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At home euthanasia vs. vet's office
- Thread starter wasabipea
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This is great news! I'm in Pennsylvania and far as I know, it is legal for vets to come to your house to put down your pet - I would assume that they use the same pre-sedation methods that they do in the office, but knock on wood, we haven't gotten to that point yet. Its just finding a vet that is willing to come to your house, that seems to be the big challenge. The at home services that are offered booked up so far in advance... well we talked about that in the beginning of this thread, how do you know a week in advance you're going to put your cat down unless it's been suffering for months or more? The vets around here that have established practices just more or less refuse to come to your house. However, from what I understand that my new vet does make house calls for euthanasia, even though he does charge a fortune.
And mind you, if I did not have a "new" vet, Roni would probably be history by now. That e.coli in her kidneys would have sent them into failure sooner or later left untreated. Now she is trotting around the house again, and running up and down the stairs, eyeballing the spider plant, and she is getting the sass back in her eyes. :rub: there is of course the chance that she won't make it, but she's here she seems to be getting better. :cross:
I know it's legal here in Ohio there just aren't many vets here that do it. Here in Columbus there are two that I know of and one of them has made home euthanasia her entire practice. I think, since the clinic I take mine to doesn't do home euthanasia, I would call the one that does just that as her entire practice if I were going to have home euthanasia done.
yes, that's what we did. I had about 5 euthanization services to choose from that serviced my area here in NE Phoenix. Fortunately someone I know used one of the services and referred it to us...in which they were wonderful. It was a vet that put his dog down at home and then realized how many people would use that service to do the same for their furbabies, thus he branched off to his own business of at home euthanizations only. It was about $400 for us to use his service, which included him coming to the house...(he looked at her records and discussed her diagnosis with us) then for the procedure he sedated Min first, then inserted a cath , explaining each step, and then finally the final injection , then taking Min after it was over... the vet then handles the cremation through a seperate service... and then someone will come bring her ashes to the home. I haven't decided on an urn yet...but that can be ordered thru him as well.
@MnM - Wow, $400 seems very expensive. The vet I used recently for my dog charged $55 for the visit, and $140 for the sedative, euthanasia and cremation. This was a 60 lb. dog. But then I didn't elect to have her ashes returned to me, so that may be why it was less expensive.
I saw a video this morning that talked about dealing with your pet's illness and death.
The advice I really took to heart was the at home euthanasia. What she said about it made me think I would definitely go this was in the future.
It is a little weird. I also posted this in the crossing the bridge forum on its own. I am not cramming the video down anyone's throat. I just think it makes some sense in this thread and I found it enlightening.
It is about her cat, so if that will upset you, don't watch it.
The advice I really took to heart was the at home euthanasia. What she said about it made me think I would definitely go this was in the future.
It is a little weird. I also posted this in the crossing the bridge forum on its own. I am not cramming the video down anyone's throat. I just think it makes some sense in this thread and I found it enlightening.
It is about her cat, so if that will upset you, don't watch it.
yes, $400 seemed a lot to me as well, but all 5 services were right around that price...going rate for Phoenix I guess . Fortunately, we had pet insurance so will be only paying 20% of it. Best thing we ever did was get insurance.
What company did you buy pet insurance through?
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Yeah, $400 is about the going rate for at home. It is way less cheaper in the office - but besides the obvious of wanting your pet to spend the last moments in their own surroundings, you get to avois that horrible feeling of knowing "this is the last car ride" and having the leave them there (unless you plan to bury them). So for a one shot deal, I figure I'll swallow the cost and deal with it.
But it doesn't look like the immediate future because she looks great and every day is acting more like her old self. *fingers crossed".
But it doesn't look like the immediate future because she looks great and every day is acting more like her old self. *fingers crossed".
We opted for at-home for Wilbur (dog) because there was time to set up the appt. and for the vet to come. For Henry, there was no time, BUT Henry (dog) loved his vet and going to the vet's office. :lol3: There were good cookies there. So, for Henry, it was still very, very peaceful and loving with him in my arms up till the very end. For cat's, though, the vet's office is always a very stressful place so I am happy to see so many opting for the at-home euthanasia and seeing many more vet's offering this type of service. And for any of my kitties that I have now, I will certainly opt for this way to set them free IF there is time. Sometimes, emergencies do happen and there is no choice but to bring them to either the eVet or other because most vet's cannot just drop everything to rush to your home.
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When we decided to call Happy Endings, it was a Friday afternoon and I asked if there were any appointments for that day or Saturday. There were not. Several hours later they emailed me and said they had a cancellation. It seemed meant to be. Hardest part EVER is knowing the "time" it will happen.
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I agree, when you know that it is the "time", it has to be done like right then.
I'm glad that they were able to work you in - well glad is probably the wrong word, but I'm relieved that they were able to work you in when you needed it.
I'm glad that they were able to work you in - well glad is probably the wrong word, but I'm relieved that they were able to work you in when you needed it.
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Feralvr: "good cookies" lol. Its all about who has the best cookies 
Well if the cookies made his ending much happier, then power to the cookie!
Well if the cookies made his ending much happier, then power to the cookie!
just got the call that Minnie's ashes are going to be delivered tomorrow. I actually made it through the call...but sure teared up afterwards..thinking...wow, she'll be "home"... and I will actually "hold" her again.
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Is that your lil' Minnie? She's adorable, I'm so very sorry for your loss. I wasn't aware her passing was so recent. RIP Minnie girljust got the call that Minnie's ashes are going to be delivered tomorrow. I actually made it through the call...but sure teared up afterwards..thinking...wow, she'll be "home"... and I will actually "hold" her again.
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yes it is. She was lil miss personality for sure! Her sister, Mikki is a daddy's girl...Minnie was a mommy's girl They were pretty much identical..even a teeny splash of white on their forehead. Their brother, K.O. , solid gray, was adopted by my son. K.O. passed several months ago with a lung fungus.. even though he was an indoor only kitty as well, the vet said he contracted histoplasmosis from the dirt in Ohio where the litter was found. We naturally thought Minnie had the same thing when she started symptoms, but nope, her chylothorax was negative for all testings of causes, thus unknown...which I'm thankful for...as if she had the histo...then I would really be worried about Mikki coming down with it as well.
They were pretty much identical..even a teeny splash of white on their forehead. Their brother, K.O. , solid gray, was adopted by my son. K.O. passed several months ago with a lung fungus.. even though he was an indoor only kitty as well, the vet said he contracted histoplasmosis from the dirt in Ohio where the litter was found. We naturally thought Minnie had the same thing when she started symptoms, but nope, her chylothorax was negative for all testings of causes, thus unknown...which I'm thankful for...as if she had the histo...then I would really be worried about Mikki coming down with it as well.
My first experience with euthanasia was not the most pleasant.
We used to have this stray that always hung around the house in the summer when I was about 15 years old. My dad would be cooking out on the grill, and he would cut pieces of a steak from the grill, and give it to him.
Eventually my dad let me bring the cat in who at the I named Sharron, only to find find out a few months later that it took a while for "Sharron's" testicles to drop. Everyone was always confused as to why I named my male cat Sharron, haha.
After having him as an indoor/outdoor cat for a year, I noticed he run up to me when I had gotten home from school. Which was very unusual for him.
After an hour of searching I heard a very faint cry from under our camper. With only a few inches to see, and barely enough room to get my under the camper I managed to get hold of him.
As I freed him from under the I noticed my hand was full of fur, a very un-normal amount of fur!
We took him to vet right away, after a few days the vet called to give us the bad news. Sharron had feline-HIV, and need to be put to sleep.
The next we went back to the vets office to with Sharron in his final hours. Being as sick as was the his veins had collapsed, the be insisted we leave, as she explained she would have to inject him in the chest, and I refused to leave him.
Needless to say it was a grim, and hard site to witness, but I got I got hold him until he was at peace.
We used to have this stray that always hung around the house in the summer when I was about 15 years old. My dad would be cooking out on the grill, and he would cut pieces of a steak from the grill, and give it to him.
Eventually my dad let me bring the cat in who at the I named Sharron, only to find find out a few months later that it took a while for "Sharron's" testicles to drop. Everyone was always confused as to why I named my male cat Sharron, haha.
After having him as an indoor/outdoor cat for a year, I noticed he run up to me when I had gotten home from school. Which was very unusual for him.
After an hour of searching I heard a very faint cry from under our camper. With only a few inches to see, and barely enough room to get my under the camper I managed to get hold of him.
As I freed him from under the I noticed my hand was full of fur, a very un-normal amount of fur!
We took him to vet right away, after a few days the vet called to give us the bad news. Sharron had feline-HIV, and need to be put to sleep.
The next we went back to the vets office to with Sharron in his final hours. Being as sick as was the his veins had collapsed, the be insisted we leave, as she explained she would have to inject him in the chest, and I refused to leave him.
Needless to say it was a grim, and hard site to witness, but I got I got hold him until he was at peace.
