Euthanized pet cat

Sugarbear

Hey everyone,
I had my cat put down a month ago because she was suffering from an incurable gum disease that was making her life miserable. It was the hardest thing to do at the time but I know that I made the right choice in what was best for her. There's just one thing that's bothering me that I haven't seemed to get over yet, and that's the time it took for the vet to euthanize her. I've heard it's supposed to be "quick and painless" but I'm not sure if 45 minutes is quick
I had read up about how they usually euthanize animals before the day so that I had a better idea of what was going happen, and it said that they usually inject the fluid through a vein on the back of their leg, but the vet injected her with the substance 4 times in areas such as her back, her tummy and under her arm, before he actually decided to shave the hair on her leg and go through a vein.
Only after he did this did she finally stop breathing after 5 minutes.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has had an experience like this, and if it is normal?
I have another cat at home who is showing signs of this gum disease, and he may have to be put down in the near future, and I don't want him to have to go through 45 minutes of injections before he finally passes away.
Any feedback would be great as I'm really confused and lost.

peasant

We had to have a dog euthanized after a massive stroke a few years ago.

It took two injections. One normal anaesthetic to calm the dog and make it unconscious and then the lethal dose. We could hold the dog and talk to it while it was losing consciousness. All was over in a few minutes.

What took the time was the dog drifting off into unconsciousness. The lethal dose after that killed instantly.

Sorry to have to say it this harshly ...but 45 mins sounds like a botch-job.

Get a different vet. Maybe he was wrong in the diagnosis or "treatment" of this gum disease as well...

Give your other cat a better chance.

Sugarbear

Sorry to hear about your dog Peasant, I know how hard it is.
I think you're probably right about saying it was probably a botch job.... It's what I have been thinking at the back of my head, but I guess I just needed someone's honest opinion to make me realise it. I mean 45 mins shouldn't be the norm. He did give her a sedative before he started injecting her all over the place, but it's just so hurtful to remember how long it took for her to go.
I feel like complaining to somebody about this, because it's not the first time this particular vet has been unprofessional. :mad:

We had to get a lump removed from a pet rat a year ago, and after the op he didn't give us any antibiotics, or even a dressing for his back.
My ratty then started to scratch at the stitches and we had to get them redone! (which he charged us for)
After this he then got a massive infection and he was so bad, we had to ring a vet on call because our usual vet was too "busy" to come out to the house.
Needleless to say the vet on call gave us steriods and antibiotics for my rat, and was baffled why our normal vet hadn't given him any post-op medication. Our ratty recovered within a week just so you know.

I suppose the question now is how to go about complaining about this vet... I'd hate to think that anybody elses' pets are suffering because of his negligence.
Do any pet owners on this forum know where I could go about officially complaining about this veterinarian?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

franksm

Sorry to hear about your cat, Sugarbear, you did the best for her.

No matter what advice you get from Boards why not drop an email to your local Citizens' Information office (or phone/visit them) ?

http://test.oasis.gov.ie/service_finder/query.py?tname=parser&category=Citizens+Information+Centres&county=Dublin

I have used them a couple of times and find they're great, even on email. They will hopefully be able to point you in the direction of making a formal complaint which I'm glad that you are doing, as that will maybe help someone less strong than yourself who has to bring their pet to this vet.

nando

Sorry to hear about your experience Sugarbear.

If you are unhappy with the care your pets have received then I suggest you seek a second opinion and change to a different vet. However I would also say that if you have a complaint you should notify the vet himself and the vet practice in general of the problem and discuss it with them. If the vet is not aware of any problem I am sure he would appreciate your feedback and this could also help him to improve how he deals with future clients, even if you are no longer one of them.

If you feel you have a valid complaint to make I would recommend that you contact the Veterinary Council of Ireland which can be found at www.vci.ie.

Also, just to note that the use of antibiotics post-operatively is actually not standard procedure for most operations nor is the use of a dressing necessarily the best option following a lump removal on an animal such as rat, though obviously all cases vary individually. Routine use of antibiotics post-op (without specific cause) is quite an old-fashioned, outdated practice. Also, while it is unfortunate that you were unhappy with the out of hours service of your vet it's important to remember that vets cannot be expected to work 24/7 year round and using an on call service can only be expected - very few gps are available on call either! In most Dublin practices an out of hours emergency service is in fact usually the only option available.

I would definitely discuss all your concerns with the practice and also seek a second opinion about your other cat.

Sugarbear

Thanks for everyone's replies to this sensitive matter. I'll start by looking for information from the places everyone suggested and hopefully get something done about this matter.
Just a little note to Nando there, thanks for the link to the VCI, that'll be a great place to start with the complaint About the antibiotics that I mentioned in the last thread, just so that you know my rat had been severely scratching at the stitches and had pulled a lot of them out with his claws, and then after he had them redone, there was a lot of yellow pus coming out and this was why the vet-on-call was surprised he hadn't given him any medication for the infection. The vet also made a dozen promises to us before the operation that he would come out to the house if anything wrong, so that didn't help our trust at all.
Hopefully my complaint toward his clinic will make him realise that he needs to sort out a few issues before practising on more pets, because in the end, it affects both the pet and its owner.

Rb

Sorry to hear about your cat Sugarbear, and the experience you went through.
As has been said above, it really does sound like a botched job. It doesn't even take the lethal injection 45 minutes, and thats on a human.
We had to have a pup put down quite a few years ago, we rescued it from a shelter only to find out it (and many, many other animals from that animal "rescue") were badly diseased. From what I remember, the procedure was quick.

Regarding your vet, I would take nandos advice and contact the NCI, as well as move to another. Theres many, many other great vets in the Dublin area.

Best of luck and again, sorry for your loss.

nando

Again it is still possible your rat did receive a long acting antibiotic injection when the stitches were redone - though we don't know anything for certain. This is why I think you should discuss the problem with the vet. Although it is unfortunate your vet didn't discuss all of this with you initially when the problem arose - you should mention this to him also.

Good luck with the problem and I hope your other cat will be ok.

Nala

I had a cat put down once and the whole thing only took 5 minutes.

tj-music.com

That´s bad!! Very bad actually! I work in an animal clinic myself as a volunteer and have witnessed euthanisation a lot (unfortunately) and it is indeed usually quick and painless!

Shame on the vet!!:mad:

deaddonkey

it can take some time if the injection isn't given into a vein but straight into the skin instead.

if it's sent into the vein then it takes a matter of seconds.

10 minutes is normal for an injection into muscle. 45 is very excessive.

FranknFurter

Sugarbear, Im so sorry to hear of your loss, been there myself and to this day it still makes me sniffle to think of that day.

Regardless of any complications I can think of, 45 mins is absolutely ridiculous!
Under VERY unique circumstances I can see it *maybe* needing 10-15 minutes, but on average it should be no more than 5-10 max from first injection.

I would definitely register a complaint and change vets immediately.

Anyone who has to give that many injections and takes that long to euthanise a cat I would wonder if they have the slightest clue what they are doing, which would also make me question his diagnosis of a gum problem being untreatable. (It may be incurable, but the majority of mouth issues in cats are treatable).

Euthanasia has guidlines that should be followed, and it has limitations on how it is carried out, and I have never heard of it taking 45 mins, Its not a hard thing to do (from a clinical point of view I mean).
Its not a treatment, its an ending of life, it should not take that long.

If you dont mind me asking, how much did he charge you for that?
Imho, if it took that long, it was very much not "quick" and I would hope he would reflect that in the cost by way of acknowledgment that he messed up at least.

I would be seriously questioning this vets knowledge and professionalism.

And I very very much recommend that you bring your other cat to a different vet as soon as you can, to have his gum condition re-evaluated. I have a sneaky suspicion it may not be necessary to have him put to sleep, I could be wrong but my gut tells me this may be very different to what you have been led to believe.

B

PS: If you want to you can PM me the name of this guy and Ill do some checking around.

Shewhomustbe...

Sugarbear, I'm very sorry to hear about you losing your cat, and the awful circumstances.

I'm shocked that it was necessary to have you cat put down because of gum disease (did it develop into an organ problem as I can't find any reason why a cat would be put down because of ONLY gum disease).

One of my cats, Sheila, had an operation just over a week ago to remove just about all of her teeth, she's got about three left! :eek:
She came into our lives last year with this problem, we brought her to our vet who had to remove a damaged tooth and descaled her teeth. I brought her back again as she had unbelievable bad breath, she'd knock you out from across the room! So he advised it'd be better for her to take the teeth out or we'd be back every couple of months getting them cleaned.
Your vet should have been checking you cat's teeth (as should you) for any signs of irregularity. You, and your cat, mightened like the option of brushing their teeth but there are other ways to keep their teeth clean, it shouldn't come to having them put down.
If I were you I'd get some definitive answers before losing another pet.

artieanna

yep sugarbear that sounds like the vet didn't know what he/she was doing. 45 minutes to put a cat to sleep is completly excessive.... five mins and a max of two injections is usual for dogs/cats big or small....

Am Sorry you and your cat had go through that deplorable ordeal:mad:

Sugarbear

Thanks everyone. I knew deep down in my heart it took too long for her to pass away, but I tried to deny it and I kept telling myself I did the right thing. I guess the initial grief stopped me from seeing the reality of it until I was at the angry stage of bereavement
In reply to FranknFurter, we had the vet come out to our home so it probably cost more than it would have done in the actual vets (Thank god she at least was at home) He charged us 90 euro for the whole thing.
I've made an appointment to see the blue cross clinic..... I don't really trust vets at the moment because I feel they're just out for money....so I guess a charity company would be the best way to go in getting a real evaluation of my other cat until my trust is regained.
Just so that everyone knows, the vet didn't even bring in a sterlised wipe or scissors, he actually asked us for a scissors and some kind of wipe when he decided to go through the vein after 35 mins or so.
This made it really difficult for us as me and my family were all crying and we didn't question why he didn't have these things until he was actually gone.
The more I think about it the more I feel extremely angry.
I think the best thing I can do for my passed away cat is to make a webpage for in in memory or something because I can't help but feel guilty that I let that idiot touch her :mad:

gypsygirl

Most important, Your pet is not in pain now. And also important, you were with her when she went. That vet sounds like a Pr**k, I've had big animals put to sleep quietly and painlessy in under 5 minutes, DON'T GO TO THE BLUE CROSS unless absolutely necessary. Those guys don't really care that much about the animals, its just a job to them. there Are lots of vets who really do care about the animals and their owners. Don't beat yourself up about what happened, while your cat may have been confused, its more likely that the first injection numbed her to what happened afterwards. Chin up, part of loving an animal is saying goodbye. You did the best you could.

Irish-Lass

We had to get our FIV+ cat PTS in August 2005 and it took Roo 1 hour and 5 minutes for them to say he had finally stopped breathing, we stayed with him the whole time cuddling him.

I think it depends on the way they are PTS Roo cause he had FIV+ he had got very sick and they couldn't get a vein so they gave him a sedative and then they gave it to him in the kidney which takes longer to work its way around the body, while his body was fighting for oxygen his heart was still strong and thats why it took him so long to die, yes it was horrible having to wait that long but he was wrapped in his blankets with us cuddling him and the vet and her nurse were great they kept coming in every 5/10 minutes to check on us and the cat.

Arcadian

What was the ''incurable gum disease''?