My old cat's euthanasia was hard. Was she too healthy to go?

Question

We just had our 16-year-old cat euthanized. The sedative didn't work and they had to give her three shots to get her to sleep and she still was responsive to stimuli.Then the actual euthanasia drug was put into her kidney and that didn't work. Finally they put the drug directly into her vein on her leg and that worked. My family is very upset and are afraid we put her down while she was still healthy. Even though we know she wasn't. Why wouldn't it work on such a sick and weak animal? Pet's info: Cat | Maine Coon | Female | spayed | 16 years old | 6.5 lbs

Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS · Accepted Answer

First off, I'm so very sorry had to say goodbye to Lucy! It's always hard to say goodbye to a pet, and it also sounds like it was a tough experience for you. When cats are old and sick, a lot of times extra medication is needed to get the desired effect. It's because their system isn't working as well as it used to, and you can find yourself in a situation where more drug is needed than expected. I work for a home euthanasia service, and I've unfortunately had this happen to a patient of mine before where I have had to use three times the normal amount of sedative to get the animal fully sedated. It doesn't mean Lucy was healthy, and the vet wouldn't have put her down if she was healthy. It simply means she was very sick and her body couldn't metabolize the drugs normally, leading to more being needed. It's still upsetting to see, and I'm sorry your family went through that, but it does happen and we as vets cannot predict 100% how a euthanasia will proceed. While we'd like it to be easy and smooth, it doesn't happen that way all the time. I'm sure the vet did everything in their power to make it as comfortable as possible for you and her. Again, I'm sorry for you loss and I hope this helps!

My old cat's euthanasia was hard. Was she too healthy to go?

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