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Would it be inhumane to put a cat down using prescription opioids

Branggen

Branggen

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 18, 2013
Messages
801
This is hypothetical but...
If you had a cat that was suffering and you didnt have the money to pay for euthanasia do you think giving them an overdose of opioids would be a humane way to do it?
 
It would be humane if you had the proper opioids. Giving it crushed up pills ( codeine, vicodin, perks ) is just going to make it sicker. Probably won't kill it before it vomits.

Now if you had a syringe of morphine and a really hefty dose or a really strong barbiturate that would do the trick. And if you can get the needle straight into it's heart it only takes about 10 seconds for death. I watched a Vet put down one of my cats that way.
 
i’ve actually sorta had this same scenario creep up. my cat coco had thrown a severe clot to her legs and it got to her heart. her breathing shut down to near nothing and it would’ve cost $250 to take her to get put down at an emergency clinic. i was in active addiction at the time using fentanyl and my mother and i had the conversation about this same thing. i do think it is humane but, i don’t know there’s a simmering darkness around it. i live in the countryside beside a lot of idiotic right wing conservatives who will shoot their animal easily to take it out of misery. but mum & i decided against it, and took her to be properly put down with a mixture of phenobarbital and some other sedatives like vet benzos. it did cross our mind & just know you’re not wrong for thinking that.

i hope your situation comes out well. like someone said above, if you do have to do it, please make sure it is a dose to put them down and not just make them sick. that’s imperative to the humane part.

cheers & love,

jon
 
No it is not humane to administer an overdose of opioids to an animal as a form of "do it yourself" euthanasia. If you knew what you were doing and had some intravenous fentanyl, and were familiar with administering intravenous medications to animals, you might be able to pretreat the animal with benzodiazepines and then administer the fentanyl. But this is far from ideal.

Unless you have experience putting down animals with drugs, using a shotgun would probably be more humane. I was a vet tech years ago and probably euthanized a good 60 or dogs, maybe a dozen cats and some rodents, but I would never try to euthanize using random opioids, and never, ever with oral medications. Death via opioid dose, especially lower end opioid overdose, can be slow and uncomfortable. Like I said, if it's between pills and a firearm, I'd definitely use the firearm (provided you are in a place where you can do such a thing).

Take the animal to an animal shelter and they will do it.
 
negrogesic said:
No it is not humane to administer an overdose of opioids to an animal as a form of "do it yourself" euthanasia. If you knew what you were doing and had some intravenous fentanyl, and were familiar with administering intravenous medications to animals, you might be able to pretreat the animal with benzodiazepines and then administer the fentanyl. But this is far from ideal.

Unless you have experience putting down animals with drugs, using a shotgun would probably be more humane. I was a vet tech years ago and probably euthanized a good 60 or dogs, maybe a dozen cats and some rodents, but I would never try to euthanize using random opioids, and never, ever with oral medications. Death via opioid dose, especially lower end opioid overdose, can be slow and uncomfortable. Like I said, if it's between pills and a firearm, I'd definitely use the firearm (provided you are in a place where you can do such a thing).

Take the animal to an animal shelter and they will do it.
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I dunno man… shooting an animal is heartbreaking. I always try to think how I’d wanna go out albeit selfish. I’d think the administration of fentanyl would be more humane than shooting it, but I do agree, administer benzies first and then the issue of if you even know how to IV an animal. I agree to disagree
 
tokayeahok said:
I dunno man… shooting an animal is heartbreaking. I always try to think how I’d wanna go out albeit selfish. I’d think the administration of fentanyl would be more humane than shooting it, but I do agree, administer benzies first and then the issue of if you even know how to IV an animal. I agree to disagree
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Well I was saying compared to giving an animal a bunch of pills (leading to a death over a number of hours via aspiration), a shotgun is far more humane. A shotgun slug to the head will end life almost instantly.

But I recommend neither. Take the animal to an animal shelter.
 
negrogesic said:
Well I was saying compared to giving an animal a bunch of pills (leading to a death over a number of hours via aspiration), a shotgun is far more humane. A shotgun slug to the head will end life almost instantly.

But I recommend neither. Take the animal to an animal shelter.
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Agree with taking it to the shelter, that’s what they are there for ❤️
 
I’ve thought about this myself.. Mainly cuz my dog can hardly go in the vet without it being this super traumatic experience. The thought of her last moments being like that make me feel horrible. So I need to start thinking on it incase it ever gets to that point. Praying she just passes peacefully in her sleep 🙏🏻

-GC
 
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