PTS - sorry v sad but need to know if home or at vet

[FedUpofPeepShow]

I'm sure I read that if you have it done at home it's not as peaceful due to no IV, so needing injection to the heart. Is that correct? I want what is best for my boy but been thinking of that I want it to be as calm and pain free as possible. Any advice?

I'm sorry you're in this position because it's devastating.

Ours was PTS at the vet and had no IV, just an injection. It was very peaceful and managed well.

Our DDog was PTS at home. He had an injection into the vein on his leg, no drama, he just slipped away very peacefully.

I’m sorry about your boy x

My beautiful girl was at home, it was peaceful, she just went to sleep.

Im sorry you are going through this, big hugs to your boy ❤️

Thank you. He's my first dog and it's so devastating. I just want to do my best. I'm worried that he hates people coming in the house (unless he knows them) so might be more stressed and be barking and upset beforehand. Whereas he quite likes going to the vet (weirdly) as he knows where the treats live

I’ve done both. The one at the vet was during covid so we couldn’t go in when she placed a catheter in his leg, but then they came into the garden and he had his injection there.

The ones at home have just had a little patch shaved on a front leg and the injection into a vein.

They were all very peaceful as they slipped away but I preferred the home ones as they were comfy in their own beds.

Speak to your vet and check what they offer in each case xx

If he likes being at the vets, that might be the best place.

I am sorry 💐

I'm not sure I can have the convo without sobbing - will steel myself

I am so sorry you are going through this. I have recently been in a similar position. Our dog was PTS at the vets and then we brought him home to rest. We did want it to happen at home but it would've been a longer wait due to the vet managers providing a date when they had a vet available to come to our house. Our boy was in too much pain to wait so we chose the vets.
If I'm honest I'm glad we chose the vets now as it was heartbreaking to go through and I would hate to be reminded of that in my home instead of the happy memories we have here with him.
He was given an injection into his leg and passed quickly after that. The vets were amazing with him and us. They cut off some fur and made us paw print cards. If he prefers the vets then maybe that's the best choice so he doesn't have any anxiety or upset xxx

Big hugs xxx

At home. The vet was very good and very kind. She shaved a small patch on my girl's leg and just slipped a canulla in. Very quick, very peaceful.

She also brought a blanket so she could wrap her up and take her away, if I wanted. I didn't - she's buried under the apple tree - but it is worth thinking about what you want to do with him after.

I don't think there's any right or wrong, just what's right or wrong from him.

I'm sorry. It's just the worst pain.

Thanks everyone for your kind words. At least we can do the kindest thing for them. I love him so much but just can't see him suffer

I’ve been present at lots of euthanasias be it dogs , cats , small pets and horses and IME it’s always preferable to do it at home , it’s much more peaceful in their home surroundings . Best wishes whatever you decide 💐

Oh OP I'm so sorry.

We had our girl pts earlier this year. I really wanted her to be at home but it didn't work out that way.

With hindsight it was probably best done at the vet. The vet who we'd been seeing for a while put herself out to do it, it was peaceful and unrushed and they were brilliant.

I actually rang twice and just couldn't speak but they were lovely, just spoke gently and told me it was fine, just call back later.

Big hug OP. The hardest thing, the final kindness.

We had to have our much missed boy PTS at peak Covid lockdown so instead of at home it ended up being at the vets but in the back of our car.

It was actually really lovely (in hindsight) he was in his big comfy dog bed surrounded by all of us stroking him and feeding him still warm sausages. I took a little video just before the vet did the injection and it's been comforting to look back.

He was so happy and then fell asleep.

Poor old Tosh.

I have had two dogs put to sleep and both were booked in for a home visit but deteriorated faster than expected so went into the vets as an emergency. Neither were “vet shy” and were very settled and got fed lots of sweeties and treats. It was as good as experience as it could be in the circumstances- and I am very grateful to them for that.
I think now I wouldn’t bother trying to sort a home visit, I would just take them to the vets- but that is just my personal experience.

So sorry that you're in this situation.
Our boy loved the vets and was happy there, and the vet was wonderful with us all when we needed to go for his final visit. She made it very easy to talk through everything.

This is so lovely and made me blub.

Sorry it's a tough time having to think of the final goodbye but it helps when have some time to plan.

None have needed any prior sedation, I've had 2 x home euthanasia and both were just given injections into the leg and passed very quickly while distracted with scoffing food. It would always be my preference for my dogs & own benefit as less stressful all round but its more expensive. Thankfully there are now specialised pet euthanasia services so less reliance on usual vets availability as fewer practices are even able to offer home visits due to staff shortages.
Only had one dog at vet practice but she'd already been an inpatient with emergency out of hours treatment & couldn't be fixed so we just went in to say goodbye as they gave injection.

Good to decide what wish to do after too, with burial (winter's trickier if frozen ground) , cremation general no ashes returned or individual if wish to keep them.
Both a home vet & practice usually have a contract cremation service they use, I've opted for same local crematorium who'd collect for fee or can drop off in person and ashes were ready next day or couple days rather than min 2wk crem collection cycle at our vets. I didn't think would make a difference waiting with first dog but I did feel more settled having them back home as such and I would've dreaded having to return to vets to pick them up.

I’m so sorry.

At home is better for your pet, but harder for you, as later you have to often see and maybe even walk through the space where they died. So think carefully about where in your house it would be. I foolishly chose the playroom and it’s still hard to be in there sometimes.

The usual process is the vet gives your pet a quick injection basically anywhere, which is a sedative. Ours was jabbed into the back. Then the pet falls to sleep and the vet shaves a bit of fur off one leg and inserts a canula (a hollow tube) into a vein. Then they ask if you’re ready for the final injection. When you tell them that you’re ready, they inject into the canula a drug that stops the heart: it works very fast and they tell you the pet is dead a second or two later.

(Some vets don’t bother with the sedative first, so check with the vet that they will do it.)

I couldn’t talk about it without crying so I made most of the arrangements via email which the vet was ok with.

It was so much harder than I expected and not as peaceful as I’d been led to expect (angry cat) and for a couple of weeks afterwards I had genuine PTSD style flashbacks. So be very gentle with yourself through this process. The loss of a pet was harder on me than the loss of some family members. It is such a responsibility to carry. But we do it for them. Keep reminding yourself that you are doing the best possible thing for your friend and making it all as peaceful and painless as possible and that if there was a better option you would do it. Sometimes none of the options is good.

It might also help to think about your own beliefs about death. I’m not religious but with both of my pets I was surprised by the very strong sense that they lingered near their familiar places/people for three days after death before drifting away. You might have some vivid dreams about them, soon after they die, and they’ll probably be young and healthy in the dream. That’s normal and what you think it all means is up to you. I also felt intensely that it was important the body be undisturbed as much as possible. My vet kept stroking my dying pet and although she meant well that upset me a lot as he hated strangers touching him. So maybe let the vet know any particular requests you may have, I wish I’d asked them to touch him as little as possible.

Another thought, which may sound weird, is to take a video of your pet while he’s ill. After the euthanasia I was filled with self-doubt and fear that I’d done the wrong thing, but whenever I looked back at the video from that morning before the vet arrived I could see oh wow that is a very ill and in pain cat with nothing ahead except an ugly end unless I intervene.

@Ofa I have a couple of photos from my boy's last full day. He had had enough, you can tell. Looking back even a week before, he was so poorly. It helped me to feel less bad that he'd possibly been poorly for a while and I hadn't noticed.

Thank you everyone this is all very helpful. And the story of Tosh was actually lovely.

If ddog is happier at the vets then with strangers coming to the house then I would take him to the vets. It's a very quick and calm thing having them PTS - but I was in complete bits.

Our neighbour wanted their boy PTS at home, but they couldn’t get a vet out within a suitable time frame. They do not regret taking him in.
I had mine PTS at the vets, wasn’t overly expecting it from memory, I don’t think I realised how old/infirm he had gotten, but it was done with such care and respect.

If he gets stressed with strangers in the home but is OK at the vets, I'd probably take him in personally.

I took my dog in as he needed to be sedated prior, no one would have got a cannula in otherwise. We booked it for the last appointment of the day so the waiting room was empty when we left and there was no rush. We took him for a walk in his favourite place then went to McDonald's where he had chicken nuggets and a chocolate milkshake on the way to the vets.

It's worth giving some thought to what you would like to happen with his body afterwards. Its not a decision to be making at the time if avoidable.

There are generally 3 options -

1. Burial at home which isn't for everyone.

1. Routine cremation, where his body is cremated and the pet crematorium scatter the ashes.

1. Individual cremation, where he is cremated individually, where his ashes (and only his - licensed pet crematoria work to the same standard as human ones) are returned to you. You can either choose for them to be returned in a scatter box for you to scatter or bury somewhere, or they will have a range of caskets and urns you choose from if you wish to keep them.

There are obviously costs involved to options 2 and 3, with 2 being the cheaper option.