Exotic Pet Euthenasia

While the questions and conundrums that face "ordinary" pet owners are the same for exotic pet owners, the technical aspects of exotic pet euthenasia can be somewhat different.

This is because, by and large, most exotic pets kept by people tend to be small, with small veins that do not lend themselves to being found easily with a needle. This means that the route and method of administrating the overdose of anaesthetic drug is sometimes different.

To overcome this problem, your veterinarian may first administer a strong tranquilliser drug that imobilises the exotic pet. Although this will inevitably drop the blood pressure further, making a vein even more difficult to find, it ensures that the pet remains still during the euthenasia procedure.

In very small exotic pets, the only practical method of doing the procedure is to inject the drug directly into the heart, and thus the bloodstream of the pet. This has the same effect as injecting it into a vein in that the drug acts very quickly and painlessly.

While exotic pet euthenasia sometimes presents a different set of practical problems for the Veterinarian, rest assured that their primary concern will be to make the procedure as swift and as painless as possible.