Re: " euthanasia cruelty is common"
 
Actually, many vets forego the IV approach because for a ferret it
doesn't always work but does damage so they can sometimes awaken later
in worse shape and have to be once again given something to kill them.
 
One of the typical ways to give a mercy shot is to first give a shot
which renders the ferret unconscious and to use a final shot, often one
that goes to the heart because then there is not the danger of the ferret
surviving it and suffering worse.
 
We had one who did not have that first shot but she was in a grande mal
convulsion.  I don't know if you have ever had a grande mal convulsion.
I have (due an allergy to a component of anesthesia for a surgery I had
which we now know how to handle).  Your brain is on hiatus during a major
convulsion; you don't know what is happening and you don't later have a
recollection of it.
 
I also expect that perhaps you have not had an IV placed while fully
conscious if you think those are pain-free.  Believe me, a shot to render
someone unconscious followed by the fatal approach afterward is going to
be much more gentle.
 
A ferret in health can be hard to find a vein in, but one whose blood
pressure is down due to advanced terminal illness can be nearly
impossible without cutting down to the vein, and that would be cruel.
 
Have a shot to render the ferret unconscious, let the ferret fall deeply
asleep in your arms; the ferret will not feel the final procedure then.
 
I am sorry that you hurt so badly, but you need to not read the worst
into replies on this topic, please.
[Posted in FML issue 3824]