Vet wanted to inject my rat to make her sleepy then euthanize her. Who does this?

Fins us on Amazon
Shop with us on Ebay
Advertise with us
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
fallblossom

fallblossom

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
175
Location
North America
My beautiful double rex girl had to be pts today due to pneumonia. The vet came in with a 1cc syringe full of this yellow coloured medication to make my rat 'sleepy'. I asked him if it would knock her out and he said it would not and that once she was sleepy he would do the lethal injection. At that moment my eyes welled up and I told him that my rat is suffering enough and that I don't want her to feel any pain and to please gas her.

My vet seemed a wee bit irritated and told me this is how he puts small animals down. As I stood there crying he went off to get a clear box to put her in and said, "Put her in there please". I asked which side since there was a divider in it and he told me it didn't matter. He went to the back with my rat and came back and told me my rat was almost out and when she is he would euthanize her. I wanted to be there, but felt since the vet was ticked off my request would have ticked him off further.

To me this is a barbaric way of putting a rat to sleep. However, this is my first time putting a beloved animal down and I am not a vet and could be wrong. The gassing costed extra but it was worth every penny and now my girl is suffering no more.
 
I've been told that the kindest way is gas (sometimes with sedative beforehand) and then the injection. That's how most of mine have been PTS. The sedative can help them be less anxious about the gas, but the gas renders them unconscious quite quickly.

I'm sorry for your loss. It's really hard to lose a pet and also be worried about whether they will suffer.

Might be worth talking to the vet when you are not in a crisis situation, and just explain to him that you need to understand. Most are good about explaining, and they understand the distress about euthanasia.
 
Last edited:
I don't think the tiny needle bugs them. I had two rats euthanized and both got a small needle then gas. Neither reacted to the needle at all. I don't think it bothered them. It made them a little drowsy and less anxious.
 
Our vet does it that way. The gas is horrible to watch. Most vets wont let you be around the gas. I watched Cordelia in a gas chamber and I cannot do that again. We sedate our rats then they get the injection. THey don't flinch or feel it. I prefer this because we can be their last memory, not a chamber. We hold them till they go under and then we let them do it. I would have to look at the meds to see what they use exactly.
 
Isn't the gas isoflurane which is the same stuff they use to knock out rats for surgery? If so, she had that before when she had a tumour removed.
 
Here is what I came across on rat euthanasia: Under no circumstances allow anyone to administer an intracardiac (IC; in the heart) injection to a conscious rat, even if the rat is sedated. Unfortunately, this euthanasia method is commonly used, but it is not humane. It is also illegal in California. The AVMA Guidelines on Euthanasia says, “Intracardiac injection is acceptable only when performed on heavily sedated, anesthetized, or comatose animals. It is not considered acceptable in awake animals, owing to the difficulty and unpredictability of performing the injection accurately.” This is because an injection into the heart is painful, and it’s also difficult to find the heart, sometimes taking several seconds or resulting in the solution accidentally being injected into the lungs. The intracardiac injection can be performed humanely only if the rat is anesthetized so deeply that he does not blink if the corner of the eye is touched. I guess some vets like to use IC because once the rat is injected, death is quick; but quicker is not always better!

Consider asking the veterinarian to anesthetize your rat with the gas, inject the euthanasia solution in the abdomen while the rat is anesthetized, and then let the rat wake from the gas so the last thing your rat experiences is your cuddling him. If, however, a rat is experiencing respiratory distress, then euthanasia with gas anesthetic is the only recommended method because an abdominal injection is slower and can cause increased respiratory distress. Sedation can also increase respiratory distress and is not recommended for a rat in respiratory distress.


My rat was in respiratory distress so the next time we'll forgo the sedation if the above in bold is true.
 
minnieflower said:
I don't think the tiny needle bugs them. I had two rats euthanized and both got a small needle then gas. Neither reacted to the needle at all. I don't think it bothered them. It made them a little drowsy and less anxious.
Click to expand...
It is the same but iso does not control pain. It knocks them out. They use other meds ro control pain. Cordelia was walking around the chamber alone trying to get out. Some use just The mask some use the chamber. When they use the gas you cant be with them we sedate so they fall aleep in our arms not in a strangers arms. No rat should be euthanized with a heart stick alone. They should always be unconscious.
 
Last edited:
hopefloats said:
It is the same but iso does not control pain. It knocks them out. They use other meds ro control pain. Cordelia was walking around the chamber alone trying to get out. Some use just The mask some use the chamber. When they use the gas you cant be with them we sedate so they fall aleep in our arms not in a strangers arms. No rat should be euthanized with a heart stick alone. They should always be unconscious.
Click to expand...

Is sedation enough to not allow the rat to feel the lethal injection? I wasn't confident with this hence my asking for my rat to be gassed on top of it then euthanized. She had already been through enough struggling to breath and who knows how painful it is to have bloody urine on top of it. I don't.
 
Sometimes I elect to have the sedative first before gassing them because my vet feels the opposite, that if they have respiratory problems the gas will make them panic and feel like that can't breathe. So the sedative really relaxes them. And they can use extra sedative to make them really sleepy as they don't need to recover from it.
 
I have that done everytime, then when their basically under we have the gas sedation and final shot. However, with cardiac rats they sometimes need a second shot since they have poor circulation.
 
After watching one of my rats struggle in the gas chamber, I will never do gas without an injectable sedative again. I do not want their last thoughts to be that of panic. I have never had a rat react to the needle stick. Just ask your vet to use the smallest needle they have.
 
I have never experienced a heart stick or gas alone. I'm glad, but I can say I think my rats went peacefully. I don't euthanize unless the animal is suffering or they have no will to live. When I had to euthanize I was worried about the needle as well but it really helped them relax. I always hear that gas is the way to go, I never thought about them freaking out.
 
We just had it done..they did the shot to make them super sleepy and then gas and then heart stick. Doesn't take that long but time crawls during the process
 
RatPack said:
We just had it done..they did the shot to make them super sleepy and then gas and then heart stick. Doesn't take that long but time crawls during the process
Click to expand...

I am sorry to hear about your loss. It is so painful and bitter sweet. My vet wanted to skip the 'gas' part. However, I don't know what 'level of sedation' the rats go into with the medication they were using.
 
My vet gives a sedative and let's me spend some quality cuddle time with them as they fall asleep and then gas and then injection. However not a gas chamber like some people have said, they use a small mask like during surgery and line it with cloth or paper towel so the gas can't escape (the mask is slightly too big for rats) and then I can pet and kiss my sleeping rat before I simply turn around for a few seconds for the final injection into the heart (it's no fun to see so if rather not watch but I will usually keep a hand on the rat in case they can still feel my comfort). This has been the best method for me.
 
For most vets it is protocol to give sedative before gassing or injection of the lethal medication. It is simply so the animal is relaxed, they don't feel the lethal injection, and are more calm as they pass. For most it helps the owner know their pet was relaxed and not fighting when they go. I just finished a VAA course, our last subject was on euthanasia it is a hard topic and many take it differently.

Also it makes it safer for the vet to do the lethal injection if the animal is moving for what ever reason, for us our dog had uncontrollable seizures which was causing internal bleeding, so for him to be relaxed and not fighting from the first injection was the best thing my parents said was to see knowing he wasn't going struggling.

from the vets point of view, that is what they are trained to do and have to fallow protocol, some don't think it is right to show emotion while doing the procedure and others do. Also if the animal was to jolt for what ever reason without the sedative the vet or assistant could easily get the lethal injection in them instead.


yes it isn't fun to see them suffer but the sedative is to help them, not to make the suffering longer.

I'm sorry for your loss, it is never easy to lose a loved pet/family member.
 
Briana said:
For most vets it is protocol to give sedative before gassing or injection of the lethal medication. It is simply so the animal is relaxed, they don't feel the lethal injection, and are more calm as they pass. For most it helps the owner know their pet was relaxed and not fighting when they go. I just finished a VAA course, our last subject was on euthanasia it is a hard topic and many take it differently.
Click to expand...
My concern was I didn't know how 'sedated' my girl would have been and was worried she'd feel the heart stick. How sedated do animals get? Is it enough to knock them out so they don't 'feel' anything? I didn't want my rat to feel anything going in her heart. She was already in pain.
 
I don't think it is often enough to fully sedate them. Next time, before they inject with the lethal, ask the vet to pinch the back legs or gently touch the eye and look for reflexes. If there are none, then you're good for the final step. The reflexes are usually only gone after the gas has been going a few minutes, even if sedated first so I would say sedation only is not enough. But I could be wrong?
 
fallblossom said:
My concern was I didn't know how 'sedated' my girl would have been and was worried she'd feel the heart stick. How sedated do animals get? Is it enough to knock them out so they don't 'feel' anything? I didn't want my rat to feel anything going in her heart. She was already in pain.
Click to expand...

They should be sedated enough they do not feel it.There still might be a few reflexes like with their eyes but what it does is basically numbs everything in the body. Your rat shouldn't have felt anything. It doesn't fully knock them out because some want to spend last moments with their pets but I can ensure you that they are sedated enough not to feel anything. It is like when we go in for surgery and are sedated or asleep and we don't feel what the dr is doing.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top