Pet Euthanasia at Home
It's always so hard to make the call on when to let a pet go. We actually had an appointment for this service last year, but before the time came, Rosie's CHF became acute and we had to take her to p...
Forum Discussion
dturm wrote:
An opposing perspective and things to consider:
While a relaxed home setting is idealized, there are many factors that your vet considers when making the decision to offer home euthanasia.
Thankfully “problems” with euthanasia do not happen often, they do happen and being in a hospital setting with access to multiple drugs and assistants allows us to deal with the unknown more expediently.
Until recent DEA rulings, it was illegal for veterinarians to carry controlled substances outside of the office and there is still some ambiguity about the rules in place.
Many dogs do become anxious just being in a veterinary office. Dogs are amazingly intuitive and often will react to the anxiety of their owners, particularly in the situation surrounding euthanasia. With a calm, caring staff and a family attentive to the dog’s needs during the euthanasia (rather than their own pain), an office euthanasia can be a peaceful end.
I’ve done many home euthanasias but frankly didn’t like to, the benefit was more perception than real. I’ll admit that this perception is important to many.
Just my perspective after doing this for 37 years.
Doug, DVM
My mother had some folks come to her house to put down one of her dogs and there were some serious complications. The one-year old dog had randomly started attacking family members. The drugs failed to work correctly and the dog went nuts. The vet said this can happen if the dog has a brain tumor. It was very traumatic for the family members who witnessed it.
