Vet Office Euthanasia Alternatives (puppy, Mobile, vets, natural)
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Kona (12yrs) had a quick moving cancer that took us by surprise, after waiting too long we brought her to the vet to be euthanized. I knew Sophie (13yrs) had cancer and spoiled her rotten until she decided she no longer wanted food, then we brought her to the vet, maybe a day or two too soon but she didn't suffer. Britty was a lumpy 16 year old GSD/Lab mix, she hated the vet and we had a bucket list weekend before our planned home euthanasia. She passed the night before, she spent the night uncomfortable, panting and trying to find a place to sleep. I think her heart finally gave out but even though I tried to stay awake with her I did fall asleep on the sofa. She was a 100lb dog and we then had to load her in my Outback and drive her to be cremated. That is not something I want to do again, driving down the highway with my dead dog in the back of my car, crying was about as bad as it gets for me.
Maybe if you can give him a sedative before a vet comes to your home so he is calmer that would be less traumatic than going to the office but for me passing away naturally at home was the hardest of our three dogs.
Being home would help, but this particular pet is terrified of strangers, so just having someone new in the house would stress him out! Every vet visit is a torture to him; simply seeing the carrier sets him off (he had a traumatic childhood before I adopted him). I've actually lost faith in the act of euthanasia itself since it appeared my last pet suffered during the procedure (he had heart failure and, as I understand it, it takes longer to 'work' in those cases). I've since thought that just passing at home couldn't have been any worse for him. It seems to me that there should be pet hospice of sorts, where you're given a sedative to just put them to sleep in their familiar surroundings with their beloved people. After all, all animals used to pass naturally without going to the vet. Now we rely on professionals for everything. Obviously I wouldn't want him to suffer at home, but what I've experienced in vet's offices isn't exactly reassuring. Add to that the burden of being the one to determine WHEN your pet dies, and sometimes I'm sure we don't always time that exactly right, as another poster remarked. In my own history, I can say I've waited too long at times, having been given false hopes with treatments that didn't work, and probably acted too quickly at others, again feeling pressured by the vet in the moment to decide. Being able to ease their pain at home ourselves when the time comes would be preferable.
If you can pill him, they can give you a sedative to make trip to the vet easier. Or when the vet shows up.
It’s a difficult decision whichever you choose.
We had one of the in-home services come for one of my girls and it was as good an experience as one could hope for in the circumstances.
I held her in my lap on the sofa while the vet administered the meds and she literally went right to sleep.
I think she was ready.
The vet then took her with to be cremated. They sent her back in a lovely container with a paw print.
We chose to have my other girl euthanized in the hospital after an emergency visit. Her prognosis was very poor and it just made sense to not load her back up in the car and bing her home.
They had a nice room for the family and we got to visit with her before and after. Under the circumstances, it was not a terrible experience - she also passed very quickly - I just wish I had known how sick she was prior. I wouldn’t have subjected her to the hospital.
So now, I have two senior dogs: 14-year old and a 10-year old. The older one has severe osteoarthritis and a heart murmur and while he is doing well for the most part, the decision is closer than not.
My honest hope is that his heart would just give out one day while he’s chasing squirrels because wouldn’t every dog want to go that way?
OP, if you feel pressured by your vet to proceed with any treatment you should try to find another vet.
You are perfectly within your rights to call around and ask each practice about how they approach euthanasia, whether they have a “comfort” room, last supper, etc.
As has been noted, you certainly can request a prescription to pre-medicate prior, whether in-home or in-office.
In any event, I’ve found reading resources such as the following very helpful.
I've had to euthanize several pets over the years and never had an experience where it wasn't painless. They were given an injection and that was it. Now that I have a dog that I can't pick up I would love it if when her time comes a vet would come to my house. He's right up the road from me. My Hannah is only 4 years old, so hopefully I won't have to think about that for awhile.
I think for most pets, especially cats, a home euthanasia would be the best solution.
We had to euthanize one of our dogs this past February and it was one of the hardest things we've had to have done in a long, long, time.
We saw that there is a local vet that specializes in at home euthanasia, so we called our vet to ask about his reputation.
She said he is without blemish but she actually told us not to call him. Instead, she wanted to send our dog off in the best manner, so she herself came to our house after the office closed that day and did it for us.
The local pet crematory also came out at a prearranged time to pick up his remains and our vet coordinated to get the ashes back to us a few days later.
For such a horrible event, it could not have been handled any better nor by more any more caring people.
All of my pets have ended their lives in vet's offices, I'm sure confused, terrified, and horribly stressed. I've always stayed with them, and I can't say that they've always been peaceful or painless deaths, either. I'm wondering, as my last remaining pet nears the end of his life, if anyone has elected to forego that last vet visit and allowed nature to take its course at home and, if so, what the experience was like for both you and your pet.
I've done all of them. I have taken pets to the vet to be put down. I've had a vet come to my house to put the pet down. And I had a time when I lost a pet because I couldn't get to the vet - the pet died "naturally".
I will tell you, allowing the pet to die naturally is the absolute worst thing ever. You will never forget it, because it's NOT pleasant. If you see below my name, "Good bye my little Blondie"? I've had other pets pass since then. But why does she stay there? Because she was the one I couldn't get to the vet in time. I will never, ever, in my entire life, forget that death, and I will never forgive myself for not getting to the vet in time.
I lost my best friend in the world in 2015. I took her to the emergency vet. They were very kind, and they allowed me a long time in that room all by myself with just me and my little pet. They eventually came in, asked me if I was ready, of course I wasn't, but I knew I needed to let her go - but I didn't go with her because I couldn't stand the sight of her not alive anymore. I didn't want that to be my last image of her. But still, I had taken her to a building that wasn't her home. It had cold, sterile metal tables. It had cold floors.
I just had to put my boy dog down on April 30. I could not take my boy to the vet unless the lobby was cleared out, or we went in the back way. Knowing that it would have been stressful for him, despite the fact that he loved people, I didn't want his last moments to be scary for him. So I had the vet come to my home.
The only "bad" parts were the slight 1-2 second burn of the anesthesia (first shot), which he quickly got over and continues snacking on the peanut butter from the jar, and his resistance to falling asleep. He didn't want to, and he fought the anesthesia. I'm not talking about the kill shot, I'm talking about the one that puts them to sleep - like they would if they were getting a dental treatment or whatever.
He was in his home, familiar surroundings, on the carpet where he had lied down on many times, the carpet he walked all over all day long, his sister was there, I was there, the familiar scents were there, and he had met 2 new friends - the vet and the tech...so his passing wasn't scary for him. He just didn't want to go to sleep when his 2 new friends were there visiting him.
It was the most peaceful and least stressful way to put a pet down, and turned out to be less expensive than going to any of the other vet's offices in the area. The cremation company was there, immediately, waiting outside. The vet scooped my boy up in the towel he had been lying on, and it looked like he was just asleep and being wrapped up and protected from the rain outside.
About a week later, because his ashes were spread out at a farm, I received from the cremation place his paw print in clay, and his name written in alongside that paw print. The clay was baked, they put a blue ribbon through the top where they had made a hole, put all of that inside a light blue (that matched the ribbon) mesh bag so you can see the clay "ornament" without opening the bag, and it was tied with yet another blue ribbon at the top. I also got a card from them, and a laminated, colored paper about "Rainbow Bridge". I didn't even know that stuff was coming - I just thought his ashes were being spread out at a farm and that was it.
I will, from here on out, always try for at home euthanasia before any other means of death for my other pets in my life. I wish I could have given that to all of my pets.
I have never had a vet sedate or anesthetize them first; they just do the "heart block" or whatever it is, and they die. One went instantaneously, looking into my eyes as I spoke to him, although the vet wouldn't allow me to hold him during the procedure, but the most recent one, I was later told because his heart wasn't perfusing adequately (it was a sudden decompensation of HCM that day; he suffered nothing more than low blood pressure and weakness), it look about two minutes for it to kill him. In that time, his eyes opened wide in fear, his mouth opened wide as he struggled to breathe, and the vet -- even before he had passed -- began blathering about disposal options. I snapped at him to at least let him die first, and he assured me he was unconscious; then he tapped his eyeball and said, "See? That's how you can tell." Then my beloved boy's bladder released, and he was gone. Not a great experience, as you can see. I've had several friends who, for whatever reason, didn't make it to the vet in time, and they tell me they passed peacefully at home in their arms.
I'm sure it depends what they're dying of. But I'll insist on a sedative/anesthetic next time.
Additionally, my remaining pet didn't know what had happened to his friend and not only spent literally months looking and calling for him (he still asks me where he went) while grieving, but developed a terrible case of separating anxiety and now panics whenever *I* leave, I'm sure afraid I won't return, either. It helps other pets to see the body so they can understand what has happened to their worlds. I mentioned that I would like to take him home overnight for that reason and bring him back in the morning for cremation, and the response was less than enthusiastic (they thought I was crazy). You can see why I ask...
I have never had a vet sedate or anesthetize them first; they just do the "heart block" or whatever it is, and they die. One went instantaneously, looking into my eyes as I spoke to him, although the vet wouldn't allow me to hold him during the procedure, but the most recent one, I was later told because his heart wasn't perfusing adequately (it was a sudden decompensation of HCM that day; he suffered nothing more than low blood pressure and weakness), it look about two minutes for it to kill him. In that time, his eyes opened wide in fear, his mouth opened wide as he struggled to breathe, and the vet -- even before he had passed -- began blathering about disposal options. I snapped at him to at least let him die first, and he assured me he was unconscious; then he tapped his eyeball and said, "See? That's how you can tell." Then my beloved boy's bladder released, and he was gone. Not a great experience, as you can see. I've had several friends who, for whatever reason, didn't make it to the vet in time, and they tell me they passed peacefully at home in their arms.
Wow. I've never had a vet that didn't sedate the dog before administering the final meds. They were pretty out of it by the time the second med was even injected. The vets also asked if I wanted to be present, hold them, or not.
Wow. I've never had a vet that didn't sedate the dog before administering the final meds. They were pretty out of it by the time the second med was even injected. The vets also asked if I wanted to be present, hold them, or not.
Maybe it's a regional thing? I suppose the idea is that it's supposed to kill immediately but, as you can see, that's not always the case. With all my pets, and I'm talking only four here, they did give me time alone with them to say goodbye and stay with them until they were gone, but you can only get so comfortable (either of you) standing in an examination room.
Last edited by otterhere; 05-16-2020 at 02:35 PM..
Maybe it's a regional thing? I suppose the idea is that it's supposed to kill immediately but, as you can see, that's not always the case. With all my pets, and I'm talking only four here, they did give me time alone with them to say goodbye and stay with them until they were gone, but you can only get so comfortable (either of you) standing in an examination room.
Probably not a "regional" thing. A particular vet thing. I've had to put down several dogs...in several states. They all did the sedation and gave me full choice about holding or staying with my dog as long as I chose. As for killing "immediately" I don't think that is physically possible. Some of what you see as the drug stops the heart is probably involuntary muscular reflex...not sensory awareness. Don't know...not a vet. I'd hope to trust what my vet tells me and also hope that it isn't just what I want to hear.
Last edited by Parnassia; 05-16-2020 at 03:20 PM..
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