So when will he wake up?

Had to euthanise a couple of animals today which is never an easy job and it got me thinking about a few stories I've been told by various anonymous vets.

Always, always, ALWAYS make sure you have clarified the difference between "euthanasia" (will not wake up again) and "anaesthesia" (should wake up again) when a client books an appointment to have their animal "put to sleep". I've lost count of the number of times I've heard of vets on the verge of injecting (or worse, having just injected) an animal with a lethal dose of anaesthetic only to have the client ask, "So when will he be waking up?" Um, never? This is the main reason I like to have clients sign a consent form. Believe it or not, some clinics still have not made this a set protocol and are just asking for a lawsuit - why to people have to wait until after the proverbial excrement hits the circulating air device before they change their practices? This paid off recently when a woman came in wanting to have her dog "put to sleep" and, when handed the form, asked what it was all about. When the nurse explained that it was giving us permission to "put her animal down" and asked what she wanted us to do with the body, the woman looked horrified and exclaimed, "But I only wanted his nails clipped!"

Though apparently, if you accidentally inject 5mL of lethal injection into a cat's abdomen and realise immediately after the plunger is depressed that you have grabbed the wrong, though identical cat, a large dose of fluids into the belly and some judicious use of adrenalin (both to cat and vet)MAY just revive it...after a three day period of surgical anaesthesia and several more days of drunken cat. True story but thankfully not one of my own!