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Why not may I ask? Because of a 900 lb weight difference? Is the pain worse for a larger animal? Or is because the horse can break your neck or total a car when it goes down? I hope that is not the ridiculous reason....a shot in the vein is the same in either case. Maybe had that darling doggie chewed on the vet's face a little we could compare them? Being too lazy, stupid or incompetent to do the right thing for the animal and the owner is never excuseable. The excuse/reasoning it that is lowers the blood pressure too much making it harder to find a good vein...well that is a cop out and a lame excuse. So what if it does? The animal is loopy, relaxed and no biggie to spend an extra five minutes or so finding a good vein if needed....which I have yet to see be the problem in any animal I have had to have put down, (horse, dog, cat or calf) so explain to me again the lameness of why that animal had to suffer hurt and fear or why Heather had to go through it, watch it and help hold her companion down for it...give me ONE good reason because thusfar all I have read is lazy stupid excuses.
This horror story is why a responsible, caring and smart vet uses sedation first. Frankly, from my seat I could give two craps less how difficult it may or may not be for a vet or tech to find a vein...that would not be my concern nor is it a consideration, that animal's welfare and comfort and that of the owner are paramount and the only consideration.
First off, I have NOT ONCE said that sedation was never warranted in a case, what I said was that it was wrong of you to call her veterinarian stupid and an idiot because he choose not to use sedation in this particular case, so don't turn my words around. My point is that saying every single animal that is going to be euthanized should recieve a sedative prior is wrong, you have to take each case and decide what is needed. I also don't think you understand what I mean by finding a vein, If she had to watch the veterinarian probing for a vein with a needle in her poor dogs leg until he could find the find because the blood pressure is so low you can't palpate one I think that would have been just as traumatc. This usually results in a blown vein, which is why the dog continued to breathe much longer after receiving the solution, which shouldn't have happened, low blood pressures can also cause this because it takes a long time for the solution to reach the vital organs... Blood pressure is more important than you give it credit for...I have seen lots of animals receive sedation and then it is nearly impossible to hit a vein, and they still squirm while the vet is attempting to give the injection with or without sedation. All I was saying is that from my 12yrs of experience in emergency & critical care medicine the best way to go about this procedure is to place an IV Catheter so if the pet does move you don't have to worry about trying to find another vein. I don't know how many animals you have personally put to sleep, or even pulled blood from or gave an injection to IV, but blood pressure has a lot to do with how easy it is to find, hit and maintain a blood vessel. The difference in euthanizing a horse and a dog is that a horse has a blood vessel the size of your thumb regardless of blood pressure so if you can't hit it you don't know what your doing. We always sedate horses before we euthanize them. Another thing is sedation doesn't necessarily make it any less "scary" for your pet, it just makes it easier to do the procedure because your pet can't really move or respond to the pain.... so some people could see it has less humane to sedate because then the vet could just poke and prod away without a care instead of taking their time to hit the vein well and the first time. I don't appreciate my original post being turned into more that what I said. I was only defending the veterinarian because if you were not there you can not make such blatant statements. As far as it being cheaper, at my clinic the charge for euthanasia is the same whether you have sedation or not, and all of our patients receive an IV catheter. I have worked at other clinics where IV catheters are not used and I have seen many more "bad" situations from that than from the patient not getting a sedative. Another post I saw was that by not giving a sedative the procedure is somehow more cruel?! The medication used to euthanize is only an overdose of anesthetic, its not painful for the pet. It can be scary for some animals, but so can being mildly sedated, sometimes sedation can be more terrifying to the pet because they can still move and see but have very little control of what is going on while the euthanasia solution is very quick in working and usually the pet is gone before they realize what is happening. To say that every vet should sedate first is wrong, some people don't want their animal sedated prior, and would be highly upset if the vet said it was required. I think a lack of communication is the biggest problem with this situation, we offer sedation and require an IV Catheter, perhaps if the owner had been offered the choice for sedation the outcome would have been much better, but you never know because her pet may have reacted to the sedation as well, it happens...
Again, my point of my post was not to say that sedation isn't warranted, it can be in some situations, but saying a veterinarian is stupid or an idiot because they don't use it is wrong. And to the original poster, I am sincerely sorry that your post about your beloved pet has turned into such a hostile thread.... I would also like to say that I would suggest you not go back to the clinic and give them a "piece of your mind" , what would that accomplish, they apologized, they didn't mean for your experience to go the way it did, we never do, having a pet struggle during such an emotional time is the last thing any good vet or tech wants.
thebritt is right. Your dog is now with you always.
