Never, ever again. Update on last night

Nudibranch

Nudibranch

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 April 2007
Messages
7,143
Location
Shropshire
Visit site
This morning the vet came and we decided to have my little old Cushings mare pts. When I made the appointment I said it might be pts, but he didn't bring the gun. I've always had them shot as I didn't want to take the risk but he persuaded me injections are "safe".

She didn't go down. In fact she fought it for nearly an hour and a half. I ran, blinded with tears, round to the kennels to see if the houndsman was in. Sadly, he wasn't. Then we waited while the vet drove back to the practice 20 miles away to fetch the gun. He said he didn't want to give her more because that might make things worse.

OH is away until tonight so we waited alone, just me and her, and I held her head and talked to her while she struggled down and up. After some time she went down and stayed there, and so I held her head in my lap. Every time I moved she tried to struggle up so eventually we ended up lying on the floor together, and I stroked her face and talked, and cried and cried. 26 years together and I won't ever forgive myself for this. Finally the vet came back with the gun and it was over. No horse should have to die like that.

My only comfort is that my being with her did seem to calm her. So my faithful little pony is gone and at least now she won't suffer any longer. She was smart, brave, loyal, cheeky, stubborn, and a master escapologist. My first childhood pony, bought for the princely sum of £150. We rode all over the Welsh countryside and when I outgrew her we drove instead. We did shows, and all day hacks with my best mate and her pony. She came with me up to the north east and lived her last days on beautiful rolling fields overlooking Hadrian's Wall. I am devastated she has gone, but even more devastated by the way it happened.

Thanks to everyone who posted on my other thread by the way, at least she is at peace now.
 
Oh Christ....I am so sorry you two had to endure that.
It sounds like an abortion start to finish. It can't change what has happened but complain. Vet should have called for someone to fetch a gun.....not leave a highly medicated animal unsupervised like that. You were both lucky neither of you were injured.
Very sorry for your loss Nudibranch...so very sorry.
 
Oh I am so sorry it wasn't a quick ending for her, but if it's any consolation I've seen a shooting go badly wrong and although the ending was probably quicker it was very traumatic for the horse.

You can't blame yourself for what happened and at least she was comforted by you and is no longer suffering. She sounds like she was a cracking pony, those memories need to be treasured. xx
 
Oh I'm so, so sorry you and your pony had to go through that. :(

Try to forgive yourself, she probably wasn't as aware of what was happening as it seems, and it's over now, she's at peace. It wasn't your fault that it worked out that way.

Remember the happy times, and how even to the end, you had a great bond.

((((hugs))))
 
I'm so sorry for you both, at least she is free from pain and distress now :) And she had you till the end xx
 
I am so sorry to read what happened it's not your fault and you did what the vet advised you was best. She would have been comforted by you being there and you were able to say your goodbyes to each other. You've had many great years together and those memories will stay with you. Best wished to you at such a hard time x
 
Oh my that is so sad, im really sorry to hear that you and your horse had to go through something awful like that.
A similar thing happened to me last year. Id been feeding a little old pony all year, bringing her in with mine in the eve. She was well into her 30s and one day she just went down in the barn. Owners left her on the floor for more than an hour until somebody came to put her to sleep so I ended up sitting with her. You being there probably did calm her down, calmed my little mare down.
Once again, sorry for your loss and your awful experience :( x
 
I'm so sorry to hear this nb, tears are rolling down my face as I read :(

She is at peace now. RIP little one. She sounds like a wonderful pony - as someones sig on here says 'every pony deserves to be loved by a little girl' ( or something) your pony was lucky that she has been much loved by you for most of her life, right until the end. She knew you were with her, comforting her in her time of need. She will be watching over you now xxxx
 
This sounds very odd to me, do you think it could have been botched in some way? We have had many PTS by injection and never had a bad experience. I fact we had 3 old mares PTS yesterday, all went so peacefully.

Did he sedate her first? How much of the lethal substance did he use?

Am very very sorry you had to endure that but in all honesty it sounds as though a mistake was made. Really horrible last memory for you.
 
So sorry to hear that. You must feel devastated but it isn't your fault - the injection shouldn't have gone wrong. I was very nearly in the same position as you last night, with my first pony mare, so I feel for you so much. Many hugs.
 
So sorry to read that not only did you lose your mare, but that it did not go to plan, how awful for you.

She is at peace now, and had you with her until the very end.
 
Please don't feel bad, you gave her 26 years of love and care and you were with her at the end comforting her. She was a very lucky pony. That is all that matters. So sorry for your loss.
 
Really very sorry for you OP, but please dont blame yourself. You did the absolute best for your horse. Im sure the fact that you held her until the end meant a great deal to her.

She can now rest in peace.

With regards to the vet, I would give it a few days, then go and see him/her and find out what happened and take things from there.

You did the right thing.
 
What an incompetent vet! Don't worry though, your mare would have just felt really sleepy and sedated and would not have suffered at all. Much better that than a shooting go wrong. So please don't fret about it, she really would have known very little about it.
 
Very sorry for you, you can only do your best. An incompetant vet is not your fault!

On the flip side I've seen a shooting go wrong where it took two goes to PTS. Given the choice of the 2 going wrong I'd take the injections.
 
I'm so sorry for your loss, PTS is never easy no matter how it's done. I to had a similar experience when my old pony was PTS by injection, it took a good 20 minutes for him to actually hit the floor after the first and subsequent injections and even then it took the vet a long time to stop his heart, it was horrific, he fought it with everything he had and the look in his eye told me he wasn't ready to go. I'd expected it to be over with quickly and calmly, it wasn't, and I hope he forgives me for that :-(. I have to agree and say that your vet shouldn't have left though, that's not good at all. xx
 
Sounds like lots of sedative but not enough somulose, mine will never be given the sedative because it masks the actual drugs that kill, so you think its dead but its not cos they havent given enough, vet should have just inserted another dose of somulose, unless they didnt have anymore on them, terrible. Would have been kinder for him to stick a scalpel into her heart than make her die like that.

Sorry to hear this OP. RIP lil pony.
 
Oh I feel so bad for you.

My mare took about 20 minutes or so to pass away. I think this was real time, it seemed an eternity. I also felt as someone else has posted maybe if she was fighting so hard it's not her time... But she always was a stubborn old bird... One of the reasons I love her so much.

They underestimated the size of my girl, who was a 'sturdy' shire x cob ( how when they had seen her before I have no idea!?) and after 2 injections the vet had ran out of drugs and had to go running off across the farm to her car for more and I thought that was unprofessional enough but nothing compared to what you had to go through.

Hugs. It's awful when such a hard time is made worse. Xxx
 
I'm so sorry it didn't go to plan. Sadly sometimes these things happen. Similar thing happened to me too. My horse was in distress & broke her headcollar :( I was devastated, but remember your heart was in the right place & you did all you could. Don't beat yourself up- nobody's to blame.
 
I had this same experience with injection years ago and I will never go through it again.

So sorry to hear of your experience with your wee girly. Thoughts with you haveing to go through that, {hugs}

RIP wee one, run free and be a good guardian angel x
 
E13 said:
I'm so sorry for you both, at least she is free from pain and distress now :) And she had you till the end xx
Click to expand...

I couldn't put it better x

I am so, so sorry to hear what a traumatic time you both endured. I think the vet has some explaining to do and if it were me I would be making a huge complaint. He should not have left you both and should have come prepared. I hope at least he will waive his fee, given the complete hash he made of things.

This is one of those posts that bring tears to my eyes, your experience was so unnecessary.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top