Rats and euthanasia

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ryelle

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2008
Messages
3,427
Location
Cleveland, England
Sorry for the really morbid topic, but I am about to become hysterical. (My boys are fine btw)

I need to know, whats the humane way a vet would put a rat to sleep?

SQ just wrote on another post:

And like lilspaz68`s vet,

[quote:1rvgecby]Quote:
for euthanasias my vet gases them down and then gently pinches their toes. There is an automatic reflex on their part unless they are unconscious.


My vet also checks for a blink reflex. Then my vet administers the other euthanasia drug as suggested in the Rat Health Care book.[/quote:1rvgecby]


I need to know. What would the right way be of doing it? and what would be the wrong?
 
Gas them to sleep and then administer a needle.

Needles are painful for rats, so that's why they get gassed first.
 
So every rat everyone has had PTS has been gassed first and then given a needle? Do you know how and where the needle is normally administered?



Im scared of reading replies :sad3:
 
I have my vet make my rat unconscious using the isofluorane gas placed near their face ..... while I hold my rat in my arms and pet him/her. My vet makes sure they are deeply unconsciuos by gently pinching the foot to check for a reflex and by touching their eye to check for a reflex ... I always request that they are under at least as deeply as they would need to be for surgery.

Then the vet injects the correct dossage of sodium pentobarbital using a 27 - 29 gauge needle. The injection is given in the lower right side of the abdomen, with the vet being careful not to get it into any organs (as that would cause pain).

My rat lays in my arm, still unconscious and still getting the isofluorane gas. I hold and cuddle my rattie ... eventually they stop breathing and then their heart stops. It takes about 20 to 40 minutes.

Some vets like to administer a sedative prior to the gas. If they do, make sure they use a 27 - 29 gauge needle as the higher the gauge, the smaller the needle.

You may want to order Debbie D.'s Rat Health Care book (http://www.ratfanclub.org)
It is updated yearly, and costs less then $10. It is a valuable resource, just ignore the section on home euthanasia as it is inhumane.
 
lilratsy43 said:
I believe they have to put it directly into their heart.

It is extremely painful and illegal in many places to do this on a conscious rat.

Some vets will do this to an unconscious rat (rendered unconscious with isofluorane gas).
It should NEVER be done to a rat that is not deeply unconscious.
 
Some vets are not humane when rats are pts.
I always discuss the method with the vet first and I am always present for my rat during the proceedure to hold and comfort my rat.

lilratsy43 if your vet insists on giving an injection to the heart, make sure your rat is deeply unconscious (from isofluorane gas) before that is done. Otherwise, it is extremely painful.
 
SQ I agree with you 100%. I do not like this method but I have only gone there once to have a rat PTS. I really did not know what else to do, but I did ask them how they put rats to sleep and I am pretty sure they said they do gas them first and then do it.

I am in the process of finding another vet, don't get me wrong, for the most part my vet is great, but I really don't think he would take suggestions if I gave them and he is very expensive!
 
I'm distraut, and furious, and hurting so bad.

This was Harvey before I had him PTS last year around June time.

P4030092.jpg


Something happened to him, and he because disabled. The vets (Harvey ended up seeing about 5 or 6 different ones, because they move between 4 surgerys in the area and they said i couldnt just see one) said he had a spinal injury but i honestly dont know. They gave him an injection of some sort of anti inflammatory and pain killer and said if he didnt improve he wouldnt get better. i took him back two days later and a different vet said he had improved and he would be fine. A week later we were back and the vet i saw (this is the one that ended up putting Harvey to sleep) said "the other vet shouldnt have said what he said. He should have been given more meds". So he got another of these injections that lasted for 48hours and i was told to go back two days later. I went back two days later and a DIFFERENT vet said the injection he had actually lasted for 1 week, not 48 hours. so we went home again. This went on for about a month and a half. The emotional stress was horific. I didnt sleep, i cried all the time, i was just exhausted every second of the day. Harvey spent all day sleeping. He was moved to a cage without any levels and i had to hand feed him soft food and bath him every day because he couldnt move out of his own urine. He slept all day long.
I didnt want to cry while writing this but i cant help it.

I took him to the vets and i said it wasnt fair on him and i had to let him go. The vet asked me if i wanted to hand him over and wait in the waiting room but i couldnt. I said he would be scared without me and i didnt want him to be afraid. I signed a form because i also wanted to take him home with me after. Harvey was the love of my life and i couldn't bare leaving him there. The vet then came in with a needle. He took Harvey and he injected this stuff in to his heart. I've never had an animal PTS before. Harvey screamed. I sat in a chair while the vet left the room. He came back every 10 or so minutes. Harveys heart kept beating for 45mins until the vet came in and gave him a second injection, right in to the heart.


My heart is broken all over again
 
Ryelle, I'm so sorry your vet did this. Not too many vets are aware of the proper procedure for putting a rat to sleep.

My vet gasses them first completely, then inserts a needle into the heart. She said it can be done in the abdomen but it's faster in the heart.
 
SQ said:
I have my vet make my rat unconscious using the iso gas placed near their face ..... while I hold my rat in my arms and pet him/her. , the smaller the needle..

this isnt practicing safe medicine the gas should not be "near" the animal as it has health concerns for the people around it that are inhaling it. they shoudl be place in a sealed chamber or a mask directly over their face. please do not be surprised if you are refused to be near gas anesthetic as there are legal ramifications if you become ill due to the gas.
 
theratlady said:
SQ said:
I have my vet make my rat unconscious using the iso gas placed near their face ..... while I hold my rat in my arms and pet him/her. , the smaller the needle..

this isnt practicing safe medicine the gas should not be "near" the animal as it has health concerns for the people around it that are inhaling it. they shoudl be place in a sealed chamber or a mask directly over their face. please do not be surprised if you are refused to be near gas anesthetic as there are legal ramifications if you become ill due to the gas.

This is why my vet won't allow me in the room when she does my rats.
 
You love your rats, and you want the best for them. Its hard enough having to have them PTS and ofc you want it done the most painless way possible. I stopped breathing when i read what SQ wrote.

I feel awful - and guilty. I think i might ring the vets tomorrow, find the doctors name. I also want to know what meds they actually gave Harvey and the doses. I pray they have it all on record still.

Im going to be making a formal complaint, to the highest person in that place. I am going to call around and find another vet surgery to use. There is no flippin way i am taking my boys there ever again. A vet should be humane and someone you can trust
 
right but i should add that you should be more then welcome to be around your rat once it is asleep esp to say goodbye. and even stay for the heart injection if the person wanted to.
 
ryelle, I am so sorry that your vet put your rat through that experience. It's hard enough when they are unconscious, just coming to terms with the loss.

My vet uses the nose cone with mine. He checked with me first, because he knows that SQ has a different preference. The rat loses consciousness very fast that way. I am cautious about the anaesthetic, because the vet says you can drop like a brick if you get a good whiff of it.
 
Ryelle, what was wrong with Harvey? You said he had a spinal injury can you explain?


Also don't beat yourself up about that, you were just trying to do right by Harvey. When my girl Brain got really old and was just having a difficult time doing anything, I made the decision to have her PTS. But I was in college at the time, and they had a vet science program, so I went to them to have her PTS. They put her in this tiny chamber and gassed her, it was aweful! She was flipping and flopping around and I knew she was suffering but I didn't know what to do. The guy assured me she was unconscious, and I of course believed him, but I don't know if I believe him anymore. Then the worst happened, they turned off the gas and she started to move again...I will never forget that day, but Brain is in a better place now and I will never let that happen to another rat.
 
that is terrible what that vet did to your rat but i have seen vets here be almost as cruel, so i learned how to do this procedure myself and make my rats end easy as possible.
 
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