Euthanasia.

[The Taffy Apple]

Evening all, hope this thread finds you all well...
So it seems i may have to think about what i would choose to do if i HAD to euthanise one of my small friends. An earlier thread of mine described the all too common issue of a sick Dwarf Gourami and the choice might be to end his misery if things get any worse.
Clove oil- available and reachable, still sounds somewhat 'prolonged' to me though.
Ice cold water- Have read issues people have had with doing these, mostly temperature problems.
Chopping board- Wouldn't have a problem doing it, but is it still a taboo means of an end?
Blunt object- I have read stories of 2 sharp, blunt strikes to the head, but again still rather barbaric for such a lovely creature.

Any thoughts please, for those that may have had to do it for the first time recently?

Terry.

 

[CezzaXV]

I was going to euthanise a cory back along, but he died before I came home with the materials to do it.

My plan was to use clove oil to sedate him then put him in the freezer to kill him. I couldnt bring myself to do anything more brutal. I'd heard stories of fish eventually coming out of the clove oil sedation, so I decided to use the clove oil then kill it by other means, rather than rely on the clove oil to kill it or kill a perfectly aware fish.

 

[Cazgar]

I couldn't bring myself to do the chopping board method.
The one time I had to do it, I found the ice cold water was the quickest method, it was over in a couple of seconds.
Hope I never have to do it again though

 

[KrystaK]

I had to do it recently to a female guppy I bought who had fin rot that led to dropsy.
I put her in a 1L container and added a drop of clove oil every few minutes until she was asleep, then I added a significant amount of alcohol (Vodka) (I think 1:3 alcohol to water)
I read that the clove kept the fish asleep and the vodka does the deed.
I just knew she was in terrible pain and I wanted it to be over for the both of us quickly and as painlessly as possible.
I felt terrible about actually killing her but I knew it was the right thing to do, and I have no regrets about the method I used, because it was quick and she never woke up when she went under with the clove oil so I assume she felt no pain.

 

[KkAaNnEe]

I think a quick blow/cut is the quickest and least painful really

 

[`Peter]

The one time I ever did it was with really cold water.

 

[KrystaK]

The thing with the swift cut, you have to get the fish out of the water right? That was the major turn off I had with that method I never saw a convenient way to do it that didn't involve taking the fish out of the water.

 

[mattyeatsmatts]

I've heard that a sharp hit to the head(flick) kills outright.

I'd hate to ever do it though

 

[riffraff]

done it quite recently to a dg myself, it was my first time too so lots of research.

clove oil all the way for me, for instance i like the idea of them going to sleep and not waking up better than the other methods, and also thinking about it, ive had to take a kitten, an elderly cat and a dog to the vets before to be put down, if the vet asked ,
should i bash him on the head? cut his head off or put him to sleep, i would obviously say put him to sleep over the other methods

it was very simple in the end, but you gotta do whats right for the fishy

riffraff

 

[KISSfn]

Decapitation with sharp scissors, with the spinal cord being the first thing severed. Quickest and most painless method I could think of. Did not enjoy it at all.

 

[gregswimm]

Bag in the freezer, no mess and it's easy

 

[Livewire88]

My way is to put fish in 2 sandwich bags and hit it against the wall as hard as possible, = instant death.

The way I look at it is if the fish is not going to survive I am doing it a favour by ending its suffering, still makes me sad tho

 

[soybean]

Clove oil isn't particularly prolonged, once the fish is asleep you can add the overdose of it and that fish is never going to wake up.

I put the fish in a fish bag with tank water in, shake up clove oil in a water bottle of tank water, slowly start running it down the side of the bag. Fish falls asleep, I pour the rest in, tie the bag up, check there's no gill movement (usually only a few mins) and drop it in the bin.

The slice to the brain is bandied about as quicker and more humane, but I just know I couldn't do it personally. And I don't see taking the fish out of water and trying to hold it still on a board as particularly fun for the fish.

 

[KISSfn]

The slice to the brain is bandied about as quicker and more humane, but I just know I couldn't do it personally. And I don't see taking the fish out of water and trying to hold it still on a board as particularly fun for the fish.

The one fish I had to do this to did not need to be held still as he was barely alive by the time I spotted him. He appeared to be ready to have his suffering ended humanely.

 

[soybean]

The slice to the brain is bandied about as quicker and more humane, but I just know I couldn't do it personally. And I don't see taking the fish out of water and trying to hold it still on a board as particularly fun for the fish.

The one fish I had to do this to did not need to be held still as he was barely alive by the time I spotted him. He appeared to be ready to have his suffering ended humanely.

Well I meant with them being a bit wet and slimy, not flapping about. And can fish be philosophical about suffering, or was it just dying?