To the kind ferret owner inquiring about euthanasia, You are wise to ask first. A heart stick while being a quick way IS NOT necessarily painless. The rib cage is covered with nerve endings and while the ferret is injected directly into the heart between the 2nd & 3 rd ribs when on its side the heart drops-- what this means is the injections may NOT get into the proper placement so -- it may not be quick may need to be repeated and WILL NOT be painless. In the case of a heartstick the ferret should be anesthetized first before the final injection . This brings them to a surgical sleep state and they will feel no pain. I speak from experience, not only as a shelter Mom who has accompanied many terminal and suffering ferrets to the bridge and been holding them during procedures, but also as a certified euthanasia technician. The course work while extremely sensitive was necessary to understand the process fully. Ferrets have options for euthanasia, they can receive a kitten administration which is a IP intrapareteneal injection ( into belly) MANY SMALL PETS hamsters, mice , rats are also administered this procedeure) - this is a quick shot which is administered into the belly and is absorbed into the blood stream, the ferret gets groggy slower, meaning you can hold , pet and comfort the pet into his final slumber. In a NUTSHELL- the IP process takes about 10-15 mins. to death and is relatively painless, the surgical sleep state occurs in 3-5 mins. as the solution travels to the brain-- the brain cells are anesthetized which in turn they stop telling the heart to beat. Within a few minutes the heart stops beating and life ends. That is the process. The heart stick speeds up the process to about 2-3 minutes until death, but the animal feels sharp pain on the way out-- and never acknowledges any sense of the comfort of the owner. You can make your own choice but my choice is always that to administer anesthesia prior to a heart stick or an IP injection. Hope this makes things a little clearer, though it will never make the choice easier. Alicia shelter MOm Ferret Wise www.ferretwise.org [Posted in FML issue 3508]