# PTS At Home



## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

On other rat groups I've seen this topic coming up a lot lately. There are owners who, for various reasons, decide to put their rat to sleep at home using a homemade method. Some do it because they can't afford to have it PTS at the vet, others because they want to be with their rat as it passes and some vets don't allow that. I'm sure there are other reasons too. I personally would not be comfortable putting my rat to sleep myself. What are you guyses opinions about this?


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

After the loss of 3 of my girls over the years, and not being permitted to be present, I created my own at home kit. Not had to use it yet, but I have it for when the need arises.


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## PawsandClaws (Jul 22, 2014)

Nope, nope and nope. Would be completely different if a vet came to someones house to provide the service to make it more comfortable for the owner/animals. I think something like this really needs to be left up to a knowledgeable professional with the appropriate tools for the job. I do not think there really is a good enough reason to warrant doing a PTS yourself as so many things can go wrong. I think it is important to keep looking for a vet that meets your needs for when it is time but I believe you should plan well in advance of needing it.

PS. I appreciate others will have different opinions so hopefully this isn't taken too harshly.


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

I don't trust myself enough to know what I'm doing. I would be scared I would do something wrong and cause suffering. I also have never been present for the death of one of my pets. My vet has offered to let me be there, but I just can't do it. I don't want the last memory I have of them to be watching them die before my eyes. But that's just me, I understand that everyone has a different way of coping with the death of a beloved pet


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

DustyRat said:


> After the loss of 3 of my girls over the years, and not being permitted to be present, I created my own at home kit. Not had to use it yet, but I have it for when the need arises.


Just out of curiosity, what method do you plan to use? I've heard of I think carbon dioxide or something as a method


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

I am a very suspicious person. "Why can I not be present?" "What are they doing to her?" "Are they not using gas and just using some sort of blunt force trauma on her?" That is why I will do the job in the future myself.


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

I have a 5qt Tupperware container with a sealable top that has a rubber tube protruding. The tube has a valve head on it into which screws a C02 pressurized cartridge. The gas enters and pushes out the air inside.


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

DustyRat said:


> I am a very suspicious person. "Why can I not be present?" "What are they doing to her?" "Are they not using gas and just using some sort of blunt force trauma on her?" That is why I will do the job in the future myself.


It's understandable, I've heard the horror stories of people who's vets put their rats to sleep incorrectly and they suffered


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Rarely do people who do pts at home actually buy the equipment to do if properly and research proper methods. Essentially, they end up providing a horrible and long drawn out death. Anyone who is reading this and thinks otherwise please be sure to read up on veterinary guidelines on euthanizing companion animals and make sure you are mimicking that. 

Co2 chambers are barbaric if you aren't using prepressurized ones, as you essentially just suffocate your pet to death.


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## Mrs.Brisby (Jan 4, 2014)

Living on a rural farm I have witnessed the gunshot -to- the- head method several times.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

NO! Do not EVER euthanize an animal at home! It is not the place for DIY!

There is NO way to assemble the proper equipment needed outside of a professional rig that will set you back hundreds of dollars. Your rat will suffer a slow and terrible death.

If a vet will not allow you to be present, then find another vet.


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

I work at a vet. There should be no reason why you cant be present for any euthanasia on any animal. If I couldnt be present, I would not have it euthanized there, and look else where for a vet that I could be present. Ive never heard of not being able to be present during euthanasias. That's strange...

I also do not recommend PTS at home. The situation woyld already be difficult in having to do so, doing it without experience, just seems like it could be a disasterous situation in which would be even more difficult to cope with...


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## Marie5656 (Jun 1, 2014)

I am not sure how I feel. Scooter, my guinea pig and Trixie my chin were both ill, and died peacefully at home before I could get to vet. Not sure if I would want to do more than make my girls comfortable until the passed on their own.


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

Marie5656 said:


> I am not sure how I feel. Scooter, my guinea pig and Trixie my chin were both ill, and died peacefully at home before I could get to vet. Not sure if I would want to do more than make my girls comfortable until the passed on their own.


I think PTS is usually just reserved for cases in which passing naturally would be a slow and painful process


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## Hey-Fay (Jul 8, 2013)

This topic really hits home with me. I wanted to be present with Lilly but couldn't choke out the words fast enough to ask. I feel guilty that I wasn't with her but I know they used anesthesia first and let her drift off the sleep. She wasn't afraid or stressed but I can't shake the guilt.

Apparently there's a painless way to go by helium that my husband suggested but I refused as I didn't know to properly do it and I wasn't willing to botch it.


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

Vets here don't allow you to be present during the procedure. Simple as that.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

DustyRat said:


> Vets here don't allow you to be present during the procedure. Simple as that.


I am a former vet tech that has worked with several vets. One of them didn't allow owners to be with rats because the heart stick (AFTER gas anesthesia) was traumatizing to many people. They did everything correctly and there was no shady business.

That said, I wouldn't have a pet PTS if I couldn't attend. So, keep calling around.

Would you rather have a vet do this correctly, or slowly suffocate your rat to death? Those are your two options.


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## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

I wish it were possible to do this at home... I didn't like having someone else do it... that being said, I would still take mine in. I'm too scared to mess up and do it myself. Absolutely no judgement for those who want to do it at home if they've found a way that's not just making them suffer, I totally get it. (If anyone does, I do seeing as the last vet who put down scarlett basically traumatized me)


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## deedeeiam (Apr 8, 2014)

I think it can be done at home, but it's not something you can just decide to do on a whim. I breed ASF for my snake collection and have the equipment and setup to gas appropriately. I do it enough and have seen it done enough that I'm comfortable with the process.

I see the argument on both sides. Do I think someone can just follow a DIY instruction list online and get everything to work fine? No. Do I think the animals suffer? Not when the gas is administered correctly. For a lot of rats that never leave the house, a car trip and vet visit are totally traumatizing. A few minutes or up to an hour or more? Ehh. 

Each situation is different.


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## Dangerboy (May 3, 2012)

I have done it at home using CO2 due to financial issues. There's a guide you can find on Google that we tried hoping for the best. As it turns out, it was ostensibly humane. The process involved stepping up the co2 concentration a couple times for different effects. First the co2 served as a mild anesthetic, next step let him pass out, then finally death from hypoxia while asleep. He was never distressed, passed out nibbling on a yogie as best he was able and being stroked and loved on by me.


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## webspinnr (Jul 27, 2014)

For ANY animal that needs to be PTS in the future I plan to be calling a vet that makes house calls. I don't want the trauma of a scary vet visit as their last moments. Could rat euthanasia machines be transportable?


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## alexr (Aug 31, 2014)

I think it is a perfectly acceptable thing. It's better than letting them suffer or die slowly. The one time I had a rat put to sleep at a vet was a very nice experience. They masked her to sleep and then injected fatal plus straight into her heart. She went very fast and peacefully. The same happened with the ones I did at home. Except they didn't get a needle in their heart. They just went to sleep and then eventually stopped breathing and then their heart stopped. I was able to pet them and talk to them the entire time until they were gone.


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

A vet that makes house calls? Is there such a thing?


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

My vet won't even give dosing information over the phone, so I doubt he would make house calls. I bet there are others who do though, maybe it helps if you have a good relationship with your vet and have been a customer for a long time


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Many dog cat vets will do pts at home if you request it and generally don't charge extra.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I lived on a farm too and I've seen a couple of humane methods including the shot to the head method... as well as the black jack approach... both done right are painless and instant. And I lived on a 300 year old farm in Germany where the old farmer was very adept and skilled at it. There was no such thing as a second try. It was actually a right of passage on the farm for a boy growing up there to learn how it's done and something the old farmer took pride in teaching me.  And of course the big joke comes a few days later when everyone sits quietly around the dinner table and the farmer's wife asks you if you know what you are eating... to see how you will react.

But folks, I was a kid at the time and it was a bit more traumatic than you might think. Maybe not for the animal, but for me watching.... For the animal it was lights out, for the human it's not something I will ever forget. Compared to some of the vet nightmares I've read I could do it faster and better, both painlessly and instantly, but it's not something I would want to do unless I absolutely had to and it's not something I want my daughter to see.


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

There are mobile vets that will come to your house, which would be ideal for rat euthanasias, if they are any in your area that is.


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

ksaxton said:


> My vet won't even give dosing information over the phone, so I doubt he would make house calls. I bet there are others who do though, maybe it helps if you have a good relationship with your vet and have been a customer for a long time


A vet cant dose an animal without seeing it for legal and saftey reasons. Most vets wont do it, you could luck up and find a vet thats doesnt go by the rules, but its unlikely.


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

I was just told on here that I could ask my vet for dosing information to be sure, so I thought it was a common thing to do and was a bit disappointed when my vet said no. It makes sense though then if it's against the law


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Not so much against the law to my knowledge (criminally) but it will get their license revoked if you were to at a later time say they killed your pet by prescribing too much or recommending use of medicine. So, a vet that has mutual trust and respect would but day to day vets won't.


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## Ratbag (Nov 30, 2013)

After being present when my beloved old cat was pts and witnessing it being utterly screwed up and having to watch her suffer and struggle horribly for more than 10 minutes, then i personally would actually consider the home method.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

I do see that this could be a viable and more humane option. Its not something I would consider for a situation where the rat was minimally suffering, however in an emergency situation where the rat is in significant pain which is going to get worse then a quick cash would be over 4 than waiting for the vet to visit our travelling to get to one. I'm very lucky that I've never been in that situation, but 2 of my friends have, one doe pulled all her stitches out from a spay overnight and my friend found her with most of her intestines out. It took a fair time to get her to the nearest vets out of hours even by emergency, far too long. Another friends boy got his stomach cut open in a fight, similar results and again time taken when he was in a bad way getting to the vet. I don't know what I'd do in that situation but if I had a quick option that offered minimal suffering I hope that I could do it. Of course hoping it's a lot different to doing.


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