Our domestic pets have brief lives and it is likely that you will have a succession of pets throughout your life. It is rare for elderly animals to die suddenly or in their sleep and thus we usually have to make a decision to end our pet’s life when their quality of life becomes unacceptable – your last duty to your pet.

This decision is personal for each pet owner and is never easy to make. However, you should not make the decision based purely on the age of the pet. Just like humans, our pets now have greatly increased life-expectancy compared with a few decades ago.  Key factors that may influence your decision are:

Is the pet able to eat?

Is the pet mobile?

Is the pet in control of bladder and bowels?

Is the pet in untreatable pain?

Is the pet’s illness causing you or other members of the family unacceptable stress?

When a decision has been made it is often best to bring your pet to Heathlands to be put to sleep. We can make home visits to carry out this procedure but, unfortunately, we can only do so during normal weekday hours. While some pet owner’s prefer that the procedure is done in the family home, this is often not the best solution. Many elderly pets are very territorial and become distressed if they have to be handled in their home environment.

The drug we use to euthanase pets is a powerful anaesthetic called pentobarbitone. A forelimb is clipped and an injection of pentobarbitone is given intravenously. The dose is roughly 30 times the normal lethal dose. The pet loses consciousness very quickly (usually within 20 seconds) and within a minute or two heart and brain activity have stopped. Sometimes in very sick or very old patients the injection will take longer to work because the heart is not capable of pumping the drug rapidly around the system. Some pets may yawn or startle immediately after the injection as they feel the initial effects of the anaesthetic – this is no different from any other anaesthetic. Some pets may be slightly alarmed when the feel the prick of the needle.  It is common for muscles to twitch for up to 5 minutes after the end of the injection and some patients may have reflex respiratory efforts during this period. However, in the vast majority of cases, the pet will simply be seen to go to sleep after the injection and pass away quietly. We encourage clients to stay with their pets during this process as considerable comfort may be gained by seeing your pet passing quietly away with no further distress involved.

We would not recommend that you have children present when a pet is put to sleep. While it may seem like an excellent opportunity to acquaint them with issues of mortality, young children have great difficulty in coping with the experience and may be exceedingly traumatised by it.

After we have confirmed death, you are free to take your pet home and bury him or her in your garden. If you chose this option you should consider the presence of any neighbouring watercourses or wells and whether or not you are likely to move house in the future. The animal should be wrapped in a blanket (not an airtight bag or container) and covered to a depth of at least two feet.

If you prefer,  we can take care of the body for you. We have our own small crematorium on site and we can individually cremate your pet and return the ashes in a display casket or in an urn for scattering. We can supply a certificate guaranteeing that the ashes returned to you are those of your pet.  Individual cremation is an expensive process and it may be that you would be happy to have your pet’s body cremated with those of other pets.  We then scatter their ashes on the meadows beside the hospital. We do not allow clients to be present during the cremation process itself as we feel that most clients would find this experience over-whelming.

Our pets are members of the family and you will grieve for their loss. If you or any members of your family are badly affected by the loss of a pet we have a grievance counseller available for you to speak to. We also have a small range of materials to assist children to come to terms with the loss of a pet that we are happy for you to borrow.