Euthanasia in small animals

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None of us like to consider the fact that euthanasia of our pets may become necessary, however there are some injuries and conditions which just aren’t treatable and for which euthanasia is the only option. These include conditions that result in unremitting pain or suffering, or that cause an affected pet's quality of life to become unacceptably poor. Animals may go off their food,  be unwilling to come out of bed, and become uninterested in their surroundings; if treament of such animals is not successful, then euthanasia may sadly have to be considered.

Pets are euthanased (or 'put to sleep') with a lethal injection which is normally given straight into the blood stream by injection. This medicine causes rapid, and usually very peaceful loss of consciousness and death. Afterwards relaxation of the bladder and bowels can occur, and reflex muscle twitches may occasioanlly be seen for a few minutes. After death owners can usually chose whether to take their pet's body home or to leave the body at the surgery for their vet to arranage cremation.  They may also be able to choose to have their pet's ashes back afterwards, and then can keep them or bury them or scatter them somewhere where their pet loved to be.

Coming to terms with the death of a pet is never easy. In an American survey it was found that people had the same kind of emotional response to losing a pet as they did to losing a family member, but pet owners often feel shocked and isolated by the severity of their grief, and can find it hard to recover from losing a pet. Bereavement counselling can be helpful.