How do vets put dogs to sleep?

Nowadays the method usually adopted for canine euthanasia is for a veterinary surgeon to inject an overdose of a barbiturate anaesthetic, usually intravenously, but occasionally in very young, elderly or weak animals by another route. The dog goes to sleep as if being anaesthetized before an operation but does not recover. This method inflicts no pain and with an intravenous injection is extremely quick, since only a matter of seconds elapses before the animal becomes unconscious. With a very aggressive or nervous animal it may be necessary to administer a tranquillizer or other sedative drug beforehand in order that it can be calmed and adequately restrained for the injection. In general, it is preferable for euthanasia to be performed on a vet’s premises since all the specialized equipment and trained assistance will be available there.

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Under what circumstances is it advisable to have a dog put to sleep?

Where it is known that a dog will have to endure continual or recurrent suffering, with little or no prospect of remission, then almost certainly the most humane course of action is to have it painlessly put to sleep. By suffering is meant not only acute or severe pain, but also the consequences of congenital malformations and serious injury, and those slowly progressive illnesses which inevitably can only terminate in death, such as paralysis, cancer and uncontrollable wasting diseases; in fact any disease where severe irreversible damage has been caused.

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What other dog diseases come with old age?

As well as cancer, there are a number of other conditions which become increasingly common as dogs grow older. One of the most significant is kidney failure. The kidneys have the important function of eliminating the waste products of metabolism, particularly those resulting from the breakdown of proteins in the body, and of regulating the composition of the blood plasma. With age, the number of functional units which comprise the kidneys gradually diminishes, and this may be accelerated by severe damage (e.g. from a road accident), bacterial or viral infection (e.g. leptospirosis or infectious canine hepatitis) or, rarely, neoplasia. When around 70 % of the kidney tissue has ceased to work, the waste products will accumulate in the blood and cause such toxic effects as a loss of appetite, listlessness, vomiting, increased thirst, dehydration, weight loss and, after a time, ulcers in the mouth. This condition, chronic renal failure, is not reversible, and to enable the dog to live with it the diet needs to contain less protein than normal, in order to reduce the production of these waste materials. When cancer or some other progressive cause (e.g. amyloidosis) is responsible, euthanasia is advisable.

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Is it a good idea to worm my dog, and if so, how often should I do it?

First of all it should be appreciated that most of the worms which affect dogs are not treated for unless they are believed to be present. Routine worming (or, more accurately, de-worming) is carried out primarily to control infection with the ascarid worms (roundworms) especially since they can be transmitted to man. The drug most commonly used is piperazine, which is relatively safe, cheap and reasonably effective. It is most definitely advisable to give this worming treatment routinely. However, this drug has no appreciable action against other types of worms, such as tapeworms. Recently even more effective drugs against ascarids have become available, some of which are also effective against tapeworms; they are, however, considerably more expensive.

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I have heard that children can get worms from dogs. Is this true?

In the case of a few worms, it is correct that they can infect humans; usually children because their immunity is less. The worm which has received most attention is the roundworm, Toxocara canis. This is not the same as the threadworm (pinworm or seatworm) which is common in children. In its life cycle the infective larva, still inside the egg shell in which it has developed, may be eaten by a dog or by another species, often a rodent, which in turn may be consumed by a dog. At times, however, these infective eggs (i.e. containing the larvae) may be eaten by children. A number of factors contribute:

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How can I tell if my dog has worms?

Ideally, at intervals throughout the dog’s life, a sample of motions should be examined by a laboratory for evidence of worm eggs, though usually this is only performed if the dog is showing signs suggestive of worm infection. A laboratory examination after worming is a valuable way of assessing the efficacy of treatment, especially as most modern tapeworm treatments cause the worms to break up within the dog’s intestine, so that worms are not passed intact, and are therefore not visible in the motions.

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What is the significance of tapeworms in dogs?

The common tapeworms are long, flat worms (like white ribbons), attached to the lining of the intestine with hooks and suckers, and in general they cause no signs of ill health. In large numbers they may result in digestive upsets, anal irritation and a loss of condition. Tapeworms are hermaphrodite, segmented worms which grow continuously; the oldest segments, containing the eggs, are shed one or more at a time from the end of the worm furthest from its head. To complete their life cycle these eggs, after passing out at the anus, must then be eaten by a particular species of animal. In the case of Dipylidium caninum, the commonest dog tapeworm found in about a third of all dogs (though up to 75 % of Greyhounds) this ‘intermediate host’ must be the flea or louse. Some of the many Taenia species of tapeworm utilize the rabbit, and others the sheep, as intermediate hosts. An egg develops into a cyst-like structure in the intermediate host, and if this host is then eaten by a dog the cyst-like structure develops into a new tapeworm in its intestine. But if tapeworm eggs are eaten by a dog they do not develop further.