Help needed with Euthanasia

[Hamalicious]

G'day everyone, this isn't herp related but I thought you might be able to help any way. My bird who is around 12 years old is nearing the end and is clearly starting to suffer so I'm looking at euthanasia. The vet charges $106 which seems ridiculous to me so I want to put him down myself in a humane and painless way.

Would a Co2 chamber be a good idea? If so what is the quickest easiest way to make one as this is a one time thing and it won't be used again? Or could anyone with a Co2 chamber lend me a favor? I'm in Brisbane on the north side of the river.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hamish

 

[saximus]

I've killed mynas with gas before so it's effective for them. If you don't own a soda stream you can make CO2 with vinegar and bi carb. Just make a little mixing chamber with a zip lock bag and a bit of hose running into the container where the animal is.
Sorry to hear that you're in this situation

 

[Hamalicious]

Thanks for the reply saximus. Is there any special way to go about this or is it fairly straight forward with the bi carb and vinegar? Any certain amount of each that I need?

 

[saximus]

The best way is probably to put the bi carb in the bag and put the vinegar in a cup or something inside the bag. Then once it's sealed with the hose going into the container you tip the vinegar over so they mix (does that make sense?). For one bird it should only take about a tablespoon of bi carb and maybe 500mL or so of vinegar

 

[Hamalicious]

Alright thanks. It's a small bird as well (a peach face) I'll see what condition he is in tomorrow and I'll decide what to do then. Thanks for the help

 

[Chris]

Can you try another vet? I had to have one of my monitors euthanised a week ago, it cost me $45.00 which I felt was reasonable.

 

[AndrewHenderson]

You obviously don't have much of a clue on what to do so the risk of your animal suffering when it is being euthanaised is reasonably high. Just look for some other vet that can do it cheaper.

 

[glassless_mind]

When we do CO2 euthanasias, they are performed only once completely under general anaesthetic. Otherwise, the birds become extremely distressed. It isn't a very nice way to go.
You can ring around various veterinary practices and ask for quotes for euthanasia. Otherwise, it is possible to surrender your bird, specifically for euthanasia, to the RSPCA. The cost for this for a dog is about $80, so a bird should be less...
There is also the option to simply surrender the bird to a veterinary practice. They can then euthanase it for you. This should cost very little.

The word euthanasia means "good death". In performing a euthansia, every effort should always be taken to ensure that it is a "good death". This should be judged by how you would like to go, if you were considering your own end. CO2 while awake is definetely not recommended. The best euthanasia I have done was a lethal injection, with the dog lying in the sun, watching the birds fly overhead. It isn't always possible to achieve the best, but the best that is possible should always be the aim.

 

[saximus]

I think you're getting a little carried away there. Large animals like dogs can't be compared with small animals and definitely cant be compared with people. How do you think the rodents that you feed your snakes are killed? I guarantee you it isn't one at a time on the grass in the sun via lethal injection. Gassing is an RSPCA approved method for small animal euthanasia. For people who catch mynas in traps it is actually suggest hooking a bag up to a car exhaust. A small chamber where it can be done in a controlled way and be over within a minute or two seems like a perfectly "good death" to me

 

[Chris1]

ive heard gassing done wrong can be horrendous,...i think crushing its head with a brick while its eating something yummy would be quicker and kinder to the animal than stuffing around with gassing.
(im not saying i would do that, i would cough up the cash and let the vet do it)

 

[Ramsayi]

Gassing with car exhaust isn't an acceptable method these days given that catalytic converters remove CO from the exhaust.

Cervical dislocation,carbon dioxide or barbiturate injection are 3 acceptable methods.

 

[saximus]

Oh cheers Rams. I guess I'm behind with some info :/

 

[dangles]

Gassing with car exhaust isn't an acceptable method these days given that catalytic converters remove CO from the exhaust.

Cervical dislocation,carbon dioxide or barbiturate injection are 3 acceptable methods.

Yes cat converters help reduce carbon monoxide and NOx by creating co2 N and H20.
the main thing you are after is co2 which exhausts still produce

 

[Stevo2]

If you're not going to do what's best for the bird (painless Euth by a vet) then you may as well feed it to one of your snakes. Jeez.

 

[Hamalicious]

I think some people are getting a little offended by this tread. By no means am I a bad person who doesn't care about my pets well being. I'm 21 and I've had this bird since I was only 9 years old. I really do care about it and I don't want it to suffer. There a lot of humane ways to Euthanise an animal with out giving over $100 to the vet. I am simply trying to find a suitable alternative and if I don't find one that I am 100% comfortable with I will take it to the vet and have them do it. Thank you to all the people who didn't fly off the handle and actually gave me a helpful response. It's a hard enough time as it is with out people making me feel guilty.

 

[Ramsayi]

The 3 methods I wrote are acceptable by DPI standards.

 

[Bec]

If you can't afford to pay the vet to do it right now why not have a chat to them and make a payment plan. I'm sure they would do that for you as they can't refuse to help an animal in need. Good luck and all the best with what ever way you decide to do it.

 

[CaptainRatbag]

Gassing with car exhaust isn't an acceptable method these days given that catalytic converters remove CO from the exhaust.

Cervical dislocation,carbon dioxide or barbiturate injection are 3 acceptable methods.

People think that a cat converter on a car is a magic bullet. The cat only begins working properly once it reaches 1400 degrees (from memory) so starting a cold car, the poisonous gunk coming out of the exhaust is incredible. All emissions data and rating is done on vehicles {at normal operating temp} every vehicle would fail every test within 10 minutes of start up (or so) So, the catalytic converter arguement in null and void.

I disagree with using vehicle gasses personally, I prefer C02. When I euth. my rats with a soda stream and tub, they dont panic, there is no 'horror'.... they just lay down and seem to gasp/yawn for a couple of minutes. To me it is very peaceful. In fact, if I ever was terminally ill and in pain and wanted to end it all, it would be my choice of ending.

Birds are so susceptible to gas, that is why minors (coal miners) used to take a canary in a cage into the mines..... if the bird keels over, there is gas present.... birds need way less gas than a mammal.

OP, personally, I would be using C02. If you havent got a soda stream, see if you can borrow one (they cost $79 at woolies) but I bet you could do it with a plastic bag and breathe into it (in and out, hyperventillation style) for a while, then pop your birdy in and breathe out only into the bag for a while?

Sorry your little buddy is not well.... hope all works out for him and you, very sad losing these little ones.... I for one, hate to see them suffering :cry:

Best of luck

- - - Updated - - -

ive heard gassing done wrong can be horrendous,...i think crushing its head with a brick while its eating something yummy would be quicker and kinder to the animal than stuffing around with gassing.
(im not saying i would do that, i would cough up the cash and let the vet do it)

I dont think so, if the gassing (with C02) is done wrong, the creature wakes up. I Had to euthanase a sick young adult rat and put her in the tub and gave the first little puff.... she layed down and was gasping..... I went to give the bigger burst of gas and the gas ran out.... not enough to finish the job :shock::cry: She was still gasping.... I took her out of the tub.... after a minute she was up and looking for something to eat
One of my breeding males accidently got put in the gas tub.... then I noticed I had mistakenly put him in the euth. tub and quickly grabbed him out after about a minute and a half.... he came good, he is 18 months old now and father of about 200.

Go C02, it really is best IMO

 

[andynic07]

The best way is probably to put the bi carb in the bag and put the vinegar in a cup or something inside the bag. Then once it's sealed with the hose going into the container you tip the vinegar over so they mix (does that make sense?). For one bird it should only take about a tablespoon of bi carb and maybe 500mL or so of vinegar

I think that this method with bi carb and vinegar is pretty cruel. Levels of CO2 below 70% can be a very slow death and very distressing for the animal. CO2 will convert to carbonic acid when in contact with mucous surfaces (nose , throat) and cause a great deal of pain the animals. If you are going to use CO2 as I do then you need to either place the animal into a chamber with already high concentrations of CO2 or rapidly increase the levels of CO2 to minimise the time the animal suffers. The RSPCA has a pretty good paper on this.http://www.rspca.org.au/assets/files/Science/Updates/ScienceUpdate15.pdf

- - - Updated - - -

 

[benjamind2010]

I'm with Ramsayi. Out of the 3 methods that was listed, barbiturates really are the gold standard. As far as I'm concerned anything else is less than humane. In fact the barbiturate they use to put down pets is the same active ingredient in the drug Nembutal.

Speaking of which, that used to be prescribed for anxiety in lower doses (ie, 50mg) and for sleep in higher doses (ie, 100mg or more). I know this particular drug and have myself used it a long time ago. I wouldn't consider it any different to Valium and alcohol in it's effects, but unlike Valium, an overdose is likely to kill you (ditto for alcohol, too much of that can kill too), and pentobarbitone (and its cousins, one of which I know went by the names of Tuinal and Amytal) have proven to be a major component in a lot of O/D suicides in the 60s and maybe the 70s. VERY dangerous, and NEVER EVER to be abused - sudden withdrawal after long-term abuse (ie, more than 2 weeks) can lead to massive seizures and, ironically, death as well...I'm speaking this from the stories of a friend who was a Vietnam vet and was heavily addicted to Tuinal. He suffered enormously, told me that he wished he hadn't touched it as it destroyed him emotionally for years after he stopped using it. He is still here, his friend who was also drafted to Vietnam wasn't so fortunate - he died from an intra-cerebral hemorrhage after withdrawing suddenly from taking more than 20 pills daily of Amytal to going cold turkey, and as my friend quoted - ended up a dead turkey. I can assure you this information is correct.