Animals get sick and suffer from illnesses just like people. They, silently or with cries of despair, endure suffering, and there is so much pain in their eyes that it is impossible to withstand this sight. When a pet suffers intolerable torment, trouble comes to the house. At such moments, you are ready to do anything to stop the torture.
Methods for this procedure exist and are widely used in all developed countries. After a veterinary report and a decision, pets are given special drugs that lead the suffering creature to a painless death.
What is the difference and why it may be preferable to euthanize animals in a clinic, read more in this publication.
How to make a difficult decision?
Since we are legally considered the owners of the animals we care for, the decision to humanely euthanasia is up to us. A doctor is also involved in the process, providing a medical opinion on the need for the procedure.
When making a decision, the owner evaluates:
- your ability to organize care;
- the emotional state of family members next to the dying creature;
- the prospect of continued suffering.
Veterinarians are responsible for objectivity:
- data on the patient’s condition, the development of the disease;
- chances of recovery;
- information about care, etc.
Attention! Before taking this step, consult with several doctors. Trust those doctors who make a verdict only after examination and thorough research, and not based on one glance at the animal. Request a written opinion stating the reasons why euthanasia is recommended and stamped by the institution.
The birth of a child
This moment raises a lot of questions. The animal lovers community is divided into 2 camps. Some do not accept euthanizing a cat or dog if they are healthy, and insist that before adopting someone, a person must think 100 times and take into account all possible situations, including the birth of a child. Others are prone to euthanasia if a once-favorite began to show aggression towards a new family member.
What veterinarians advise:
- Try to accommodate the animal. In the 21st century, this is extremely difficult to do, but still possible.
- Resort to euthanasia as a last resort - if a dog or cat shows aggression, the child is allergic to wool.
If there is an option to isolate the animal while the child is very small, and provided that the owners will devote enough time to it, there is no need to resort to euthanasia.
Where to perform euthanasia?
When you finally decide to have this operation, a whole new list of questions appears. Where to carry it out, by yourself or with outside help, whether you need to go to the veterinary clinic, how your pet will feel. The procedure can be carried out at home on your own, or by calling for help from trained specialists or within the walls of a hospital. Each of these options has advantages and disadvantages.
Without the appropriate medical knowledge and experience, doing the manipulations yourself is out of the question. Such problems cannot be solved with a simple pill. You risk causing the animal additional suffering, in which it will die for a long time. Legally, this is considered animal cruelty. It will be even more difficult morally from the knowledge that you yourself are causing your beloved friend suffering.
If possible, we recommend contacting a veterinary clinic after inquiring about the intricacies of the procedure.
The bill protects homeless animals
Two articles of the bill are devoted to stray animals. Article 18 stipulates the reasons for catching stray dogs and cats. These include:
- suppression of uncontrolled reproduction;
- protection of the population and property from harm;
- protection against the possible spread of infectious diseases.
It is emphasized that the treatment of captured stray animals is expected to be extremely humane. It is strictly forbidden to catch fish specifically for destruction. The answer to the question of whether it is permissible to euthanize a healthy dog if the animal is homeless is negative.
Article 19 talks about the creation of shelters for stray animals. Institutions are being created in federal, municipal, and private ownership. Owners are obliged to create the necessary conditions for the normal existence of animals: provide food, space for walking, and timely assistance from a veterinarian.
The right to painless euthanasia applies to stray animals in the cases provided for by the bill. The decision where to euthanize a dog that is hopelessly ill or crippled: in a veterinary hospital or in a shelter is made by the owner.
The bill caused heated discussion in society. Animal advocates organized a campaign on the Internet to sign an appeal to State Duma deputies calling for quick approval of the bill.
A dog's lifespan is short compared to a human's. The puppy grows quickly, turning into a young individual breathing with energy, then becomes more and more mature and mature. And now gray hair begins to appear on her face, as the first sign of approaching old age.
In the animal’s body, malfunctions are increasingly occurring, causing him unpleasant and sometimes painful sensations. The time comes and a sad moment comes when the dog owner has to part with his four-legged friend forever. In some cases, a person is faced with the painful question of euthanizing an animal.
This article will help you understand the reasons based on which the procedure for euthanizing an animal is carried out, and will answer questions about how and what you can use to euthanize a dog, and whether it can be done at home. The main thing is to understand that you need to start humanely euthanizing a dog only if there is no other way out of the current situation.
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Features of euthanasia of pets in a veterinary clinic
Taking into account the moral aspects of the problem, veterinary clinics approach the procedure with all possible responsibility and caution. The actions of specialists at home and in the clinic are technically no different. However, if there is a possibility of transportation, or there is the slightest doubt about the correctness of the decision, take the animal to a veterinary care facility.
Features of the procedure in a specialized veterinary clinic:
- An additional examination of the patient is possible to finally make sure that euthanasia is the only correct option. The procedure is started only after the conclusion of a specialist and the firm decision of the owner;
- veterinarians are known to give two injections. The first is anesthesia. Falling asleep should occur gradually. You can find out its signs from your doctor. Inside the hospital, veterinarians use medications that actually put your pet to sleep and prescribe appropriate doses;
- you can control the process of falling asleep;
- after complete loss of sensitivity, drugs are administered that stop the functioning of the heart and lungs. Together with your doctor, you can listen to the heartbeat and make sure your pet is dead.
In a good clinic, euthanasia is carried out only for hopeless animals, when there is no other option. Ask doctors questions, they are obliged to answer.
Important! It is not possible to euthanize an adult animal with a single injection. This will bring him incredible torment and is a crime. Monitor the actions of doctors.
Conscientious Misconceptions - Euthanasia of Animals
The Internet is filled with illiterate articles about the process of euthanasia for pets. It feels like they were written by “farmers” and not by people with higher education. In this article, we would like to tell you about some common misconceptions that are inherent in ordinary people who are not aware of the pharmacokinetics of euthanasia drugs, the process of euthanasia of animals, and the combination of the animal’s condition and the action of the drugs.
Let’s make a reservation right away, we ourselves have written more than once about the correctness of euthanasia of animals, we have explained what euthanasia of animals is. We have repeatedly emphasized that drugs are administered sequentially, in compliance with certain algorithms. But we would never have thought that articles like ours would convince people of this particular sequence of actions and names of euthanasia drugs and assure them that euthanasia cannot be carried out any other way. I will give a number of examples so that our dear readers can think a little.
Before euthanasia, the animal must be placed under anesthesia. Yes, we absolutely agree with this, just understand that anesthesia can be accompanied by partial preservation of motor functions. Most often, cats and dogs can move their paws and ears, although the meningeal reflexes will be completely suppressed. Often, owners, seeing that their pet is moving, do not allow an injection for euthanasia, but increasing the dose of the drug, for example, Romitar, can lead not to deeper anesthesia, but to spontaneous vomiting and the animal will die as a result from mechanical asphyxia, and not from cardiac arrest. . Two conclusions emerge. For euthanasia, call only experienced veterinarians, and if you have already called them, do not interfere with their work.
The injection for euthanasia is performed only in the heart. No, not only in the heart, but also intravenously, intramuscularly, suboccipitally. There are many methods for stopping vital functions.
During euthanasia, the cardiac activity should always be stopped, but not the respiratory system. No - this is fundamentally wrong, since the structure of the circulatory system in mammals is directly related to the respiratory system (pulmonary circulation). Simultaneous respiratory and cardiac depression is best.
If during euthanasia we stop the heart with medication, the animal dies without pain. I’ll tell you a secret: if an animal is under anesthesia, it doesn’t feel anything at all. After the heartbeat stops, clinical death occurs, but after brain death, physiological death occurs. The whole point of euthanasia is to “kill” the brain (no matter how rude it may sound). The brain dies during euthanasia from hypoxia (lack of oxygen), and this, in turn, develops either from cessation of breathing, or heartbeat, or a combination.
The animal should not have seizures during euthanasia, and if there were none, then the animal died without pain. This is wrong. If the animal is not immobilized with muscle relaxants, then seizures during euthanasia are common. We have already written about muscle relaxants; an overdose of them leads to respiratory arrest, but not to anesthesia for the brain, and therefore the animal dies in consciousness. So it’s better to have convulsions (no matter how terrible it may look) than to die painfully.
Also in this article I want to tell one story, it was told to me by a friend of mine who lives in another city. Her dog had metastatic breast cancer and she (the dog) suffered from pain for about two months. One morning the dog began to “howl heart-rendingly” as the pain intensified. A friend of mine called a veterinarian from the clinic and he gave an injection of sleeping pills, but the dog, in pain shock, did not even feel this dose of the drug. After administering a double dose of sleeping pills, the dog began to choke in convulsions, preventing the injection into the heart. As a result, the atonal period lasted about 15 minutes and it seems to me that the dog simply suffocated in consciousness.
In this situation, the owner of the dog is primarily to blame, since her compassion did not allow her pet to leave without pain. It was necessary to call a veterinarian for euthanasia earlier, before the pet went into painful shock.
The veterinarian also made a number of mistakes. First of all, it was necessary to select a drug that not only puts the animal under anesthesia but also stops the pain attack.
We would carry out euthanasia in this case in three stages. The introduction of an anesthetic is to relieve pain shock and reduce the concentration of stress hormones. After the dog calms down, an anesthetic drug is administered to turn off the brain. Then an injection for euthanasia.
Dear readers, once again I want to advise you,
Be careful when choosing a clinic and veterinarian.
Take care of yourself and your pets.
How to choose a good veterinary clinic
For personal peace of mind and painless euthanasia of your pet, it is necessary to choose responsible, qualified doctors. Look for information on forums, if you have friends who have gone through this, consult with them. Don't go to the first clinic you come across.
Choosing a veterinary institution:
- collect information about his reputation;
- find out if there is a certificate for carrying out such activities;
- inquire about the level of training of doctors.
During the decision-making process, you will have time to search for information, devote it to an informed choice of a veterinary clinic, talk to doctors, and do not hesitate to ask uncomfortable questions.
Euthanasia of cats and dogs - how it happens
“Like all vets, I hated doing it, even though it was painless. But I was always consoled by the knowledge that the last thing these helpless animals knew was the sound of a friendly voice and the touch of a gentle hand.”
J. Herriot
Euthanasia is one of the most difficult decisions that no one would ever want to make, even as a pet owner.
But sometimes euthanasia (putting to sleep) is the only way to relieve the pain and suffering of our beloved pet, it is an act of kindness that we can perform in the final stage of its life.
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Here are some questions you should consider when deciding whether to euthanize an old or terminally ill pet.
Advantages of euthanizing animals in a clinic
You have firmly decided to resort to the help of veterinarians and transport the patient to a hospital. The correctness of the choice is confirmed by obvious advantages, because by trusting euthanasia to be carried out in a hospital, you:
- you will be able to protect your children from a psychologically difficult spectacle;
- you yourself will avoid stress, unnecessary worries and tears;
- you will not wash the body yourself or clean the place of death;
- at the same time solve the problem of burying the remains;
- you can get ashes and other services in one place.
Our company has a full package of permits and a staff of specially trained specialists to carry out all operations at a professional level.
