Euthanasia

We can offer kind, gentle, euthanasia as an option to assist your animal companion’s transition from life to death. This option is available to you, even if you are not currently enrolled in a Hospice Care Plan, although our veterinary hospice patients always receive priority if they need us. We always perform a pre-euthanasia assessment and consultation in your home for new patients, to make sure we can meet your needs as well as those of your animal companion.

Choices

We know the decision to euthanase a four-legged family member is a heart-wrenching one, and we understand how difficult it will be on the day you have to say goodbye.  To try to make the process a little bit easier for your family, we’ve outlined some choices you’ll need to make about your friend’s care on the day – making these choices in advance can help. We’ve also described the euthanasia process, so you’ll know what will happen, and that you needn’t be worried about the procedure itself.

Where should my fur-baby say goodbye?

We want your animal companion to make the transition somewhere that they are calm and peaceful. They will need to be moved to the chosen area (if necessary) at least an hour before we arrive, to give them time to settle and get comfortable in their location. Any familiar setting at home, particularly if you are nearby, is a good choice in our experience.

Do I Stay, or Do I Go?

The decision on whether or not to be in the room with your pet during the euthanasia process is a very personal one. For some pet-parents, watching the procedure is more than they can bear; for others, the idea of being away from their fur-baby during their last moments is unthinkable. We’ve detailed the procedure below, so you know what will happen. Sometimes that can make your decision easier. If you’re still unsure, we’d encourage you to stay. Having a loved one present during those final moments must be very reassuring. If you’re not able to stay, however, or wish to leave during the procedure, that’s not a problem. We’ll make sure your fur-baby can ‘feel the love’ during their final moments. If you decide that you don’t want to be present during the procedure itself, you are more than welcome to take some time to say goodbye after your friend has passed away – just let us know.

If you have children, another decision you’ll need to make is whether or not to have them present, either during or after the procedure, so they can say goodbye. If you can, we encourage you to allow children this opportunity to say goodbye – it really helps them to achieve closure. Death is a part of life, and children are usually very resilient when given the opportunity to understand what’s happening. In our experience, once children begin speaking in sentences, they’re old enough to understand death. We have a small collection of gentle, topical (and beautiful) story books available to lend to clients who are preparing children for the death of an animal companion.

We should also consider the needs of other pets. If the patient has a four-legged best friend, it is important that the other pet gets to say good bye as well. For dogs especially, the sudden, inexplicable loss of a family member can mean huge levels of stress and anxiety, sometimes for years. Dogs are very understanding of the concept of death when they can see it for themselves. Usually after a quick sniff of their deceased friend, dogs are able to comprehend that their friend is gone forever, and get on with their lives without worry. They’ll often still have periods of sadness, but not the stress and anxiety of not knowing where their friend is.

Caring for your four-legged family members remains.

We need to know your wishes for care of your pet’s remains. There are three options we can offer you: home burial, group cremation, or individual cremation.

Home burial

You can choose this option if you wish to bury your friend at home. Different local government councils have different rules on this, so please check the local planning laws to find out if you may bury a deceased animal on your property. If you choose this option, we’ll ask you to leave the room for a few moments after you’ve said goodbye to your fur-baby, while we get them ready to go home. They’ll be placed in a calico burial bag that is lined with a biodegradable plastic liner. These bags are suitable to bury without opening.

Group Cremation

If you’d like your animal companion’s remains cremated, but don’t want their ashes back, group cremation is a suitable choice. The pet crematorium we use is run by a veterinary nurse in the Samford Valley, and the ashes are sprinkled on the property – it’s a really lovely setting.

Individual Cremation

This is a great option as it allows your fur-baby to come home to you. They can come back in a beautiful urn or wooden box for display, or in a scatter box, ready to be sprinkled in their favourite place, or planted under a beautiful tree. For those who can’t face the task of burying their pet’s remains (or who are prohibited from doing so by local law), but want to keep them close, an individual cremation allows you to have the best of both worlds.

The Procedure

We will need you sign a consent form for us before we are able to perform a euthanasia. This is a legal requirement. Where possible, we will email you the form to sign and return, and organise payment prior to your pet’s final appointment to make it easier for you at the time – you can then concentrate on your family members (two-legged and four-legged) and their needs at the time of the appointment.

When we arrive for your appointment, we’ll greet your fur-baby calmly and kindly. You’ll probably notice we’ll be talking to your pet in our normal happy voices, even though there might be some tears in our eyes. We do that because we don’t want them to worry about why everyone is suddenly sad. We’ll get the patient settled comfortably – you can hold your friend in your arms, or they can lay or sit on their bed – and we’ll administer an injection under the skin with a tiny, hair-thin needle. This will make your fur-baby calm, relaxed, and very sleepy. If you’ve ever had a twilight sedation yourself, you’ll know the feeling of drifting peacefully and blissfully off to sleep. When your friend is sleeping and is not feeling any pain, we’ll gently slide an intravenous catheter into a vein, usually in the front leg. Then, when you’re ready, we’ll inject two medications: first a general anaesthetic, and then the euthanasia solution. The anaesthetic ensures your fur-baby feels no pain, and then the euthanasia solution can help the transition. The patient’s heart will stop, their brain function will cease, and they’ll pass away. We’ll check to make sure your fur-baby is gone. It will be very quick, and often our patients pass away even before we’ve finished injecting the euthanasia solution. Sometimes, after they die, we might get some muscle movement, or the bowel or bladder might empty. We’ll pop a little absorbent under pad under your friend to catch that if it happens. We’ll make your fur-baby comfy, and you can take as long with them as you’d like to say goodbye. We’ll give you some privacy, but we’ll only be a shout away if you need us for anything. And you can rest assured that if you ask us to assist by taking your friend for aftercare, we’ll treat them as if they were our own.

Personal touches

If your fur-baby is going for cremation, it can be really lovely to send a letter or drawing too – sometimes there are things we just can’t say out loud to them. You can prepare these beforehand, if you’d like, but we will have a pen, letter paper and envelopes, as well as plain paper and crayons, available for any family member, young or old, who needs to use them.

We can also collect a lock of your friend’s hair in a keepsake bag for you if you wish – just let us know.

We know this is a difficult time for your whole family, and that the grief will be very real. If you’re having trouble, please let us know. We can refer you to an excellent grief counsellor who may be able to help.