Always have a backup plan for euthanasia

[BrokenArrow]

Pre-warning for not a very pleasent subject.

I know this is one of those freak occurrences that even the very experienced vet who attended wasn’t prepared for. But it really hit home how important it is to have a backup, even when it feels unnecessary and over the top.

One of my in-laws retired broodmares was living with a friend. The mare has gone through about 20 lives so far on things that should have killed her but never have. One of those times was contracting colitis. 3 weeks in hospital and nearly losing her a dozen times, she came home only to land back in hospital after getting an infection where her catheter had been. Another week and a half where we were sure she wasn’t going to pull through, she came home to live the life of luxury as a nanny and companion. My friend lost her old boy and I offered her the mare to go live there to help fill the void a little.

On Sunday she had a bit of odd discharge from her nostril and was off her feed. After a dose of bute she perked right up and was fine until last night. She was a little flat again and my friend kept an eye on her overnight. This morning she didn’t want to come up for her feed so my friend went down to give her another dose of bute. All was fine for another hour until the mare went through a fence and suddenly collapsed.

She had blood pouring out of her nostrils and mouth, thrashing around, and looking very neurological. I got out there as soon as the vet did and we struggled to get some pain relief into her because her veins are so bad. Not to mention her thrashing around. The mare collapsed after getting up and down a few times and I made the decision to euthanize her.

Only this time we couldn’t get a vein. Anywhere. After two lots of IM sedation and praying it would work, she finally went down and didn’t get back up but was still struggling a lot. I didn’t get out of the way quick enough and her head got me right in the face. I’m going to have a black eye from it,

My poor vet was distraught. The only place he didn’t try was the vein under her tongue, which we couldn’t safely get to due to the blood and her struggling. He was on the phone to his head vet who was out of ideas and couldn’t get a hold of the person they get to shoot animals. Our only other option was exsanguination but we couldn’t sedate her enough for that. Then the mare’s bleeding got worse and she passed on her own.

It was one of the most horrific euthanasia experiences I’ve ever had to go through. My vet who is very experienced said he’s never had anything like this happen before in his 25 years of practice. He’s never not been able to get a vein somewhere, even if it’s in an awkward place. Laws here restrict the use of high-powered rifles and while my husband is licensed, we don’t keep any at home because of my father in laws mental health. My husband is also interstate and while I know how to do it and correct placement, I don’t think I could bring myself to shoot my own horse. I now have five local people who are able to shoot livestock in my phone in case this ever happens again.

It’s an awful reminder that things can go horribly wrong no matter how experienced the person is. Out of all the peaceful and easy euthanasia’s I’ve seen over the years, it only takes one to ruin it all.

[mommy_peanut]

I am so very sorry for your loss & for the circumstances surrounding it.

[Equkelly]

I’m so sorry. I’ve heard of this happening and I know it was very traumatic for everyone involved that witnessed it.

[Bluey]

So sorry for your loss and the terrible circumstances.

A friend had similar happen and she called the sheriff, who used his gun.
If anyone is ever in that situation, try local law enforcement.

Take care of yourself, such experiences are a heavy burden. [[[HUGS]]]

[trubandloki]

How tragic for all involved.

This is the reason that I made sure I know the correct way to euthanize a horse with a firearm. Hope to never have to use that skill but good stuff to have.

I like Bluey’s point, seems like law enforcement could have helped.

[mommy_peanut]

@Bluey

If anyone is ever in that situation, try local law enforcement.

This works as long as you’re confident in your LEO skill/precision.
We had a deer hit next to our house, driver called the police to come dispatch it since it was still alive.
3 shots later, it was still alive.
Not sure what type of gun/ammunition was being used, but that’s still really bad!!
One of the neighbors ended up going out with his rifle to end things.

[exvet]

I am very sorry for your loss and your injury.

Fortunately or unfortunately I learned this lesson early in my career. I always carried a gun (and was permitted to do so). From barn fires to horses too fractious to be able to euthanize safely in the conventional way, it was a necessary back up plan. I did have to resort to exsanguination one time due a dying horse with poor veins, in the freezing temps (everything in the truck was freezing) and jurisdictional laws preventing gun use (and other reasons). I was able to sedate and chose to transect the descending aorta/vena cava pair of vessels rectally. It was not as unsightly as other choices would have been. It was quick and the horse was unconscious. Even in small animal medicine you have to have back up plans, not common but if you practice long enough you’re likely to have to address the issue at some point.

[Unfforgettable]

I’m so sorry that you had to go through this.

I’ve made a point of asking my vets to educate me, just in case. My regular equine vet carries a handgun just for that backup purpose if needed, and explained the line from ear to eye technique. My small animal vet also instructed me on a similar technique with a small animal, should the need arise.
I hope I never need to do it, but I feel better knowing I’m prepared just in case.

[Horse_Rider]

I’m so sorry. Difficult euthanasias are so traumatic for those watching.

I’ve been lucky in that I’ve only had one tough horse euthanasia, and in that case I managed to get the horse on the ground with my euthanasia drug, before the solution froze in my syringe. So, horse deeply, deeply sedated, euthanasia solution basically sludge and frozen in my needle. Took about 10 minutes to eek enough out of my needle to gently send the horse on. Nothing like kneeling on the rock hard ground, tears and snot freezing on everyone’s faces, just praying for the temp to magically jump 30 degrees and rise above freezing.

Horses tend to have hose pipes for jugular veins, so I’ve never met one I couldn’t find venous access on. What a rough time for all involved. @exvet - the descending aorta technique was what I was taught for these situations, and I learned it from mentors, not vet school. In small animals, I’ve been forced to use an intracardiac stick, and I always wondered if my 6" jug catheters would be effective in field euthanasias.

I do think captive bolt guns should be something equine vets are taught to carry. Far less risk to everyone than letting someone try it with a gun. Unfortunately, even a captive bolt gun requires maintenance and equine vets are given literally no instructions on any of this. (Or at least I wasn’t.)

[Where_sMyWhite]

OP, sorry to read of this horrific experience. Not all animals go peacefully into the good night

@mommy_peanut

Not sure what type of gun/ammunition was being used, but that’s still really bad!!

FWIW, whatever handgun the LEO had, it would have been easily enough to euthanize if the shot was correctly placed in the head. Attempting a heart shot on a horse with a handgun would, IMO, have great potential to end very badly. A correctly placed shot with a .22 is sufficient.

Also be aware that most LEO will most likely not want to surrender their weapon to someone else to dispatch the animal. Some LEO may even be reluctant to dispatch the animals as they usually (I won’t say always) get supervisor approval to fire their duty weapon.

As exvet said, always a backup plan and even those don’t always work.

[Where_sMyWhite]

@trubandloki

I like Bluey’s point, seems like law enforcement could have helped.

LE may not know how to safely euthanize an animals unless Fish&Game/DeptofWildlife. That isn’t something that a sheriff’s deputy or police officer is taught during training. It may be so rarely encountered on the job that most don’t know how.

As I said above, most will be reluctant (or procedurally unable) to surrender their weapons to anyone else to use.

[conniemary]

OP, sorry to read of this.

If anyone is ever in that situation, try local law enforcement.

Given the OP’s mention of firearm restrictions, her local law enforcement may not routinely carry guns and even if they do would likely not be allowed to help in this way.

[No1]

FYI, in situations like this, you can give sedation IM wait a few minutes and do a heart stick. Unless the horse is very large, a catheter or 8 inch spinal needle works for a heart stick.

[IdahoRider]

I am so sorry for your loss.
Sheilah

[Where_sMyWhite]

@conniemary

Given the OP’s mention of firearm restrictions, her local law enforcement may not routinely carry guns

I would be very surprised if LE are not armed when on duty. Just because a jurisdiction has tight firearms restrictions, those rarely apply to peace officers.

Using a duty weapon for humane euthanasia would be a completely different story.

[endlessclimb]

I doubt they need supervisor approval to discharge their firearm. Might as well not carry it.

I do bet, though, that no matter where they work, an officer has a crapload of paperwork that has to be filled out if the firearm was discharged. That’s where they may hesitate - I witnessed it when we had a deer caught on the top of a wrought iron fence when he jumped and didn’t quite clear it. It was ugly.

OP, I am so sorry for your traumatic loss.

[conniemary]

I’ve lived in multiple countries where LE do not carry guns - obviously they have access to them but they’re not walking around wearing them. Different cultures - it would never occur to me to ask a police officer to shoot an animal, I would ask a local farmer. Which was the OP’s point, to know who you can ask for this type of help.

[Where_sMyWhite]

@conniemary

I’ve lived in multiple countries where LE do not carry guns - obviously they have access to them but they’re not walking around wearing them.

This yes is quite true. Different countries have different laws about peace officers/law enforcement and their ability to be armed or not while on the job.

I did make an assumption that we were taking about the US where I would be very surprised to find a peace officer of a sworn level to be unarmed.

Depending on where one is located in the US, a local farmer may be non-existent or at quite a distance. If the horse is on barn premises, a local person may have access to a firearm and can use it legally. If one is on the open highway, that can become much more difficult for many reasons.

[trubandloki]

This thread is another perfect example of how things are so different in different parts of the country and the world.
The other day a local sheriff did not hesitate to dispatch a deer that had been hit and was suffering.

I would never imagine asking an officer to hand over their gun - gasp. So never going to happen.

What you (general horse owner) can do, even if you do not have your own fire arm, is to know how to correctly euthanize with a fire arm. I don’t expect a none horse person to know where to shoot, but if you can tell them how to do it humanely, and they (the person with the gun) can do the shooting it can all be done quickly.

[Where_sMyWhite]

@trubandloki

The other day a local sheriff did not hesitate to dispatch a deer that had been hit and was suffering.

The SO (aka Sheriff’s Office) that I was more familiar with did have a part of the county that was more rural and yes, a deputy could euthanize wildlife but IIRC had to check with field supervisor (aka Sergeant) first as a formality as a duty weapon was being discharged and paperwork would follow needful and justified for humane euthanasia didn’t obviate procedure.

At the least, LE would clean weapon at the end of shift as ‘clean’ vs ‘fired’ can make a difference if a weapon is discharged or not in the line of duty.