How to Euthanize Your Pet

People love pets. There are an innumerable about of dogs, cats, birds, snakes, gerbils, ponies, iguanas, tarantulas, and all other type of pet which are kept in homes and in barns all over the country. However there are times when it is necessary for you and your pet part ways. For whatever reason your pet either is not well or you need to move to a place that you cannot bring your pet with you and you can't get anyone to adopt the pet. Your pet may also have an illness which is something that the veterinarian is not able to care for. For such cases there is euthanization. While this is not a preferred end for most pet/person relationships, it is sometimes necessary and you should know the way to go to get your pet out of this world humanely and with as little pain as possible.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• pet
• euthanization method

1. When to Euthanize?: While this article is a how-to, you should first find out when it is appropriate to euthanize your pet. If you are in such a state that you are not able to keep your pet anymore but you are afraid that if you leave the pet with a shelter it will be killed you have options. If you want to be sure that it will not be killed then you can take your pet to a “no kill” shelter. These are often run by private animal welfare organizations and are committed to not euthanizing pets which are not adopted. Other circumstances which may necessitate euthanization of your pet include cancer, old age, or if your pet becomes feral or aggressive than it may be necessary for you to put your pet under.

2. Euthanize Your Pet 1: One of the most popular ways to euthanize your pet is intravenously. Done at a veterinarian's office and with a high dose of a barbiturate, intravenous euthanization is often described as a very peaceful way for your pet to die.

3. Euthanize Your Pet 2: Another method for much smaller animals like rodents to be euthanized is through introduction of an intense gas. This is often done in small chambers and is typically only done with much smaller pets.

4. Euthanize Your Pet 3: There are occasions when intravenous injection is not possible and there are times when intracardiac injection needs to be performed. This is the process of putting a euthanasia drug straight into the heart or body cavity of the animal. Although this needs to be done occasionally it can take up to 15 minutes for larger animals to die it is considered inhumane or even illegal in some places.

5. Euthanize Your Pet 4: Shooting. This is the type of euthanization which is most controversial but oftentimes necessary. For a larger animal like a horse or a cow shooting it's often the only way to go. If you shoot a horse in the head between the eyeballs and you know what you're doing, it often results in instantaneous death. If you need to kill a cow for some reason, more steps must be taken as cows have been known to make full recovery even after being shot between the eyeballs.

[goodselfme]

on 3/17/2009 Thank you for explaining and posting such a delicate subject.

[tachic]

on 3/15/2009 Tough decision but you know when it's time. Good advice.

[woot]

on 3/4/2009 An unpleasant subject but an important one.

[mark1967]

on 1/18/2009 Never knew a cow could survive a shot between the eyes.

[hlruther]

on 1/17/2009 I'm glad you incorporated a snippet about rodents. My dad had to euthanize a pet rat of mine once and we didn't really know what to do. Great tips!