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How to safely, painlessly euthanise a cat at home with Valium?
Don't reply if you are going to say, Take him to the vet,or Shoot him.
I am in weekly contact with my vet. She agrees that keeping him at home, painless and happy, is best. He will have a slow decline regardless, and we both agree that his being at home is happier for him than locked in a cage at the vet clinic.
He has feline leukemia (much like AIDS in humans). He is currently in no pain, but just very listless. If I feel he is starting to really suffer, I want him to pass as comfortably as possible, without the fear of the vet clinic, and just sitting in my lap as I pet him and talk to him.
He has been hospitalised twice and was extremely sad - he wouldn't eat or drink, and they had to forcefully give him his meds. I am North American, but live in a buddhist country where most vets will not euathanise, plus, taking my little guy to the vet is always full of stress and fear. Those are not the last emotions I want him to have.
Again, the "take him to the vet" option is not acceptable. The last cat I had was old and had cancer, and I took her to the vet to be medically euthanised when her quality of life was so poor, and it was horrible for her, and for me. Where I live, the vets give "whatever"....in my last cat's case, the vets gave dog meds, which caused her great discomfort in her last moments, and I was (and still kind of am....) a mess about it, especially b/c the vet's assistant wasn't there and he made me help. They either won't do it, or if they will, they just inject any old lethal drug without regard to suffering. The death I witnessed lasted several minutes and appeared to be extremely stressful for the poor cat.
I have access to Valium. I know it is prescribed in small doses to cats for a variety of reasons. I guess what I am asking is, has anyone painlessly, calmly euthanised their cat with a standard human dose (10 mg).
Because I am in weekly contact with the vet, I keep giving the cat all of his prescribed medications, which he takes comfortably from me, but they seem to have no effect. He eats, drinks, uses the litter box, vomits once a day, and sleeps about 23 hours a day.
He is still in no pain or too much suffering (he just cannot play). I just want a comfortable option for him if he seems to start suffering. Carrier + car + vet = extreme fear for him.
Picture yourself walking to lethal injection. You don't want to put your friend through that, especially since he committed no crime and was just born with an illness.
And picture your friend not being given the most humane lethal injection,
but just so much cocaine that they freak out and then have a painful heart attack.
I am a responsible pet owner. I have paid for the best veterinary care for my cat since I rescued him as a 6 week old kitten.
I am not worried about the cost of veterinary euthanasia, but rather the haphazard way it is done in this country. They are very respectful of the body once dead, but not so careful with the actual death.
I want to help him pass easily, when the time comes, with him feeling calm and loved.
Has anyone had a good outcome with Valium?
Again, I will give him all the chances in the world. I just want to make sure his final hour is not stressful or painful for my little sweet cat.
I have looked some things up, but they are either very complicated and frightening for the cat, or just "shoot it", which is not an option.
I understand this is a complicated question, and I appreciate all thoughtful and caring responses.
If you want to be a jerk, please answer someone's STD questions instead.
Thank you.
The country is Thailand. With their beliefs, there is a combo of "You were born as this creature as a punishment for a bad past life" along with "I cannot personally take a life, but if someone else kills the chicken or pig or fish, then I can totally eat it". Like most/ all religions, it is hypocritical and does not really acknowledge any kind of science.
My vet may euthanise, but there is all the trauma involved, plus she will grab whatever happens to be lethal, without regard to suffering, even though life-care has been exemplary. It is a very contradictory nation.
Thanks for all of the answers. My cat, too, has been under extensive medical treatment for the leukemia. It is not as though I am just letting him suffer with no treatment. He's been hospitalised, and I have meds that I get from the vet every week to maintain the treatment. Again, I live in Thailand, not N. America or Europe. If he does keep declining, I will consult with my vet for humane options. She doesn't normally do home visits, but perhaps she will. She also does not normally does not euthanise - again, this is Thailand. If she won't, I can search for a vet who will.
6 Answers
- Anonymous5 years ago
First, the needle needs to be hallow. And a regular sewing needle isn't going to work. How are you sterilizing it? Do you have an autoclave? Because that is the only way to sterilize stuff...boiling it, pouring alcohol over it, lighting a lighter to it, etc isn't going to completely sterilize it. Hate to break it to ya. Everyone's body is different meaning our veins aren't all exactly the same. Good piercers are trained to know the exact right spot to pierce a person. It's not the same on everybody. Sorry, but there is no way to safely pierce yourself at home. Your house is not sterilized and clean like a piercing studio is. There are certain levels of cleanliness that they have to keep there so there is as little bacteria in the air as possible. Your house isn't that clean. You don't want to hear it but the only way to have a piercing done as painlessly as possible and especially as safe as possible is to go to a trained professional. You cannot do it yourself and it still be safe.
- 8 years ago
I would urge you not to attempt to euthanise him with Valium. Firstly, there are no oral medications which can reliably or safely be used to end a pet's life. Secondly the effects of an overdose would be higly unpredictable, especially as you don't know how it will react with the medication he's already on. You could end up with him taking days to die in agony which will be more distressing for both you and him.
http://www.justanswer.com/pet-cat/6gbdk-possible-c...
I am sorry that I don't have a solution, other than suggesting you speak with several vets to ask about their euthansia protocols and explaining your concerns. What do other ex-pats in the same situation do? Maybe they could recommend a more compassionate vet for you.
Source(s): Many years ago my 8 year old cat was prescribed Valium by a vet. He was in good health but had developed a sudden fear of his own tail. Valium made him like a zombie so I halved the dose immediately. Within days he'd gone down hill rapidly - was lethargic all the time and when he started hiding I knew this was serious so I took him straight back to the vet. They had no idea what the problem was and decided to keep him in overnight for observation and further tests. Sadly he had several seizures that evening and died. I would not wish that experience on any cat or their owner so I would never, ever recommend Valium. - menykatsLv 78 years ago
If he is in no pain now, why are you worrying already about putting him down? If it comes to that, many vets will come to your house, when the time comes. I've had to put a couple of cats down in the past. With the medicine the vets use, your cat will not suffer -- it's as if they just "go to sleep". Giving your cat Valium is NOT an option; that would be VERY painful for him.
Feline leukemia is not an immediate death sentence; some cats can live happy lives for many years with that disease. My cat Sam was diagnosed with leukemia. At the time he was first diagnosed, he had some of the same symptoms as your cat does now -- lethargic, slight fever, weight loss, etc. With medication and proper diet, my vet and I were able to get him into remission, and he stayed in remission for over 8 years afterward. He regained his weight and his happy attitude. During those years, except for the fact that he was still carrying feline leukemia and was said to "have" leukemia, he was a happy, healthy cat. He had to take no special type of medication (except for Pet-Tinic vitamin drops daily), and prompt antibiotic attention to the first sign of "kitty sniffles". He died after he came OUT of remission. Then, his death was very sudden, within only 2 or 3 days. He did not seem to be in any kind of pain -- just very weak -- and he died peacefully in his sleep at home.
At this point, please strive toward getting your cat into remission, instead of spending your time thinking of ways you can put him down. He may have many more years of life ahead of him.
Source(s): Owner of several cats - How do you think about the answers? You can sign in to vote the answer.
- Fake GeniusLv 78 years ago
i don't know the answer. but i can give you some thought.
as it is suffering, it might not crave for the pain. its current life is pain so it might not really want it anymore. at the same time - killing is just killing. your mercy doesn't change the reality. you can say you do it out of love or not to let it suffer anymore. but what if it goes to more suffering rebirth as another animal - to start with chicken egg, or duck egg ...? well, it's its kamma - if it has such kamma, it will have to suffer that way anyway. by leaving this current suffering, it will not suffer current suffering anymore even if it will have to suffer more than how it suffers now. well, if you knew it would suffer more than now, would you euthanize it anyway? but we simply don't know if it would suffer more or just become a deva in upper realms. if it can become a deva, you would feel alright to euthanize it so that it will become a deva sooner. but as killing is killing, you make kamma of killing and you could suffer the consequence of killing. while you cat is in a deva realm, you might be in a apaya realm suffering the consequence of killing. if the cat would become a deva, little suffering now is no big deal. it might be expensive to give it painkiller all the time but with love you might like to afford it. keep it at home, fine. keep it asleep or in coma if it can suffer a lot during awake. it might die naturally in a few months. keeping a cat for next three months asleep is not much. sleeping is innocent.
think hard and carefully.
- OcimomLv 78 years ago
Why not have the vet come to your house and put the cat down in a humane way. Slow death by poisoning is NOT the answer.
