First of all I want all of you to know that I live in Florida. And yes
it is against the law for anyone who is not a veterinarian or someone
who has been trained properly to euthanize an animal. But, as in a lot
of situations, there is could always the exception to the rule. If
anyone has ever held one of their pets in their arms while it was in
extreme pain and suffering horribly and was unable to find a vet to
help them then they should understand that every situation is
different. All of our beloved pets do not cross peacfully in their
sleep or let us know that they are ready to go before they get to
this point.

I would pay whatever price she wanted it if my vet would provide me
with one mercy shot to be used only in a dire emergency. The vets in
this area either "don't do ferrets" for any reason or if they do they
want to do a full, expensive examination on the ferret -- including
x-rays -- even if it is old, has obvious severe medical problems and
is in screaming seizures as this poor baby obviously was ... and then
euthanize it!! We had this happen on a Saturday morning with a nine
year old boy with insulinoma. We called an emergency vet number and
were given the number of a very reputable ferret vet in the area. She
was at a picnic 15 minutes from where we lived and absolutelely refused
to let us bring the baby to her so that she could help him out of his
pain and suffering. We explained that we had already given him Pred,
Karo syrup and shots of Dex with no results and that he was posturing
and screaming and that by this time had been in this condition for
almost 20 minutes. We told her that we would pay her whatever she
thought was fair to help this boy out of his misery. She still refused
to help him. Unfortunately my vet -- whom has taken care of our kids
for about 14 years -- was out of town or we would have taken off and
driven him to her and she would have done the humane and loving thing
for him. I have actually held some of my kids in my arms for the 2 1/2
to 3 hour drive to my vet so that she could help them cross . . . with
the care, love and compassion that they deserve and that we have not
been able to find in any local vets -- including in the larger cities
around here -- and we have lived in this area for almost 7years!!

In the fifteen years or so that we have been owned by our ferrets --
many of them rescues already with severe health problems -- I have
only had this situation arise one or two times. But I would have given
everything that I own to have been able to help them out of their pain
and misery. It would be so nice if our personal vets were able to make
sure that we knew the proper way to give one simple injection to help
our beloved animals peacefully go to sleep forever and be relieved of
their severe pain and suffering. Not to be allowed to do this to every
animal that you felt was ready to cross but only to those in critical
situations such as the one I described above. And not to hand out these
"mercy shots" indiscriminately, but to give them out sparingly and
only to the shelters and to their clients that the vet has thoroughly
instructed on how to administer the drug properly and knew that they
becould could be trusted to use it only in an emergency to do the right
thing.

By the way, after 30 minutes on the phone going down the list of vets
in the phone book, we finally found a vet that would help the poor boy
out. When we got to her office we were taken into an exam room. The vet
walked in and asked if we were going to stay in the room and if we were
leaving the body or taking it with us. We replied that we definitely
were staying and that we were taking his remains with us! She
uncaringly stabbed the needle into the ferret and walked out of the
room. A minute or two later she came back in, said nothing and didn't
check the ferret out, and brutally gave him the second shot. About 30
seconds later she checked for a heartbeat then looked at us and coldly
remarked "He's dead. Your bill ($100) is at the front desk" and she
promptly walked out of the room. Didn't even deal with him for 5
minutes!! We have never felt the pain and anger about how one of our
babies was "helped" to cross in our entire lives as we did that day.
Our baby didn't deserve this kind of cruel treatment!! He was already
in enough pain. All of the animals that my vet has had to help cross
were treated with love and affection. She even cries along with us. If
I had been in possession of a mercy shot I definitely would have used
it that day!!

So this is why I would be in favor of having a mercy shot. I don't know
if I could ever do it but at least I'd have the option in a terrible
situation like this. And I'm sure there are others out there who feel
the same way. I don't know about anybody else but to see on of my
"kids" in such an awful and painful situation as this poor boy went
through that day tore my heart out. No animal should ever have to go
through this pain! Hopefully one day this law will be changed and
responsible pet owners, only at the discretion and with the training
by their regular vets, would be allowed to be given the one shot they
might some day need to help end one of their beloved pets extreme
suffering. But until that time we will all have to pray that our babies
aren't forced to leave this Earth under such painful circumstances as
this poor old boy.

[Posted in FML 6340]