I know this isn't a subject any of us like to think about but unfortunately many dogs don't pass away peacefully in their sleep and it is then the vet who has to release them from their suffering. I have read a couple of posts where there have been difficulties with administistration of the injection. Losing a pet is heartbreaking enough without witnessing our beloved companion being distressed by the injection. This can be completely avoided by the administration of a sedative prior to the final injection and ensures a peaceful passing. Not all vets automatically offer to do this it seems, but certainly will if you request it.

Well i dont agree i have had this done twice and each time the dogs where sick and very upset before the needle so i would never have this done again i have had to have so many dogs p.t.s over the years that i think i can say most vets are very good and will try to do it with out upsetting the dog.It is up to you to say to the vet if you dont like what they are doing or how they are going about it.these are your dogs not the vets so talk up for them.

Hi
A friend of mine opted to have her much loved dog setated before euthanasia and the experience was horrific :(
After the initial injection, the poor dog screamed, became agitated and had to be physically restrained. My friend was understandably distraught. Has never really got over it...
This was a placid dog, that had never reacted in this way after a jab. The vet injected in his rump and apologised saying she must have hit a nerve?

Shortly after this episode the time came to say goobye to my treasured 17 year old, after discussing with a trusted vet, we didn't sedate and she slipped gently away... as did another of my dogs.

I'm sure there is a time and a place for sedation, though I do wonder about injecting. Perhaps if it is feasable a tablet could be given at home before vet arrives? I appreciate this is not always practical in an emergency though.

My own experience with my last dog was the opposite, he screamed and struggled and it was very distressing for us all. Our previous dogs had a different vet who always sedated first and they all slipped away peacefully.

i had a 4 year bitch pts , because it was cancer her veins had collapsed, muscle was wasting and the vet had a terrible job getting into a vein, after having tests to see why she was ill at first the dog just stood there thinking it was like any other blood test. -but the harder it became the more upset i was feeling and the dog started picking up on this and cuddled her head right into my neck, -i felt awful for her, eventually the vet said hed try once more through a back leg and if he couldnt do it hed have to go into her throat-----i was horrified, things where bad enough without my last minutes seeing her with a needle in her throat, the vet anyhow did manage to find a vein in her back leg, and she passed away very quickly after that, :(

It depends on so many things - the health, age and character of the dog, the ability of the vet - even the distress of the owner can make the dog more anxious. I have been very lucky - neither dog I've held while they were put to sleep were distressed in any way. I was holding them in my arms, telling them how good they were, how I loved them, that they were to go to sleep now and I'd see them in the morning ..... the vet slipped the needle into the vein and the drug went in ... one of them looked up at me and gave me a kiss, then sighed and left me. The other one (who went three years before) just sighed and went - it was very quick, very calm, and very easy. No need for sedation at all - I would have hated them to go feeling woozy and strange and ill.

fergus, my lab pup that i bred myself was p.t.s at 16 weeks old, after seeing the vet every week since he was 4 weeks, fergus was a typical lab pup and very excitible he had a habit of trying to jump out of your arms or off the vets table while being treated, when my mum took him to the vets the last time (i was working and couldnt go) the vet tried to put him to sleep without sedation but once he began his shenangans (sp?) he decided it would be best to sedate him, but he probably started though as everyone had become very fond of fergus so were upset and he most likely picked up on this, after being sedated though he slipped away quietly.

I have had to have 4 dogs put down in my lifetime. The first was given an injection into the heart and screamed and struggled and threw herself around for at least 2 minutes. It was horrific, she appeared to die in terror. the vet said she didn't know what was happening but I'm not so sure. We moved hoouse and changed vet and the next three ( over several years) were sedated first with an injection of diazapaminto the upper thigh muscle and about 15 minutes later given the fatal injection through the vein in the foreleg. They just closed their eyes, went to sleep and passed away 100% peacefully. It would never have a dog put down without a heavy sedation first. Just my experiences.

I have had to have 2 dogs pts in a very short time, they were calm and an injection was given into the leg and they slipped into sleep while resting they head on my lap, they drifted off they showed no fear. I have always thought this was the way and have never heard of these problems, I feel so for the people that have had this ending for there pets

some time i had a great dane that was pts he took double the reccomended dosage and wouldnt sleep until he was told to it was really upsetting because it made me feel like i had told him to die it really upset me but he did go relaxed and peacefully i feel really sorry for owners who dogs must take this way because i know from experience how guilty you feel

robert

I have a dog coming to the end of his time very shortly and I must admit it's been a worry for me. I've always had to pin him down while he's fought the vet for any examination ever since I've had him :(
I had already decided on sedation first and so found this thread interesting.
Like JG I would not like my dog to be woozy and feeling ill when the time comes. I've never had a problem with my dogs that I have euthanised which have not been aggressive - they have just slipped away and for that I am very grateful, but I was at first dismayed when the vet came to pts the first one and told me that he may struggle and gasp. Thankfully he didn't but I now know it happens. I think westie lover got it right in her post when she said a heavy sedation.
I'll be having my dog pts at home and he'll be so heavily sedated prior to euthanasia that he won't even be aware of what the vet is doing. It's only ever taken a few minutes with a pre med to have him so out of it that we've had to carry him through in the vets surgery for an op.
At the end of the day we have to do what we think is best for our dog. We don't always get it right but the good intention is usually there.
Lara x

its like everything we all have good and bad experiences, i used to hold the dogs at the vets as they were being pts when their owners couldnt handle it and nearly every time it was very peaceful unfortunatly my mums horse many years ago reacted very badly when being pts and needed more than twice the stated dose. When it came to getting my pony pts i was going to use the humane killer but it turned out we couldnt as it was pitch black in the middle of the field we had to go with the injection, it was quick she half reared then lay down with her head on my lap sighed and closed her eyes, i then stayed with her for the next hour cuddling her in and talking to her.
You must remember getting your animal pts is the most loving but hardest thing you can do, if they could they would thank you for it.

I have had two dogs pts in the past 18 months. The first was sedated, the second wasn't.

The first was a youngster who had rage syndrome and was periodically aggressive but the rest of the time very sweet. He was a big dog, physically strong but potentially a danger to the vet. I didn't want him muzzled but nor did I want a struggle or to take a risk. I asked for and was given a strong dose of oral sedatives which I gave him before we went to the vet so he was just starting to get drowsy but still able to walk by the time we got there. We were allowed to sit with him for about half an hour in a quiet room as the sedative took fuller effect and he relaxed completely and lay with his head in our laps while we sat on the floor cuddling him. When the vet came in and gave him the injection he barely noticed and just slipped away. It was very peaceful and gentle and - after the grief of having a much loved dog attack us without warning so that we always had to be alert to possible attacks when interacting with him - it was also quite therapeutic - for that half hour as he fell asleep with us we had our dog back - the one who just loved to be with us and be cuddled.

The second was only a couple of weeks ago - he was 14 and had developed breathing problems. He was already at the vet and had a line into his vein so there was no struggle to find it. He was also very weak. We didn't give him a sedative first but held him - he was quite relaxed until the main injection and then there was a second where he struggled - as if he felt it - and then he was gone. It may have been the same with a sedative - perhaps it was just a reflex and certainly it was fleeting - after a second he just lay back in my arms and was gone. I do wonder though whether we should have sedated him first though it certainly wasn't traumatic for him.

For me the main consideration for them both was that it be dignified and peaceful and that we were there with them. The vets were wonderful and very willing to do what we wanted. Two vets, same practice, they couldn't have been more sensitive or gentle with the dogs or with us. It is now one of my "requirements" when choosing a vet - is this person someone I would want to be there when I lose my dog? If not I would look elsewhere. I think if there is anyway to take the fear out of the experience for the dog then it should be used. Oral sedatives are excellent for that. As long as the dog is encouraged to sleep and not fight the sedative I can't see how this can be anything but positive.

All the best with your boy.
Janet

I have had 2 of my own dogs put to sleep, one at the vets and one at home :(

The first was in 1996 and my dog went to the vets for a few tests and i thought he would be coming home. However, it was discovered he had kidney problems as well as a few other minor things and after discusssion and much heartache i felt i wanted to keep his dignity and he was put to sleep in my arms. He was very tired as all kidney "patients" are, and he slipped away peacefully. He wasn't sedated.

My second dog was pts at home, after a second stroke. She had recovered 100 per cent from her first stroke when 14, but now at nearly 16 it was time to let her go.

I took Rescue Remedy for myself, and talked to her and stroked her as the needle slipped in ..... it was very peaceful and calm. The vet had been treating her for her "elderly hips" for over a year so we knew the vet who was lovely. Again she hadn't been sedated.

I feel the best thing is to discuss all this, and read about it, before it has to happen if at all possible. My heart goes out to anyone who has had to hold a distressed dog at this time, it must be devastating.

A horrible subject altogether, but it is important to discuss these things i feel :(

Lindsay

Hiya

We had both of our dear old boys PTS at home a year last May 15th both on the same day age 16.
One was a german shepard cross and the other border collie cross, we`d had them from the RSPCA since they were tiny puppies and got them both on the same day.

The GS (Sabre) had been treated for prostate cancer and arthritis and his legs were very stiff but he was still managing to get around, but we knew it wouldn`t be long before we would have to make a decision about how long we could leave him like this. He could still go up and down a few steps but was struggling.

The morning of the 15th (Mr Max) the Border Collie Cross woke up and had had a stroke so after a heartbreaking decision we decided to have them both PTS at the same time so we called our regular vet out who came within the hour and the vet was absolutely lovely.

We cuddled both of our precious dogs, told them how much we loved them and they just went to sleep, there was no fear, it was very peaceful and calm.

One of the things I had been dreading for years and years was having to decide when. I had never Imagined this senario I had always thought that I was going to have to take the boys into the vets to have them PTS in a busy surgery and walk out without them.

For me this was the best way I could ever have dreamt possible. If there is a nice way, but they died in dignity and they gave me 16 years of love.

Hi,

I've just taken the decision yesterday along with my family to put my best friend to sleep.

I've moved from the family home now and christmas day 2001 myself had my partner had to put our 18mths lab to sleep. She had kidney and liver problems from birth. Christmas eve night she was banging all around and making strange noises, so christmas morning we took her to the vets. To cut a long story short we had a call of the vet two/three hours later asking us to go in. We knew what it was about, the option to gently put her to sleep or let her pass away in pain over the next few hours,days. We chose pts, I've had views from being young that this isn't right, but in this scenario even though I felt very guilty I beleived it to be the best solution.

Yesterday we took my childhood dog to the vets for an assessment and based on what the receptionist told us when we gave her the symptoms, kind of expected her not to come back with us.

She was 16.5, we had her from being 1 and she came everywhere with me until she got slightly older and couldn't get around as good. In the last 6months she had detoriated rapidly, could hardly walk, was incontinent and lieing in it not even seeming to be aware and had lost alot of weight. We took her to the vets in light of having a conversation with a neighbour who said she hung on to her dog for herself and she felt bad for having allowed him to suffer all that time.

We went to the vets for advice and kind of imagined she wouldn't come back. The vet told us she had given up on life.(we couldn't get her to stand up to go into the vets and they couldn't get her to stand on the table), also they said she was very dehydrated, possibly kidney problems and her muscle on her back legs was degenerating/detoriating and therefore asked us what we wanted to do and recommended pts would be best because she would only get worse.

We left the surgery with her becuase they said we could have a couple of days with her, however we decided to take her back. Did we do wrong. I thought it was best yesterday, now I think we should have brought her home, I believe she would have passed away naturally in the next few months.

My partner was with her in the end and said she didn't feel anything.

Myself and sister said our goodbyes in the car but now I feel guilty for not being with her in the last few moments.

You didn't do wrong at all. You did the kindest thing you could for her. To have let her carry on in the physical state you describe would have been wrong.

It is quality of life which is important, not quantity.

"Better a week too soon, than a day too late."

Thinking of you.

Cazf, I know exactly how you feel, last year our family yorkie Barney took a turn for the worse. He was 13, epileptic, arthritic, blind, deaf and started falling over. We took him to the vet where she discovered a glycoma (sp?) and said that Barney had a constant headache - Long story short we decided to have him PTS. Thing is we took him home for a few days (the vet was coming to the house to do it) It was so sad, and the worse thing was I swear he was having one of his 'good days' before the vet came. I went out and mum cuddled him - he was buried in the garden and I couldn't believe how much I cried - It was that old "he would of gone on a few weeks or months more??" A year on I still feel bad but I know he had dignity and I have such fond memories of him I didn't have to watch him struggle anymore, :(
Dont feel bad.
Sarah.

thanks all.

We was going to get her cremated but have decided a rose bush in my mums garden will be best.

I had to have my golden retreiver PTS in May 2002 I had him when I was 13 and he didn't quite make his 14th bday . I still feel SO guilty because neither my husband nor I could stay with him whilst the proceedure was done and it makes me so upset that I'd left him on his own , I am hoping in a way that as he became "senile" he didn't really know what was going on and still even now 17 months on can't keep the tears away , I have 2 other dogs and can't bear the thought of having to go thru this again but I have to tell myself that all the good times we have with our dogs far outway this scenario.
Andrea X

My husband had to take the 1st dog we had PTS because I wasn't there. When the time came for the 2nd, I had to take her. It was is a hard thing to do, but I felt so much better having been there for her. I would advise anyone to be there to the end, then you know you've done everything you can & are not left with the feeling that you've let them down.
Jean-Genie: Better a week too soon than a day too late - I try to live by that philosophy.
Oh, dear, got to go & blow my nose, can't stop snivelling, must have a cold or something! ....

I had a 6 wk old lab pup PTS in feb this year and it was awful. She was blind and ill and she screamed when the needle went in, so the vet took it out then did it again, she screamed out so loudly. Once she'd gone I just ran out of the vets and broke my heart. This was my first experience of having a dog PTS and it was awful.
My lab X whiskey is highly aggressive to people due to abuse and he is having trouble with his legs at present. Yesterday i discussed with my vet how if needed he could be PTS without me pinning him down. The vet said to sedate with tablets at home and then he could administer the injection. I hope Whiskey has a good few years ahead of him but when his time comes I will have no choice but to sedate him.

Just been reading through these posts with tears running down my face. My heart goes out to everyone. Our pup is only 4 mths and hopefully has quite a few years left in her but the thought already terrifies me.

We had our beloved 14 year old cat put to sleep when I was about 15 and they took him from us and did it in a separate room. This was horrendous as my lovely Tiger wasn't even with us at the end - he must have been so scared. I had to be taken out the back door of the vets as I was hysterical. They also did the same with my rabbit. I now think this was totally wrong and we're shortly moving back to the same area as this vets and will need to move practice but I'm def not going back there!

Again, much love to everyone.

We decided after two weeks of deliberation and thought that we would give Mars our Lab who was PTS last year a sedative.

She was still all there well just and I knew she would struggle once it came to when the injection was to be administered.

We spent the last morning sitting and playing with her and then gave her a bite to eat and popped the pills in her food. She then drifted off into a sleep and when our vet came round later on in the afternoon he just made her drift off forever whilst she was in my arms. She didn't feel a thing and as far as she knew she had a full tummy and had had lots of fuss and love from us and I believe went a happy girl. I would not have liked her to have struggled and had any upset and we feel we did did the right thing.

Gosh here am I having a sob as it is like it happened yesterday.

Everybody has there own way and we did what was right for our girl.:)

Lucy

Hi everyone,
God im reading these posts having a good cry. I worked with horses for 13 years and have always held them while they were pts, always with the bolt gun, not nice to see but so quick.
My last dog, a newfie, died a week before his 8th birthday. I got up early for work and went to feed him and he was dead, it was such a shock, he really was our baby, even though we had a son, we had the dog first and he was so special, never been ill in his life either. My husband and i had to have a week off work as we were so upset, we buried him in the garden, not easy !, and we moved recently and i had a little cry about leaving him. Hes been dead 5 years now but i will never get over the memory of that awful realisation that he had gone.
We now have a bulldog who is such a sweetie and so funny, its a pity they never met as they are so alike, we may not of had to make the decision as to when to pts our newf, but at least its planned, you know its coming, and can prepare yourself to some degree, though of course its still not easy.
Just like lots of other things in life, we take our dogs for granted sometimes, and then suddenly theyre gone :(.
Sam x

what a sad topic this is, feel all miserable now :(

Very sad yes but a very worthwhile subject to discuss as it is one of the hardest things I think I have ever had to do.

Lucy

We tried everything to keep Kuma calm when he had to go.
We picked up tablet form sedatives that morning, they didn't touch him. If anything they made him more bouncy :-/ and he was given the strongest they had, a double dose!
He was then given an anasthetic in the thigh, a triple dose so as to speed up the time it would take him to go to sleep, 5 mins max. 15 mins later he was dragging himself accross the car park in a bid to escape.
All our attempts to make the whole thing as stress free for him as possible failed! It was awful.
The vet was very appologetic, rather upset actually. It wasn't her fault, Kuma was such a fighter, he didn't want to go.
It was very hard for us but we had to do it!
Caz x

Last Saturday I cuddled my mum's yorkie Amy, while she was pts at home, she was 13 and had mammary tumours. It was such a weird weekend, I had just put a deposit on an Afghan puppy when mum called to say Amy was really bad - I went round the next morning and the dog was slumped against a wall revealing a mass of lumps on her belly and chest, they had split and were bleeding - this had got this bad literally in the space of week, we knew about her condition for the last six months but her quality of life was good, she went on her walks and often played with her favourite ball. I knew it was bad as soon as I saw her - it was 10am and the vet was coming at 12. I prepared mum who knew there was only one outcome but she was to upset to sit with her, so I did, it was very peaceful and she did just go to sleep, so sad, she wasn't my dog but we had her around for the past 13 years, she was one of the family. But, i was at ease with the decision because I felt she must have been in so much pain she only really struggled on the Friday night but the whole experience was quickly over. She knew the needle had gone in but she didn't fight it or yelp - I spoke to her throughout without realising she was already gone.