Is It Time To Euthanase?

[prue07]

Last night i put a post on entitled 'bloated danio' and i think ive realised its not constipation. He seems to be bleeding internally and there is blood coming from his...anus..is he suffering?!! i cant stand to see him bobbing along like this...what should i do? do I euthanase him and if so, how should i do it? i dont have any fancy anaesthetics or clove oiis or anything..

Prue

 

[Adie]

What works for me, is the following:

Get a large glass, fill 3/4 with ice.
Top up with water.
Put in freezer or fridge for 10-15 mins.
swirl round to break up ice
try to move ice as much to one side as possible / or make a path to the bottom of the glass.
Put the fish from net into glass - make sure he gets totally immersed in the water immediately (through path you made).
By the time he's got to the bottom of the glass he'll have passed on. Usually within 2-3 seconds.

The shock sends them to sleep / sends them to fishy heaven. Usually I'd put the glass into the freezer for 1/2 hour to make sure that he's gone - but to be honest they're usually dead within seconds of being immersed in the water.

I find this the most humane way - however it's been debated many times on here. It's your choice, but I prefer as little suffering as possible.

 

[prue07]

wow, thankyou that sounds possible..i really hope he doesnt suffer at all but i totally appreciate the comment!

Prue

 

[Adie]

wow, thankyou that sounds possible..i really hope he doesnt suffer at all but i totally appreciate the comment!

Prue

I can appreciate it's a terrible thing to do, but in some situations the kindest. I've not used any of the other methods people have suggested on here. Cutting off heads and stabbing with a pin, to me seems shocking and an impossible thing to do. You wouldn't take a dog outside, cleave off it's head and then stab with a spike would you?

The ice way, I've found is over in seconds. If it was me - I'd rather go that way.

 

[Attar]

wow, thankyou that sounds possible..i really hope he doesnt suffer at all but i totally appreciate the comment!

Prue

I can appreciate it's a terrible thing to do, but in some situations the kindest. I've not used any of the other methods people have suggested on here. Cutting off heads and stabbing with a pin, to me seems shocking and an impossible thing to do. You wouldn't take a dog outside, cleave off it's head and then stab with a spike would you?

The ice way, I've found is over in seconds. If it was me - I'd rather go that way.

I have read from several sources that freezing is not a humane way to euthanize a fish. A more humane way is use clove oil. Take a small amount of tank water (4-5mL), add several drops of clove oil and shake very well. The mixture should look milky. Put the fish in a small bowl of tank water and slowly add the clove oil mixture. Watch the fish carefully until the gill movements become very slow, this may take a few minutes. At this point the fish is asleep and then you can add an alcohol such as vodka to euthanize. The clove oil basically acts similar to a sedative for fish so they feel less pain. I have read that freezing without first sedating can be very painful for fish.


I have just read the posts about euthanasia in the "Scientific" section of the forum where some were questioning the effectiveness of clove oil. I have used clove oil myself on more than one occasion and it does work as I have stated.

Also, I was able to purchase it (in Canada) at the local drug store.

 

[briobug]

Wow, that sounds yucky.

I've done the freezing thing too. But it was just scooping out tank water so there's no shock and put in the freezer in a small glass. But really this isn't the most human? I haven't shocked them with ice water. Just slow temp change.

Oh boy it's a terrible thing to have to talk about huh? But we better get this figured out.

 

[Adie]

Wow, that sounds yucky.

I've done the freezing thing too. But it was just scooping out tank water so there's no shock and put in the freezer in a small glass. But really this isn't the most human? I haven't shocked them with ice water. Just slow temp change.

Oh boy it's a terrible thing to have to talk about huh? But we better get this figured out.

As far as I'm aware pre-chilled / frozen is a short sharp shock. However, putting them in the freezer "out of sight and mind" is NOT the way to do it. The water chills and slowly freezes. It's common opinion that the fish can feel the ice crystals forming in its body.

 

[briobug]

Oh no! I feel sick. Our poor little guys. I'm such a bleeding-heart.

 

[fall-apart-dave]

Well, being unable to 100% say which method the fish does and doesnt feel, I would apply the same logic as to what we would feel... Decapitation is fast for any animal (except chickens), crushed quickly and violenty faster than your synapses can fire would be painless, as would massive head trauma or massive electric shock. There's no nice way to kill something. Never is. You just gotta pick the method that is over in seconds or less.

 

[dane261]

Well, being unable to 100% say which method the fish does and doesnt feel, I would apply the same logic as to what we would feel... Decapitation is fast for any animal (except chickens), crushed quickly and violenty faster than your synapses can fire would be painless, as would massive head trauma or massive electric shock. There's no nice way to kill something. Never is. You just gotta pick the method that is over in seconds or less.

i agree with dave

cheers dane

 

[guppy fan]

Well, being unable to 100% say which method the fish does and doesnt feel, I would apply the same logic as to what we would feel... Decapitation is fast for any animal (except chickens), crushed quickly and violenty faster than your synapses can fire would be painless, as would massive head trauma or massive electric shock. There's no nice way to kill something. Never is. You just gotta pick the method that is over in seconds or less.

i agree with dave

cheers dane

Me too.

 

[LauraFrog]

Clove oil (phenoxyethanol) is used as an anaesthetic at concentrations of 2 or 3 drops in 5 cups of water. If you stick a fish in about a litre, maybe a bit more, with 2 drops of clove oil, it goes to sleep and you can do whatever you like with it, including decapitating it, and it will not feel anything. If you're too squeamish to decapitate a fish, you can probably use clove oil alone. Like just about any anaesthetic it will kill alone if you overdose enough. The vodka is a good idea.

Must point out: Don't flush a fish down the toilet! That is the most disgusting thing you can do to it! It can survive down there for hours, still in pain and in the most disgustingly filthy water. I would not even flush a dead fish down the toilet because many sewage treatment plants clean the water but may not remove all the pathogens, release it into a waterway, infect native fish with our tank-bred diseases... you get the picture.