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?

We've just has our boy PTS Thursday. We went to the vets and they were lovely. We were able to spend some time with him in the room before hand and had lots of cuddles and strokes. The vet was lovely and we were able to spend time with him after as well. They also did paw prints and hair clippings for us. They have a separate room and entrance specifically for the situation so felt homely and not clinical. It also meant we didn't have to walk through the waiting room a blubbering mess with other people and their pets. It might be worth asking if there is a similar room at your vets or at least a different entrance/exit. It was difficult but as a process was very peaceful and sensitively done. They also gave us the option of calling them in a few days to pay so it might be worth checking that too.

If your ddog likes the vets I'd do it there. Its such a hard time but when they're in pain and quality of life has gone it's the kindest thing. 🩷

I'm so sorry.

We had one pts at the vet and one at home, both peaceful and both injections into the leg.

I'll be absolutely honest here. I wasn't prepared for him being carried out of the house, but I never thought about it, the vet put him into a big bag almost like an Ikea bag shape (but not an ikea bag!!) and then he took him away.

Both cremated and in my bedside drawer with small amounts of the ashes in keepsakes on the hearth.

@Defender90 I hadn't thought about that part if my doggie was PTS at home. We left the vet surgery with our boy still in the room on the rug that they'd got for him to lie on. He looked as though he was fast asleep. I'm sorry your last memory was of your pet being carried out in a bag.

It was done with so much care, the vet had treated him for 15 years and knew us well. It wasn't bad, but just made me think. If that makes sense?

It was just something I wanted to mention to folks, as I hadn't given it a thought.

It makes perfect sense. It feels as though the whole process was really dignified. I think I'd just thought that the vet would carry the dog out in a blanket or rug or something. As you say, not really something you think about until you need to.

It sounds like it was a type of stretcher they used, by the description of the ikea bag type shape. Having done this a number of times, blankets are difficult if a large dog (fine for smaller ones that can be carried by one person) and rigid stretchers more like those used for humans are tricky with larger dogs because there are no sides to them.

The most difficult one I helped with was a 60 kilo mastiff in a second floor flat with no lift

DF had his lovely dog put down recently, the cost to have it done at home was £300, so they took him in the car all cosy to the vet and the vet came out and did it there so his loved dog was not manhandled again. This was £150. They had not had a dog put to sleep for many years and were shocked how much the cost had gone up. They took him home and buried him under an apple tree.

Hi there
Sorry you are going through this.
We had our beloved dog PTS at home.The vet took her for cremation and we went to collect her ashes x

My older dog was at home - she was 14, had lost one eye to glaucoma and I suspected would need to lose the other. It was very peaceful - she was deep asleep but woke up as the vet put the cannula in - that wasn't so nice - then lay down and just closed her eyes as the injection went in. We buried her in my parents garden with all their dogs as they had all played so much together. Taking her body in the car wasn't so good.

My other dog died a few months later and was PTS at my parents house 10 miles away as I had just had an op on my shoulder and wouldn't have been able to lift her body into the car. It was even more peaceful as Mums dog came and lay with us, touched noses with my dog and licked away my tears as my dog went to sleep.

I would always choose to have a dog PTS at home if possible but only if I was lucky enough to be able to bury them as I did. We had two cats PTS at the vet and whilst it was also incredibly peaceful and the vets were so kind, it was carrying out the body at the end which was so very hard.

I might be out of the ordinary but I have found the handling of the body afterwards almost like a ritual, and very soothing.

When our two went at home the vet left and we sat with them for a bit. We then carried them to the car and drove them
to the pet crematorium. I knew the one I wanted to use, rang them and then drove over. It felt like our own little funeral
procession, like it was my way of paying
tribute to them.

The one at the vets was similar, although they wrapped him in his blanket that we’d taken and carried him to the car so gently and respectfully, considering he was a 5.5 stone greyhound. This very kind act meant so much to me and is making me well up just typing about it.

I always choose individual cremation, take them to the place myself, then collect and scatter the ashes in a place that they liked. I know this part is for our benefit, but I like that I ‘know’ where they are.

My first Labrador was PTS at home, very peacefully. Second in the back of my car at the vet's, also very peacefully. Had IV both times. And the way their dear dead bodies were wrapped tenderly in a blanket and taken for individual cremation makes me cry now. Home is best but Covid got in the way for number 2.

Awww, thinking of you x

There are pros and cons for both ways. I have done euthanasia at home and also at the vets for my dogs, depending on various things. I wrote about that and other aspects of euthanasia here, if that helps you x

https://www.dfordog.co.uk/blog/having-your-dog-put-to-sleep-euthanasia.html