Euthanasia of a Family Pet
“Dogs’ lives are too short. Their only fault, really.”
Alice Sligh Turnbull
“When the cat you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.” Anon.
Death is a normal part of the cycle of life, & the time span of
birth to old age is relatively short in dogs & cats, so, inevitably,
most owners face making life-and-death decisions for pets ill
or injured, given a poor prognosis for recovery, or when the physical, financial, or emotional burdens of treatment are beyond a family's means. Sometimes a pet's behavior isn’t compatible with safe, happy, relationships. Some of the most difficult decisions involve larger dogs with crippling orthopedic problems. And in many elderly pets, the panoply of infirmities of advanced age markedly affects their ‘quality' of life, which is far more important than ‘quantity’. Euthanasia by a veterinarian can offer the most humane & loving ending for the pets entrusted to us.
Most people express the desire to 'die peacefully in my sleep’ but few humans, or pets, do. In our country, thankfully, few people have to watch another, or themselves experience, a truly natural death. Many worry euthanasia will be painful & wonder if it's better to ‘let nature take its course’. 'Nature' is not always kind. In nature, animals live outside, in a daily struggle to survive, and where, even predators are prey, and if injured or ill, they don't linger. The goal of elective humane euthanasia is to speed the process as painlessly as possible.
In pet euthanasia (esp. when done by a veterinarian without technician support), commonly, but not always, a tranquilizer is injected subcutaneously, causing at most a stinging sensation. Once the pet is sedated, another injection is administered, usually intravenously, of a concentrated barbiturate solution, i.e., an overdose of a general anesthetic. This causes rapid & irreversible unconsciousness and brain death. Depending on the pet's condition and size, the heart may continue to beat, & they may breathe more deeply for some time, the limbs may stretch and the mouth move, and rarely will they vocalize. These are reflexes & don’t mean your pet is in pain or suffering.
Although one needs to be careful using this term, with an anesthetic overdose, in a way, they do 'go to sleep' – never to wake. (Unless kept very cold, pets held for burial may show tiny muscle twitches for some time after death). Establishing an IV catheter, which almost always involves a larger needle, is more difficult than injecting into a vein, & can be painful unless done after sedation, so unless a large volume is to be infused, it's not only unnecessary, it is questionably humane.