Yesterday I had he joyous task of taking the old family pet bunny to the vets to be put to sleep as he was ‘conked out’ (sone sort of infestation in his brain causing him to roll over and over)

However I was stunned about how long the whole process took! First the vet took the old bunny off for about 20 minutes to put a thing (cannula?)on his ‘arm’, then he brought him back and n front of me used this tube to administer ‘the’ drug. Buty when he tried to inject into this ‘tube’ in the bunnies arm the syringe wouldn’t move, he pushed, grunted and squeezed until finally the **** syringe exploded covering me, the vet and the nurse in whatever was in the syringe. So out comes syringe number 2, after firstly injecting something else into the tube he then managed to empty the syringe into the old bunny. We waited, and waited ….. and waited, but still old bun kept breathing away and his nose was twitching. ‘It’s OK he’s asleep now’ the vet said nervously reaching for his stethoscope. After intently listening through the stethoscope for about 10 minutes the vet nervously said he may have to administer more drugs. Well he didn’t need the **** stethoscope I could see old bunny breathing, his eye occasionally blinking and his nose twitching, he was definitely still alive. Finally after what seemed an eternity he then, with much squeezing and pushing and grunting emptied another syringe full into old bun. Again he listened intently through the syringe, but it was plain for all to see that old bun was very much still alive, breathing twitching, blinking and now making noises with his mouth. Poor old bun was still not on gods goldens shore. After another eternity the vet nervously said he would take him off and administer some sort of anesthetic gas to see him off, but I was told I couldn’t accompany him. So the last I saw of our dear old family bunny was being carried off to a bloody gas chamber! **** me, if I’d known the poor old bun would have to go through that ordeal lasting over 30 minutes I would have done what I have done many times with wild rabbits and broken his neck. Is it normal for the process to take this long?. I seem to remember when my old dog was put down many years ago it was one jab and in seconds it was lights out! **** vet

You sure it wasn’t the work experience lad who did it?

IME with a dog and a cat it was all over in less than a minute

Bet you get a hefty bill though…

Yea, because they couldn’t fit me in during normal hours and saw me 5 mins after the surgery officially closed I’m going to be charged £40 extra, not sure what it will all come to yet. 👿

Don’t want to sound a bit old-fashioned, but do people actually pay Vets to put rabbits down?

As you say, a quick wring of the neck (or bucket of water) usually does the job.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJzL_wyMahU[/video]

They usually do it at the end of surgeries anyway, they’re taking the piss! Talk to practice manager.

In my experience it takes seconds.

If you’re putting it to sleep, how does it wake up again?

They’ve never woken up in the oven…..

According to our vet a lot of the time it depends on how poorly and or bloody minded/”will to live” the animal is, we’ve had really ill ferrets that have taken two hefty doses of drug and taken 10 minutes + to go and others appear to look like they’ve had enough that have taken seconds.

But that does seem like an excessive amount of time and poor technique.

That sounds very poor indeed. I’d be changing my vet if I were you.

I certainly wouldn’t be paying for that service, but charging the vet for the ordeal he made you go through! 😥

Being a vet I would suggest you discuss it with the vet concerned and ask for yourself and sort it out that way? Sometimes routine procedures, even by experienced vets, do not always go to plan, i.e. animal riggles, veins difficult to cannula, catheter blocks or kinks …..

That’s a **** disgrace…I’m with headfirst, complain.

Man, I love Mr. Chinnery 😀

So many choices….

Ignoring the usual wits, that is outrageous and cruel. Euthenasia should be a quick and painless process. The guy is an incompetent **** and I strongly suggest that you report him to the relevant authorities.

Oh, and don’t pay a **** penny. After that cruel masquerade I think that the practice vet would probably rather forget it… Unless that was the practice vet, in which case reference Mr. Chinnery.

Ignoring the usual wits

Meow!!!!

Pull your head out of your Guardian and come join us in the non PC world of jokes about Dead pets, It’s fun in the shallow end…

Most hospitals have a Patients’ Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) for exactly these issues. There may be one for Animals too.

It’s a matter of minutes when we have a horse put down; your vet must have screwed it up for a rabbit to take 15 minutes. Our vet is well aware of the emotional impact of euthanasia and does an exceptionally professional job. Perhaps he missed the vein?

Those suggesting wringing the neck are missing the point – yeah, it’s quick, but not exactly helpful to the owners. As for a bucket of water… **** me, you’re some sick buggers, since that’s neither a quick nor easy death.

They usually do it at the end of surgeries anyway, they’re taking the piss!

Never in my experience.

I would say if you are unhappy with the service then call them to discuss it. It sounds like a pretty unpleasant time for you. Communication is key in these difficult situations and it sounds as if you weren’t informed as to what was going to happen and why it wasn’t going to plan.

Call them to express your concerns.

Vote with your feet and never take the bunny back there again.

I’ve had two cats put to sleep and in both cases it’s been effortless and taken seconds. There’s something wrong there. I’d complain, in writing.

Seconds. Although the last one I had to have put down (ferret) had to have a needle in the heart while she was having a fit and screaming so loud it was unreal – that was an ordeal that has put me off pets to some degree to be honest.

I certainly wouldn’t be paying for that service, but charging the vet for the ordeal he made you go through!

If you thought it was bad for the owner, you should have heard what the rabbit said about the experience!

(But Jesus, yes, that sounds like an excessively long time to euthanise an animal).

That bunny suicide book looks excellent.

As far as putting a rabbit down goes, I’m not sure but our cat took seconds to “go to sleep” the other week, very quick, very efficient, very professional.

Sounds like your vet is a t**t

I’d report the incident to a higher authority.

We had to do this a week ago. It was emotionally awful, taking such a nice animal to be killed. If we’d left it much longer the tooth root which has made her life uncomfortable would have entered her brain.

The vet explained she’d be administering the drug in a vein in the ear, but said it’s not always possible to get enough into it. If not she would do the same again, and if that didn’t work they’d take her away, give her a shot of anaesthetic and administer drug through belly. Also warned the rabbit might become distressed.

That, after a week of misery, was not what my daughter and I wanted to witness. Luckily it didn’t happen. She lay on the table, we stroked her all the time, the drug went in and in about 15 seconds the vet reported that she was gone. No distress, no trauma (except I’m crying again!). I guess things don’t always go that smoothly which was why she warned us.

I do sympathise with what you went through. It’s all very well for people to go on about wringing necks, and I see tens of dead bunnies on and off road when I’m out on my bike, but a much-loved pet is different, however irrational that may be.

I’d report the incident to a higher authority.

❓

Animals are not machines, sometimes things do not go as planned, given what you described it sounds as though the vet was not being lazy or dismissive, so barring incompetence, maybe it was just a difficult job that day. And lets face it, its just a bunny. As per your description the animal was pretty relaxed and I think it really would not have had a clue.

Thanks for the serious responses, looks like poor old Bun was just unlucky!!