Anesthetic before euthanasia? Cat-death musings

In a previous post I read that a poster's vet "knocked out" a kitty
before delivering the fatal injection. This is a new idea to me.

After many cats put down behind closed doors, I stayed with Abbey for
her euthanasia (due to quickly spreading malignant mammarian tumors).
She was a very special kitty, who I know was terrified. I hoped that
my presence would keep her calmer, and felt it was my duty to her to
stand guard during her final terror. For her sake I'm glad I did,
she's gone now, though it was utterly traumatic for me.

The vet missed the vein at first, making Abbey flop down after a short
taste of the elixir, frightening her more. When she died, I was
shocked at how undignified she went, with her tongue shooting out of
her mouth, and flopping down indignantly on the table.

Tiger's 11, Louis 2. If they become too ill to continue, what do I ask
the vet for to have them get a knockout-shot before they're
euthanized? No vet has ever offered this as an option to me.

When Roy died, the vet gave us some pills to calm him. They turned him
into a pitiful automaton.. roaming around the house in circles till he
couldn't walk. This was far worse than delivering him to the needle
directly.

I don't want to have to go through any of those horrors again.

For the cat, I'm sure it's an amorphous, short-lived fear, followed by
a blameless oblivion, but then again I'll outlive the cat and re-live
their final moments for decades.

God. This whole episode with Henry is bringing back the ghosts of all
my old cats in 3D.

How the hell do Vets live with this? I wish I could get a glimpse of
their worldview. To love animals so much, yet deal daily with their
dispatch.

BLink

Well, I once had a fairly young vet putting one of my cats to sleep and he
told me this was one of the reasons he was quitting his practice. I've had
very sick cats put to sleep but my Moonshines died peacefully at home. She
just wanted to sleep, couldn't stand any more, had irreversible kidney
disease and we had gone the sub-q and force feeding route but it wasn't
working. She did not seem to be in pain at that point. I stopped the force
feeding and just let her drift off. I have seen such fear in the eyes of my
cats that had that final shot and it does stay with you forever. If you
need to end their pain and suffering it must be done.

--
Barb
Of course I don't look busy,
I did it right the first time.

Brian Link wrote:
In a previous post I read that a poster's vet "knocked out" a kitty
before delivering the fatal injection. This is a new idea to me.

Most vets administer a pre-sedative, even when the euth is done behind
"closed doors". You can request one, if it isn't offered. It makes
the ordeal a lot easier to handle, on everyone involved.

-L.

"Brian Link" wrote in message
...
In a previous post I read that a poster's vet "knocked out" a kitty
before delivering the fatal injection. This is a new idea to me.

My first cat was euthanized that way, since my vet was aware that the cat
was tense to begin with. In fact, she didn't even take her out of the
carrier (since getting her out of the carrier at the vet's was always so
difficult to begin with) - just administered the pre-dose while the cat was
still in the carrier. Waited till that took effect - a short time, then
administered the fatal dose. The second cat I had to have euthanized was
given just the one (fatal) injection. Both euthanasias went very smoothly.
IOW, IME it depends upon the cat - case-to-case, as to which method the vet
will use.

Cathy