Hard questions re PTS

S

skewbald_again

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 October 2009
Messages
870
Visit site
I am trying to come to terms with the fact that when the vet comes to see our retired pony tomorrow, we may have to start to consider pts.
He's blind in one eye, and I think the other one's going. He has a few other health issues, but he is so adored - he's mid to late twenties and had a hardish life before coming to us - I want to believe we'll work somehting out, but I must accept that we might not.

Trouble is, it's a quarter of a century since I was last in this position - and I just don't know what the procedures/choices are. I don't want to look a blithering idiot as well as an emotional wreck when the vet is here, so if anyone could give me a run down of the current options - procedures, what needs to be done, relative costs, etc, I would be eternally grateful.
 
I wont be much help as i am a soppy baggage and have mine cremated and the ashes back.
cost of vet pts, crem collection and everything to do with that roughly £400
Sure there will be plenty on her who can advise on other means
 
My ves are brill they organise everything and go and collect the ashes for me so i dont have to go to the crem and i just pay what i can when i can.
Hope all goes well tomorrow and this information wont even be needed
 
I had boy PTS at vets (he was in horspital anyway) and to have him cremated and ashes back was just over £700 the vets were fantastic about it all and called me to collect the ashes from the vets.
 
I'm so sorry you are in this terrible situation :( this is the only part of owning animals that I hate.

When my lad was PTS it was done by my lovely vet who had lots of dealings with him. He was PTS by injection as only one vet at our practise has a firearm license.

Although some people may say the injection is slower than the gun, I only have direct experience of the injection. He was sedated first & it was very quick & peaceful. It was a while ago so the price wouldn't be a true indication but I was quoted £600 for his ashes if I wanted a private cremation & have the ashes back. I'm sure the price must have gone up by now but it may be worth asking.

Last week a mare at our yard was PTS, I was with her & she honestly thought she was going out to her field. She was very calm & not alarmed in any way. She was sedated first & went very peacefully.

I don't have a full breakdown of the bill but I do know that for the visit by the vet, injection, disposal & cremation (including private cremation) the bill was £900. There were 2 syringes of a painkiller paste (can't remember the name) included on the bill from the previous evening.

Hope this is of some help to you. I am sorry I have no experience of other methods but hopefully somebody else can help you with those.
 
Oh hun. Not a nice place to be. Hugs to you.

Is he insured? That will affect the process.

The local hunt is often a good bet, but it depends on where in the country you are.

Sorry, getting tired and brain is addled today, but if you don't get any more responses, I'll get back to it tomorrow (I did some research due to having to have my first horse put to sleep and coming close to it with my current one).
 
We have, sadly, been in this position a few times in the last few years. We have had ours shot at home, both by the hunt and by the local 'pet crematorium' firm (which used to be the local horse slaughterer, still run by the same family). The last horse was a young ClydeXShire, who was suddenly taken very ill, three years ago. The firms owner came out herself on the Saturday after easter, at an hours notice and charged us £250, to do the deed and remove the body. We did not request the ashes back, although this is a service which they provide, at a cost. The one previous to that was also an emergency, a retired TbxWelsh D was down in the box and unable to get up (suspected stroke), the local hunt came out that day and charged us £200 pounds, that was five years ago.
Many years ago we had to have a little welsh section A pts as a result of laminitis and the vet injected and the knacker firm came out and removed the body. I would not personally choose that route again, as have found that it is better for the horses to be shot.
I do think though that it depends on how close you are to a reliable and compassionate service. We are fortunate in having a good local hunt and an excellent local firm.
 
we do know the hunt is an option, and he was a great hunting pony in his day - my concern is that I don't know if he has to be taken to the kennels? I won't do that as having lost his sight, he would be unhappy and panic stricken in the trailer. I want him to go (if now is when he has to) at home here, where he feels safe.
I don't think we particularly want his ashes (we're in a farming community and even the children are quite used to mortality) - but I don't want him to panic, or be afraid. He honestly saved my daughter's life, he turned it round completely, the debt of gratitude we owe him is incalculable.
We already put a cow bell on his best horse friend, and a sleighbell on his goat companion, so he knows where everyone is at all times, and are hopefull that he will have another summer of sunshine on his back before this becomes necessary, but we can't see him suffer, so the vet has to look into what is actually going on before we make decisions.
Thank you all for advice so far. Much appreciated.
 
I wouldnt worry about looking like a blithering idiot, i had a 25yr old stallion put to sleep 4 weeks ago and i had everything sorted out before the vet came to do it and still ended up a blithering idiot and emotional wreck and everything in between. I dont know what options are in U.K but i had to have him taken away, couldnt bury him over here(ireland).
 
Hello....I'm so sorry you're having to consider this. :(

Why don't you ask your vet for a price....they are usually very good and euthanise whether by gun or injection. They then will give you the number for the local crem ( all in advance) which act smoothly and efficiently.

Alternetavely, your local crem will do the deed as well.....and pick up etc (and will give ashes back if required).

Perhaps your local knacker man?....Often the most efficient?? Will PTS, remove and discuss further options??

Or finally, your local hunt......often again most helpful.

Hope this helps xx

Locla knackerman or hunt will be cheapest.....if you have to consider this :(
 
My mare was PTS 5yrs ago by injection in the field, she had a broken leg. She was taken away to be cremated and the bill for that then was £450, cant remember what the vets bill was. Im insured with NFU and got either £200 or £250 towards disposal costs so it may be worth checking your policy to see if your Insurance covers you atall.

Thinking of you, its not easy and upsetting. xx
 
I had my old lad put to sleep 2 weeks ago on Thursday as he had stopped eating 10 days previously and got progressively weaker, after the vet had seen him and done bloods to rule out any infection she came back a week later and couldn't belive how quickly he had gone downhill. After checking his teeth and finding no problems we decided the best thing for him was PTS before he got too weak or started to suffer. He was given an overdose of anesthetic and I stood and held him as we clipped his neck and injected him. He fell to the ground a few seconds later and was dead before he hit the ground. I had seen it done before and his was so much more peaceful than I remember, he went in a quiet spot in his own field on a lovely sunny day and felt nothing, it was the hardest decision of my life but he knew it was his time to go and made it very clear to me. The vet did advise me to let my youngster in after to see the body, surgery was brilliant and arranged disposal for me which was £180 with the fallenstock company.
Personally I felt I had to be with him when he died and I'm glad I was, didnt see the body being taken away as I have seen it before and it can be very distressing. Also we had to get a tractor in to move him after as our field acess is quite difficult and lorry wouldn't have got in, this is something to think about where you have it done but in my boy's case I wasn't going to upset the pair of them by moving them closer to the vehicle entrance and having it done in full view of the road.


Good luck and sorry this turned into an essay!!
 
My YO's mare was pts a couple of weeks ago, don't know how much the vet charged but with disposal costs were £270 without the ashes back or £720 with the ashes. She couldn't afford to have the ashes back so she took some of the tail and is going to have a bracelet made which is about £70-£100
 
oh, that's a lovely idea - I'm not sure we would want or could afford the ashes, but something to remember him by ... other than two confident, horse loving daughters with magical memories of childhood, of course ... would be wonderful.
 
Sorry if this sounds insensitive in any way, it really isn't meant to!!

If you're going to keep some of his tail for a bracelet, make sure you have enough. (I'm so sorry, writing this is hard).

I kept Tiggy's last two shoes, that she had been wearing. My husband mounted them on a wooden plaque and had a name plate made. Lives in the dining room and means the world to me.
 
Also I forgot to say that I didn't have my lads ashes, I also have some of his mane, tail & body hair. I also have his first ever shoes he wore & one day intend to get them sprayed & mounted with a plaque. I made a collage of photo's which I look at fondly often & remember many happy times.

I felt that was more personal to me than having his ashes but my friend wanted her mares so she could scatter them on her paddock.

There isn't a right or wrong, it's a very personal choice.

Hopefully we are all being a bit premature and he will be ok.

Good luck xx
 
I really hope so - though it is now pretty certain to come to this at some time - but I do hope we are being premature and he can be with us a bit longer, with all his little woes and worries, he is still pure, pure gold.
 
I have had quite a few horse PTS, all by the vet. Last Oct I had to have an old boy PTS and I decided to go down the Hunt route. I can honestly say this is the way I would go from now on. The man came out, walked up to my horse in the field, patted him and bang, he know nothing about it.
When I think back to when the vets do it, there is so much faffing, the horses have to know there is something going on.

One thing I would refuse to do is to take a horse to the vets/hunt kennels. They have to be in their own home and keep things as normal as you can. This is why I would use the hunt again, my horse had no idea at all what was going on.
 
Another thing - keep a bit of mane and a shoe, if you can. I've got them from both boys I've lost.

I couldn't be there for Dylan (I was at uni for exams, he had a broken leg, and the vet didn't want to have to wait until I got there), but my mum took me to see him afterwards. The yard staff waited for me arriving, the YM had cut a bit of his mane for me. We sat in his stable with him, along with 2 of my friends who had come up to see me when I told them, drank cups of tea and remembered the good times. I felt it was a fitting memorial, and oddly comforting.
 
Last edited:
Our local hunt will come to you. I'm sure most will.
Pickle was shot by Vet & the Hunt collected. Vet bill was £62, Hunt to take away was £100 but I think that varies with size.
 
I have never had one shot but have had two pts by injection. The first one wa very quick and peacefull but the second was not a nice experience and took quite a while and was very upseting. If you decide on the injection make sure the vet is experienced and knows what they are doing.
 
I have had 3 PTS by injection. I have heard stories of things going wrong with both methods but all mine were peaceful and if things go wrong with the injection then it is no worse than when a horse is having treatment by the vets. They are sedated first and even if they continue to blow for a while afterwards they are long since unconscious and know nothing about it. They do that when they are anaethetised for an operation. There is no difference except the injection is an overdose so they don't come round again. If something went wrong with a shooting then I dread to think. Also with other horses around who freak at the smell of blood (we have pheasant and deer shoots around us) then I feel it is bettter for them too. My three all went very peacefully.
 
i won't comment on which method is best as everyone and every horse is different so can react differently. some horses have a massive fear of guns so injection would be best for them and others have a massive fear of vets so the better option would be a gun.

i'm sorry you are now finding yourself in this position and thoughts will be with you today.

there are plenty of different options, i will try and list them and apologies if it sounds 'blunt' and uncaring, it's not meant to be.
vet can inject/shoot and then single or multiple cremation.
the vet can do above but the hunt can collect.
the hunt can shoot and collect or you can still get a cremation done (again single or multiple).

a single cremation is more expensive but you get the ashes back. a multiple cremation is cheaper but there's no chance of ashes coming back to you as the horse will be cremated with a few other horses.

the other thing to take into consideration is any medication the pony may have had. the hunt won't be able to 'use' the body if he's been on meds or had the inijection (i may be wrong on that though).

if you want to make a bracelet or something out of his tail hair then make sure you have lots, i didn't get enough of my mares hair so can't do anything with it except plait it and keep it safe in a box.
 
I've not yet had to face this options of PTS decision yet so don't have advice or prices to give but just wanted to say thinking of you this morning - your horse sounds like an absolute treasure.
 
I've not read all the replies as there are many different opinions on the best way of having a much loved horse PTS. Sadly, I lost my big 17.3 oldie a week ago. I had him PTS by injection at home. I double checked that the vet was experienced. It was very peaceful. I then had his body removed by the knackerman - I don't want the ashes back. I had a horse PTS by the knackerman last year - he is very experienced and treats them with dignity. That horse did not like vets or needles as she had been through a lot of treatments and it was the best way for her. I think on balance, if the horse wasn't worried about the vet, then I would go that way again. They sedate the horse by injection and once that is done, the horse knows nothing about it. The lethal dose is then administered while the horse is sedated.

Only you know what is right and when is the right time. It is a horrible decision to have to make, but it is the least we can do for our horses.
 
I had my mare pts by injection before xmas. The totsl cost to pts and take away was £550. I didn't have her ashes back but I did take a good chunk of her tail to keep.
She was ill and it was something that I had always dreaded but it wasn't awful and she looked so peaceful and beautiful afterwards.
 
I am so sorry to hear this and havinga plan is always a good idea but the vet may be more positive than you expect. My vet expected Lottie to live 1 month max but agreed that she could have a week in the sunshine before PTS. In that week she improved so much that she is still with us and the vet is happy with her condition.

Be prepared but not resigned. Thinking of you and pony.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top