Euthanasia question

[Florrie]

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Hello folks,

I'm new and I would like a bit of input if anyone has the time to chip in with some help/advice please.

I Had my gorgeous girl put to sleep at home because she hated the vets, and she had had a

heamorage from which the vet said there was a possibility she could die painfully.

That was difficult enough, making that decision, absolutely awful.

Anyway, the vet that arrived and said that she would just 'go to sleep and not wake up',

which is what my wife and I expected as well.

So what happened was that as he injected and took off the tourneque, my doggy dropped her head almost immediately, but

instead of going to sleep, in the next few seconds, she went into a massive convulsion arching her back for about five seconds

- crapped diarrhea all over our expensive rug, and her diaphram started involuntarily convulsing - the vet said that she

had already gone to sleep by then, but she she finally stopped moving a good 20 seconds later.

She had also bitten her lip, which caused blood to stain the carpet.

Oh my God. My wife and I were inconsolable, what we had witnessed has haunted us, and I'm only

able to write about this after two weeks. The vet let himself out.

Is this normal? I feel that it was the duty of the vet to tell us of the potential of this, we needed to do

it, but at least we could have been prepared physically and mentally, my wife said she would have left the room

for it. We were expecting her to literally go to sleep and that be it.

Also to add insult, the itemised bill included:

Reexamine dog - £13.14

Attend town - £51.60 (I live a third of a mile from the vets surgury)

Euhtanasia - £58.96

Out of hours fee £70.64 which comes to £210. Bloody hell. I earn £7 an hour.

Anyway, do you guys think that I should have a stiff word now that we've got over the emotion of it, what would you do?

Thank in advance

Andy

 

[Biker John]

Unfortunately I have had to have a number of dogs and cats euthanized over the years, none of them had anything like the reaction you describe they did all just go to sleep then their hearts stopped, very emotional but not traumatic at all. It must have been horrific for you and your wife. And yes I would send a complaint into the surgery, in writing.

 

[Chris and Lynne]

We all know that vet fees are astronomical and well out of proportion to the work done!! They will cite overheads.They are a necessary evil ,I have always thought, whilst we are a captive clientele who love to distraction our pets. We therefor pay anything to have our dogs put right before having them put down. We could all go on about these profiteers but we'll get nowhere.

The main point of this reply is to describe what happened, on two occasions, when I have had my dogs put to sleep. ( I think as dog "owners" we have a moral obligation to be with the animal when it is eventually euthanized. If you disagree then disagree it's just my opinion). I took both my dogs to be euthanized and on each occasion the procedure was exactly the same. Lift dog onto table, put my arms around his shoulder whilst the vet shaved the top of a paw and injected a double dose of anesthetic . Each dog slumped, in NO obvious pain, into my arms and I carried them to my car, took them to my workplace (A sports club with extensive grounds) and buried them !

You should have had a very different experience than you did have and you can quote me when you take this person to task.

I also had a dog killed outside my house by a car full of ignorant yooofs doing at least 50 down the street the dog was at large through my fault. The yoofs came back to the scene ,once they had managed to stop the missile and I asked who was driving and hit him as hard as i could on the jaw and sent them to the police station if they felt like complaining. The vet duly arrived and took the Labrador from my arms and I just asked her to put him to sleep A S A P dispose of the body and send the bill. She did and the bill arrived about 4 weeks later and I remember that it was about what we expected. Not exorbitant at all.

Yes, now you have settled down have a word with the robbing bastards!

Chris

 

[Florrie]

Thank you John and Chris,

I am now going to write to the vet about it, but I wanted to get to the bottom of it before I do.

I wondered if he put far too much or too little aneasthetic into her, but I guess its irrelevent.

Thanks again guys

 

[murphyrules]

Sorry to hear of your experience, every animal I have been with when the time came has responded differently, with regards to opening their bowels and bladder, the diaphragm and the gasping can happen as its a muscle.

It sounds as though your wee dog had gone before any of that happened so at least she was not aware of it.

The vet should have explained that every animal responds differently and that these things may happen as you would have been more prepared. I am not trying to defend your vet or the situation and I think the bill is excessive (I paid £50 to have my dog euthanased a year ago in the vets), I hope they take your letters comments on board and make some changes to the way they deal with euthanasia in future.

Hope you and your wife are ok

:flowers:

 

[chelynnah]

This is not uncommon and is a horrible experience to go through. Most euthanasias go peacefully and easily, but a small percentage happen like this. There is nothing your vet did wrong except that they didn't prepare you that this could happen. I'm so sorry you weren't prepared for it. They should have also advised that even in a peaceful one the animals may evacuate their bowels so should have advised you to have a blanket under.

We had our girl put to sleep at home. I half expected her to go like this as she was just that kind not to let go easily. We were lucky she just went to sleep. But even though we were in the garden we had her on a blanket for her comfort.

The vet was telling you the truth that she had already gone to sleep and didn't feel any of it. Some vets will try to reduce the likelihood do this situation by giving a sedative before the final injection, but most feel that only adds to the stress of the dog and your cost.

As to the bill that isn't dissimilar to what we paid. We had a pre-booked home visit during surgery hours and I think it was £190. If I had taken mine to an out of hours clinic I would have paid £140 just to walk through the door then the cost of 'treatment on top, so likely more in the end.

I know it's little consolation but know that you did what was best, and the rest was the body's physical reaction and wasn't your girl experiencing any pain. Easier said than done I'm afraid.

 

[broxi3781]

I have never experienced anything like this, but my mother did. She was beside herself. the dog in question was an 18 year old labx and she described something similar but that the vet had to give a second shot. In all honesty I don't know if this is something that happens sometimes - and if so I hope to god it never happens to me as they'd need to call the paramedics for me next, but I have a pretty good idea who might know. If you feel up to it I would suggest contacting the British Veterinary Association. I don't seem to be able to cut and paste here but you can google it or bvahq the a in a circle then bva.co.uk

If you do get any answers, especially if there is any way to prevent this please do let me know. I would gladly pay double before going through such and event, although I am still praying that I will be spared by a miraculous death in their sleep at a very old age.

I am sorry I can't help more, and even more sorry that you had to go through this. I am going to have nightmares now. I thought it was a one off as the animals I have seen put to sleep did just drop. They were literally there one second and gone the next and I'm still going to start gurning thinking about it.