PTS Injections -

Gingerwitch

Gingerwitch

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Firstly let me apologise to anyone whom has recently lost a horse, and i whole heartedly apologise to the lady who's pony had a very bad experiance. Out of respect I did not wish to ask this question on your thread - and i am sorry if i cause you any upset - that is not my intention.

I have had 2 horses pts by injection, neither was sedated, both went down and were dead before they hit the ground, both vets had back up injections prepared, and also had a captive gun with them, although i did not see the gun.

Is this not the normal procedure - one was planned - one was not. Surely vets carry enough drugs to pts more than one horse - as how do they know what they are going to be met with during the course of the day?
 
I have had my mare PTS 3 hours ago TODAY its VERY raw as per my sad day thread. she was sedated first and then quietly to sleep in my arms.

yes they should carry enough with them.
 
I've had to have a few PTS on my yard, inc some of my own. When the injection was used (inc my own), it has always been very peaceful and just as it should have been, even with the sedation first for an old boy who was a bit stressed. The situation described on that other thread is terrible and definitely not the norm.
 
We did this at the end of October and it went very smoothly and quickly.

I did read that thread where it didnt work and i just cannot imagine what the poor women is going through i honestly cant because it must have been just awful :(
 
My old lad was PTS with the injection. He was sedated first, and he went down very peacefully, it was very quick with no distress to him. I am so sorry for the poster who had such an awful experience with the injection, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it again, as he didn't suffer.
 
Unsure that it's the norm for them to carry the gun.

I watched a horse fight the injection and I never want to see it again. The horse fatally injured itself by continuously smacking its head against the stable wall once injected. Utterly horrific. The owner wasn't there, thank goodness.

I always opt for the bullet - and the hunt - as I don't trust vets with guns, either.
 
My vet has a holster-belt and has syringes loaded prior to even starting to euthanize the horse. I've had a lot of horses pts over a number of years; some have been shot and some have been lethal injected. I've never had one gone wrong but then I've had full and 100% faith in the vets doing the deeds. Once, many years ago, a minor vet at a practice I used was sent to pts one of my horses. I sent that vet away and phoned the office to request my usual (senior partner) vet. The new vet fumbled and farted around and I certainly didn't have faith the job would be done properly so my preference was to wait a little longer and have my usual vet. I don't have a problem doping up my horses or giving them extra pain killers to keep them in comfort until a good vet can turn up to do the deed properly. Might not be everyones way but it works for me. Mine are always sedated prior to being shot or injected.

I feel dreadfully sorry for those posters on here who have had it all go wrong. There can't be much worse than always having that as your last memory :(
 
Munchkin said:
Unsure that it's the norm for them to carry the gun.

I watched a horse fight the injection and I never want to see it again. The horse fatally injured itself by continuously smacking its head against the stable wall once injected. Utterly horrific. The owner wasn't there, thank goodness.

I always opt for the bullet - and the hunt - as I don't trust vets with guns, either.
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I could have that wrong - but i am pretty sure that both vets had the options available - but to be frank I am ususally on auto pilot when these circumstances have occured
 
Like I said I'm unsure. In this case it wouldn't have made a difference anyway, as nobody would have been able to get near the horse without being killed themselves. :( The poor owner was on holiday, and often says she wishes she'd been with him at the end. She has no idea how badly wrong it went and I hope she never finds out. Her mum opted for injection, believing it was the more peaceful option and whilst I understand the reaction was probably rare, the lasting memory has put me off for life.
 
We lost our little lad a month or so ago. It was the first time we had been with one of ours.

We requested the area practice head to come out as we have the utmost confidence in him.
It was so peaceful and calm. My sister held him until it was time for vet to guide him down and he went before he was on the floor.
I would only have him inject my horses and we trust him one hundred 100%

I'm heart broken for the poster who had the bad experience. The one constant thing when we decide to take on an animal be it a horse, rabbit, dog, bird is that we listen to them when it is time. Having the right vet to help you with that is so important. It is hard enough to make the decision let alone it go wrong.
 
Spring Feather said:
I use a few equine vets from different practices and none of them carry a gun as a matter of course. You have to request it if this is your chosen method and they then return to their practice and collect it.
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I know they had the gun with big lad.... but i think this was because of how ill he was and his blood was like rasberry jam.... the senior practice vet did come out from the surgery that day - so that may have been why i thought most vets carried it.

With Ginger - the vet was doing a few that day - so maybe that is where i got mistaken.
 
I have had one PTS by injection, I would normally prefer the knackerman with a gun. However the horse in question ended up needing the vet for an emergency injury after I had already decided to have him put down in the near future, so I asked the attending vet to euthanise rather than treat him. I strongly suspect the vet in question had never put down a horse before as he called a colleague who talked him through the process, and he still couldn't get the canula to stay in (I think he was shaking more than I was). That said, the horse suffered no stress and his death was quick and peaceful. No complaints.

However I have experienced two very unfortunate PTS by injection of horses I knew. The first involved the vet having to go back to his car, 10 min away, to fetch more drugs as the horse (badly broken leg in the middle of a huge field) had not gone down after the first injection. The second wasn't as appalling as that but did involve the same vet.
 
Both my old horses were put to sleep by injection. It was all very peacefull.

Although they didnt say that they were sedating first, but both horses were already lying down when the time came.

They placed the needle in the neck, injected the liquid, horse closed its eyes and fell asleep. His head went heavy in my arms, and the vet told me when his heart had stopped. Im sure he told me that he injected with such a large dose to be utterly sure.

This was the same when my dads little cat was PTS after a car hit him. After the cat closed his eyes and the drug kicked in The vet injected so much of the stuff that his vein coudlnt take anymore - the vet said just to be sure.
 
I don’t have any experience with either but heard good and bad about both options … I really wouldn’t know which to choose from if I had to …
I lost my boy last month – a tragic unexpected accident in which he died instantly thank goodness – I cant imagine what I would have done if he would have survived and I had to wait with him until the vet arrived to put him to rest. Death is so upsetting and feel so sorry for the people that have had bad experiences :(
 
I have seen 4 PTS with the injection and 3 went very fast and peacefully, Brownie are little 12.2 took half an hour and had more than a 3 x a large horse would have, she was just falling alseep as we where sitting with her and talking to her. They ran out of teh light blue stuff and had to use something else.... Brownie did not struggle once she was already down and it was peaceful. The only way i would ever have a gun used is if my horse was young fit and broken a leg etc. Its down ro choice there is no right or wrong way of having a horse PTS.
 
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My horse was pts by injection a few weeks ago, she was a big horse and went to sleep very quietly and peacefully.
I could not have had her shot and wouldnt hesitate to use this method in the future.
 
I've only ever had to have one PTS....he had lots of painkillers on board already, vets topped this up with sedation before doing the deed. She told me she was giving him sedation to make him sleepy and he would just fall asleep.

He went straight down.

Vet was brilliant. So was OH.....I was a mess.:(
 
Is it down to the attending vet as to giving sedation or not - like i say neither of mine - well to my knowledge were sedated - ginger was injected straight into the vein and went down, she was dead before she hit the ground.

Big lad - he already had a catherta in, and they injected him, he would have had to be shot otherwise as his veins were collapsing - again he went down immediatly - but he was dying anyway - we just speeded the process up.

Ginger looked like she had left an old overcoat on the floor and had left - big lad - well he was very poorly and i was very upset and he did not look like my big lad at all.
 
I think a lot of the choice of gun or injection depends on the experience of the person doing the euthanising and the individual horse. I wouldn't want a vet who had little experience of shooting being made to shoot a horse he was happier injecting, and I wouldn't want to use a gun on a headshy horse, likewise a horse that hated injections would be better with a gun.

I think my favourite standby is to never say never, I might have preferences for a certain method, but it all boils down to what is best for the individual and the circumstances surrounding the situation.

I also think that fewer vets are happy shooting nowadays, but I'd always use a free bullet for a horse, never a captive bolt.
 
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I have seen both ways including one awful bad one by injection my first horse ,injecting is definatly slower and horse is aware for longer . After that first one I have had all my own shot at home .
It does not really matter now you do just that you do it when it needs to be done.
 
My first experience of injection was awful, the horse screamed like nothing I've ever heard before or since, & was dragging himself around on his forelegs, falling over & dragging himself up again with his quarters dragging uselessly behind. And he was beyond terrified the entire time. It still haunts me many years later. His back legs were why he was being pts, hence him only getting forelegs upright. Vet had more than one go at getting more into him, but horse thrashing around too much. He took far too long to die, & he was clearly suffering. However, especially considering errors that came to light after about the horses treatment, let alone pts, there's no doubt in my mind his horrid end was down to the incompetence of the vet, not the method. Since then, others I've held, & plenty more I've had first hand accounts of, have gone peacefully. Still, because of my first experience I would always choose a bullet. Even though I've seen my current vet pts by injection & I trust him, I have an illogical fear of it re-occurring.
 
when my old girl broke her leg the vet asked me which method i would prefer as we drove down the track (my field was away across the farm so had to go meet him otherwise he wouldn't have found me). i chose injection as she was already down and in shock so wasn't going to fight, vet must have had the gun with him to offer me the option though. he had come straight from the office and from my frantic phone call and the slightly hysterical confirmation of it definitely being a break as the bone was sticking out he knew he was coming out to PTS.
although the situation was horrific the old girl slipped away quite peacefully.

I have no set ideas on which method is 'right' i think a lot depends on the individual horses and the situation they are in at the time.
 
Friends told me about a horrible reaction their old boy had with the injection; thrashing for what seemed like eternity to them. We have used the vet in question and he is very competent; it was just one of those rare reactions that can happen.

For Olly we chose the gun as he had a lifetime of being sedated for clipping and was terrified of injections. This was done very quietly and professionally by a slaughterman. Olly did not know anything and this is a comfort for me.
 
At the vets I work at standard procedure is to put a catheter in and sedate prior to lethal injection drug.
None of the horse vets shoot horses, I believe that you may need a firearms licence?
 
lizness said:
At the vets I work at standard procedure is to put a catheter in and sedate prior to lethal injection drug.
None of the horse vets shoot horses, I believe that you may need a firearms licence?
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Of course the vets need a licence for there firearm . It would be a requirement for me to use a pracise that they offer it as a service what on earth so they do with a very sick horse or one with a huge fracture that's lost too much blood to get a needle in ? Just let it die ,no way I would trust them with the care of my horse.
 
Old Arab was sedated first, fed his favorite sweeties, drifted off to sleep with his head in my arms, vet put in the final syringe of drugs and he was guided down by the vet and very kind person who had brought the wagon for him. Very peaceful, quick and dignified. I left before they winched him onto the wagon. Lovely vet sent me a letter that afternoon, saying that it was the right decision, he was a lovely horse and would be much missed by him and his colleagues. Bless him.
 
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