Euthanisia, which do you "prefer" shooting or needle?

I wonder whether the perception of injections not being fast (enough) is down to the fact that signs of life may continue after consciousness is lost. An animal may continue to breathe, and its heart continue to beat, for some time after injection - but this doesn't mean it is aware of anything or is suffering in any way. This is something the vet should explain.
 
The (senior partner) vet who messed up the injection of my pony used Somulose, via a catheter. It still went wrong. I don't know about others' experiences but I can state categorically in this case we are not talking about "signs of life". The pony was stood for over 50 minutes and was plunging, shaking, and I would describe her as acutely hyper aware - ears moving to every slight noise, nostrils flared. However she was still responsive to me, thank god because having owned her for 28 years I was able to give some calm and reassurance (despite being in a complete state myself). She collapsed only after about 50 minutes but the vet did have to haul her to a sitting position to shoot, and she was again still responsive to my voice.
Having had all my other horses shot by a knackerman I am now extremely clear this is the only choice, unless it is an emergency in which case my NEW vet will come and shoot.
 
Nudibranch said:
The (senior partner) vet who messed up the injection of my pony used Somulose, via a catheter. It still went wrong. I don't know about others' experiences but I can state categorically in this case we are not talking about "signs of life". The pony was stood for over 50 minutes and was plunging, shaking, and I would describe her as acutely hyper aware - ears moving to every slight noise, nostrils flared. However she was still responsive to me, thank god because having owned her for 28 years I was able to give some calm and reassurance (despite being in a complete state myself). She collapsed only after about 50 minutes but the vet did have to haul her to a sitting position to shoot, and she was again still responsive to my voice.
Having had all my other horses shot by a knackerman I am now extremely clear this is the only choice, unless it is an emergency in which case my NEW vet will come and shoot.
Click to expand...

Horrendous, no other words for it!
 
I see a lot of threads on here talking about Euthansia, It does make me feel uncomfortable as it obviously is a very emotional subject!
On the other hand it had also made me think I need a plan should a tragedy happen, so thank you all you brave souls for sharing such sensitive stories I for one will hopefully be better prepared now!
 
I grew up only knowing the gun, every horse that was PTS in the area and our own horses were all done by the hunt or knackerman and shot. it was only 9yrs ago when I had another horse PTS that I realised that there was the option for injection, I know that sounds daft but it's how I was raised. I have seen a lot of horses shot and in recent years seen many injected. I've seen the shot ones go quick and also a couple have gone wrong. as of yet I've not seen anything go wrong with injection but I guess I may be one of the lucky ones.
for my old boy I will only go with injection and I know which 2 vets I would use for that task. he trusts them completely and wouldn't think anything of them walking up to him with a needle, also because of his issues it is very likely that he will go very quickly.
I'm in somerset but spent 31yrs in west wales (where the bullet was always used).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top