980.

2. Decide during the day who to call at night or if things change suddenly

Your pet's condition is most likely to change at night. Rather than scrambling to figure it out once it's dark, there are two things worth doing ahead of time, while it's still daytime:

• Ask your regular vet who to contact outside business hours or on their days off
• Look up the emergency clinic they point you to, and how to get there, once, ahead of time

Having this settled in advance means less time spent scrambling if the moment actually comes.

3. Check how you'd take time off work, ahead of time

Bereavement leave (kibiki, 忌引き) — where it exists as a company policy in Japan — generally applies after a pet has passed away. Few companies extend it to cover the caregiving period itself. The realistic option for taking time off during that period is paid annual leave (yūkyū kyūka, 有給休暇). Japanese labor law doesn't require you to disclose a reason to your employer — "personal reasons" is enough, and it covers time spent on nursing care or accompanying your pet to the vet, too.

Some companies also have a separate leave category for medical visits or caregiving, distinct from bereavement leave. We've put together how to check what your company offers, along with example phrasing, on this page.

4. Look once at what the arrangements involve, before the day itself

If you start researching this in the middle of grieving, you end up doing two hard things — grieving and logistics — at the same time.

Looking through it once now, while you're still steady, tends to make that day a little easier on your future self. You don't need to decide anything right now. Just knowing it exists already helps.

• What to do right after your pet passes is covered here
• Cremation comes with a few different options — communal, individual (unattended), and individual (attended) (see types and differences)
• Typical costs are covered here, and what your local municipality offers is covered here

There's no right way to spend the time that's left

Some people keep to their usual routine. Others go through old photos. Neither one is more correct than the other.

You don't have to push yourself to do anything in particular.

You can also read stories from other owners who have walked this same road. And if a day comes when you find yourself thinking "I should have been there," this page is here too.

Frequently asked questions