This is not a happy subject at all, and VERY hard for me to talk about, but
I wanted to share my experience with euthanasia, hoping it will help someone
else out there that will soon be facing this terrible decision.
 
To date I have had three ferrets euthanized (RIP Sidney, Punky Doodle and
Max) and my wife and I have been present for each one.  It's not a pleasant
thing to watch, but how could we not be there with them after they had been
there for us throughout their short lives.
 
In each case our vet was very kind and explained that with ferrets, the only
way to do it was to give an injection directly into the heart, but that they
would be fully unconscious before that occurred.  At the time, I never have
the presence of mind to ask why, but I guess a vein is difficult to find?
In both Sid and Punky Doodle's case, the vet (different ones each time) gave
them a super heavy dose of tranquilizer or perhaps Ketamine and they slowly
drift off to a heavy, heavy sleep.  With Punky Doodle, our vet even
commented that she could perform adrenal surgery on him right now just to
make sure we understood that he was fully under.  With Max, our vet used
isoflurine gas (sp?) to achieve the same effect.  While it was extremely
difficult to watch the needle go into their chest, we could not bring
ourselves to not be there with them to the end.  It was painless and quick.
There was no reaction whatsoever and our vet would simply put the
stethoscope to their chest a moment later and say "he's gone."
 
And, by the time this gets on the FML tomorrow, November 27th, it will be
the one year anniversary of our loss of Punky Doodle.  We love you and still
miss you little boy.  I know that you and Sid helped Max to find his way up
there.  We'll see you all again one day.
 
God, this has been one of the most difficult messages I've ever had to
write.  It doesn't exactly bring back pleasant memories.
 
Mike
[Posted in FML issue 2137]