Do animals know?

[Neil]

Originally Posted by MargaretR

I had my elderly cat euthanised at home last summer.
The vet injected a sedative before he shaved a leg and the lethal injection was made.

He (the cat) was angry when the first needle went in but was too drugged to care about what happened next.

Why would the vet inject a sedative to shave the leg before the lethal injection,why not just the lethal injection?

[MargaretR]

Originally Posted by Neil

Why would the vet inject a sedative to shave the leg before the lethal injection,why not just the lethal injection?

I'm not a vet so I don't know.
The same procedure happened when a cat I had was put down (at home) in the early 80s, although I didn't witness it, my friend did, and he described it to me.

PS on thinking about it - I did notice that the lethal needle was much larger and would likely be more painful.

[Margaret Pilkington]

it is kinder to sedate the cat before any other procedure is carried out.

[Margaret Pilkington]

My brothers used to help out at a farm up Sandy lane....the would help drive the sheep through town to the slaughterhouse........the sheep were always fine until they got to the start of Union Street and then they would go bonkers(trying to run in the opposite direction, jumping over one another..generally freaked out)........the lads always said they could smell death....and knew their time was up.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

it is kinder to sedate the cat before any other procedure is carried out.

Is there some difference between the sedation and lethal injection though which is why they sedate first?

I have had animals put to sleep before and it was just one injection

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by Neil

Why would the vet inject a sedative to shave the leg before the lethal injection,why not just the lethal injection?

I think the sedation is to bring about muscle relaxation so that when the heart stops it doesn't go into spasms and cause suffering. It's always two injections here for the animals as far as I've seen.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I have only had one cat put to sleep and he had a sedative first(this, despite the fact that he was almost comatose from a severe head injury) then the lethal injection.

[Gordon Booth]

The lethal injection is a massive dose of anaesthetic which is past its use by date( the vet said) and I don't remember any of our pets getting two injections. Perhaps different vets do it different ways.
Katex, I'm sure you're right, animals don't understand death- at least not in the way we do but I think they have instincts and senses that we lost long ago. Who knows?
It was the way all five pets behaved exactly the same way which caught my attention. Only one of them was really ill before I took it, the others were up and about until they got into the surgery.

[MargaretR]

I have found an explanation of two injections

Animal euthanasia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pets are almost always euthanized by intravenous injection, typically a very high dose of pentobarbital or sodium thiopental. Unconsciousness, respiratory then cardiac arrest follow rapidly, usually within 30 seconds.[2] Observers generally describe it as a quick and peaceful death.

Some veterinarians perform a two-stage process: An initial injection that simply renders the pet unconscious and a second shot that causes death.[citation needed] This allows the owner the chance to say goodbye to a live pet without their emotions stressing the pet. It also greatly mitigates any tendency toward spasm and other involuntary movement (i.e., the pet's facial or eye movement) which would tend to increase the emotional upset that the pet's owner is already experiencing.

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

My brothers used to help out at a farm up Sandy lane....the would help drive the sheep through town to the slaughterhouse........the sheep were always fine until they got to the start of Union Street and then they would go bonkers(trying to run in the opposite direction, jumping over one another..generally freaked out)........the lads always said they could smell death....and knew their time was up.

I also think animals can sense death, or smell the places where it occurs. In the 1950's dogs, and cats used to be put down, in a place in the Fire Station yard, there were electrocuted, seen many animals brought into the yard, and then panic as they got near the place, chap had to grab them quick, and put them in a chamber, soak the neck with water and attatch a heavy chain, then close the lid and switch on the power.
One day a woman brought in a big alsation that went beserk, they finally got it jammed in the doorway, and a young copper was sent with the humane killer (a Cash Captive Bolt Pistol), he was so nervous that he flinched, and the bolt ripped across the dogs head, the woman started screaming the place down, I took the pistol of him, reloaded it, and did the job properly, they closed the place down not long after.
Now you have to take them to the vet.
Retlaw.

[susie123]

Originally Posted by MargaretR

I have found an explanation of two injections

Animal euthanasia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pets are almost always euthanized by intravenous injection, typically a very high dose of pentobarbital or sodium thiopental. Unconsciousness, respiratory then cardiac arrest follow rapidly, usually within 30 seconds.[2] Observers generally describe it as a quick and peaceful death.

Some veterinarians perform a two-stage process: An initial injection that simply renders the pet unconscious and a second shot that causes death.[citation needed] This allows the owner the chance to say goodbye to a live pet without their emotions stressing the pet. It also greatly mitigates any tendency toward spasm and other involuntary movement (i.e., the pet's facial or eye movement) which would tend to increase the emotional upset that the pet's owner is already experiencing.

That's helpful to know, Margaret.

[maxthecollie]

Originally Posted by Retlaw

I also think animals can sense death, or smell the places where it occurs. In the 1950's dogs, and cats used to be put down, in a place in the Fire Station yard, there were electrocuted, seen many animals brought into the yard, and then panic as they got near the place, chap had to grab them quick, and put them in a chamber, soak the neck with water and attatch a heavy chain, then close the lid and switch on the power.
One day a woman brought in a big alsation that went beserk, they finally got it jammed in the doorway, and a young copper was sent with the humane killer (a Cash Captive Bolt Pistol), he was so nervous that he flinched, and the bolt ripped across the dogs head, the woman started screaming the place down, I took the pistol of him, reloaded it, and did the job properly, they closed the place down not long after.
Now you have to take them to the vet.
Retlaw.

I know about that contraption. I had to repair it when I worked on the council. It was a horrible piece of work