From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-10-25 13:33:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Jilly's gone as well now...
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Ulrike" <ferretlove@n...> wrote:
> Jilly, my first ferret, was put to sleep today. She went downhill
this
> week, she had become pretty much resistant to prednisolone and had a
> constant low sugar except for a few episodes a day when she felt
okay and
> even had a run in the house. But most of the time, especially
about an hour
> after food, she'd have really low sugars. She would come out of
bed, run
> around disorientated and then poop and pee on the floor and after
that she'd
> keep running around and also run through her mess some of the
time. When
> she went to the toilet, whether it was in the toilet or on the
floor, she'd
> do the splits with her back legs and she was too weak to stand up
so she'd
> fall forwards and lie in her pee and the poop would run down
between the
> cheeks of her bum and then she'd get up and the pee and poop would
be
> trapped between the flabby cheeks of her bum. ...Very weak, she
was just a floppy
> bundle, like she hardly had any muscle left at all... I put her
into a
> clean sleep sack and into the carrier, ready for the vets. We went
to the
> vets as when they opened and at 9.00, Jilly was put to sleep.
Jilly was in
> pain when my vet felt her abdomen so this suggested that something
else was
> going on inside her, not just the insulinoma. My vet injected the
lethal
> drug into Jilly's kidneys but Jilly wouldn't die. So Louise
anaesthetised
> her and injected her into the heart. Jilly soon died but was still
moving
> and twitching when she was dead, her little legs and feet were
moving like
> she was still alive...
>
> We went back to the vets about 5.00 p.m. to observe the post mortem
(and
> take pictures). Jilly had a huge tumour on her pancreas, the liver
had
> loads of (8+) tumours on it and the spleen was mottled. The
kidneys had
> loads of fat around them and with the fat they were probably 2" in
diameter.
> Which explained why Jilly wouldn't die when my vet injected her in
the
> kidney because the drug must have gone into the fat, missing the
kidney...
Ulrike:
My sincerest sympathy and condolences go out to you to day. Most of
us knw the pain of losing one, but not two in the same week. Your
description of Jilly's demise leaves no question as to whether you
made the right decision.
I am a bit concerned about the practice of injecting euthanasia
sollution into any organ other than the heart. In some humane
shelters in the U.S, the liver is used in cats to deposit euthanasia
solution. Both of these organs are used so that placement of the
solution into a vein is not required. However, in both organs, there
is not enough blood pressure to force the solution out into the other
tissues. This is why the heart or blood vessels is the best place to
infuse euthanasia solution.
The effects of euthanasia solution are first registered in the brain
to give unconsciousness, before breathing stops, and eventually the
heartbeat. The pressure of only a few heartbeats will carry the drug
to the brain in a sufficient concentration to induce all of the
appropriate results in a timely fashion. If deposited into a
parenchymal organ such as the kidney or liver, it may eventually get
into the bloodsteram, but in a delayed and diminished fashion.
My personal choice for euthanasia if a vein cannot be reliably
utilized, is gas anesthesia and cardiac injection.
On another note, I'm proud of you for staying for the necropsy and
taking the pictures. You've become quite the trooper in the last
week. I am hoping that the knowledge rewards that you reap are worth
the emotional trauma.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams