When to give dog euthanasia?

(December 31, 2009)

Euthanasia is a Greek term that, translated into English, means a ‘good death’. Essentially, that is what it sets out to achieve. Euthanasia is the act of taking, in this case, an animal’s life as opposed to letting it submit to the forces of nature where death is an unavoidable outcome. However, the practice does not really take into consideration the final out come, but the amount of suffering that the animal will experience up until that outcome prevails. Because of the fact almost any dog owner will get really attached to the animal, taking a decision that involves ‘putting down the animal’ will be a very hard one to make.
Since the dog is going to suffer from some very serious medical condition before you consider euthanasia, you are likely to notice a significant change in the attitude as well as the well being of your animal. The fact that dogs have a tendency to suffer in silence and will generally not like to show any sign of pain makes it even harder to detect any serious medical ailments. In most cases, the signals that they are suffering from some pain such as whimpering, crying or whining will only become apparent when the condition has almost completely developed. There is never a specific time that euthanasia can be administered and completely depends on the owner. In most cases though, the owner will know the right time when it comes.

There are a few methods that are commonly used when putting dogs to sleep. In most instances, the animal will be administered an IV injection that is inserted into a vein in the leg after the area has been shaved. The medication present in the syringe is a highly concentrated dose of sodium pentopbarbital that stops the heart function as well as respiration process and brain activity in the body. The medication takes effect within seconds and is a relatively painless process. What happens after the demise can be quite traumatic if you do not know what to expect. The physiological changes take place almost instantly and you will see the dog’s bowel and bladder empty as the muscles relax. Very apparent muscle twitching and trembling will also be present while the eyelids are likely to remain open. Like the death of any family member, losing a dog is likely to be a very painful emotional phase that is likely to leave all family members suffering a sense of loss.