Euthanasia

[borissimo]

Hello

I wanted to tell you about my experience of euthanasia to date as I have worried and worried about the best way of putting fish 'to sleep'.

Further to my thread under Tropical Fish Emergencies (Malawi Cichlid tumour) whilst trying to find some expert help I also asked around about the best method of euthanasia.

Prior to this, about a year ago, I had a sick golden gourami that was just lingering but was obviously not going to recover and it was painful to watch. I telephoned three different aquatic shops and all three said that if I put the fish in the freezer the body would just shut down and the fish would be dead before he/she froze. Well I did this and it haunts me now - the mouth was open and the fish looked in pain.

This time a local vet, also a fisherman, offered to use an implement that he used for fishing to bang the fish on the head.
This is supposed to be quick but was not acceptable to me.

I went into another aquatic shop and the owner said that if I couldn't face killing the fish he would do it for me, even though he hated doing it himself. But he then mentioned Koi Calm. I bought a bottle and found that it contained rectified oil of cloves. I had already heard about clove oil and had bought an ordinary bottle. I do not know if 'rectified' changed the oil in any way.

I used it this morning, carefully at first, in case the fish looked uncomfortable in any way, but he just lost balance and is now just laying on his side, not breathing, though I shall wait until tomorrow before taking him out, just in case.
He looks extremely peaceful, mouth just open a little, as though he is asleep and not in any pain at all.

If I need to euthanise in the future, this is the method that I shall use. I just wanted to tell everyone, because I have read of some pretty awful methods that people use to kill their fish.

 

[screamingdonkey]

Just to say the last time I had to do it I used the 'alka-seltzer method' after reading about this on a similar thread on here.
It's supposed to be almost instant - you take the sick fish from the tank and move it into a small container, add two alk-seltzer tabs and the increased carbon dioxide (?) in the water causes a relatively painless death.

However, my first attempt wasn't perfect. I soon realised that I used too much water and I didn't cover the container, so much of the CO2 escpaed. Second time round, I used far less water - just enought to cover the poorly fish and covered with a plate. This was far more effective and the fish died within a matter of seconds.

Note: I have only tried this on small (2") fish and have been told this method may not be as effective with bigger fish.

This method has been recognised in certain scientific circles as a humane, effective euthanasia method for fish.
In the same report, freezing was not.
I can't remember what the views were regarding oil of cloves - but I know many fishkeepers use this method.

 

[borissimo]

I think one of the aquatic shops mentioned that method - or at least about introducing CO2 to the tank but I thought that it would be like suffocation and therefore not pain-free. However, as you have tried it and say it is quick, then I guess it must be. Yet another shop suggested putting the fish in a cup of milk but that also sounded like suffocation to me.

 

[Danno]

If the fish is big I use vodka or clove oil. If the fish is small.....cinder block.

 

[screamingdonkey]

I think one of the aquatic shops mentioned that method - or at least about introducing CO2 to the tank but I thought that it would be like suffocation and therefore not pain-free.

I guess no method is completely pain free and it's a case of finding something that's as quick and effective as possible.
I once used a sharp knife for the decapitation method on a peppered cory. Maybe it's me being squemish but I know personally it's something I couldn't do it again.
Now that I've 'mastered' the alka-seltzer method it's the one that I'll probably use in the future - it literally took about 10 seconds when I did it properly. The way I justified it to myself is that the platy in question had been suffering for days, I didn't have a quarantine tank and if I left the fish in there it would probably suffer until it's eventual demise which could've lasted another 48 hours (and therefore 48 hours of suffering). Surely 10 seconds of pain is better than 48 hours in my opinion.

Not sure about the milk method - that doesn't sound very humane to me.

 

[borissimo]

I could not decapitate either, or bang the fish on the head in any way.

Fortunately we have a small 'hospital' tank so we took our time with the oil, adding a few drops to see what happened.
Once he looked asleep, we added a lot more. The only problem we have now is removing the oil from the tank - it has covered the glass, heater and filter.

 

[Fishy_7]

Always thought putting the fish into a bucket of ice water was the "best" method as they go into shock very quickly and never wake up??

 

[borissimo]

Sorry to be dim - do you mean a bucket and adding clove oil?

We didn't move the fish from the (small, hexagonal) hospital tank as we didn't want to disturb him any more.
He really did go to sleep quickly

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i can't imagine suffocation with Co2 would be a nice way to go, we had a Co2 'incident' with Ian's tank a little while back, the regulator got knocked in the night (probably by the cats) and was blasting out Co2, when i came down in the morning and saw all the fish drifting aroudn the tank gasping or not even breathing any more with no control of themselves it did not look painless at all in fact one of the fish who we thought was dead, was laid on the floor of the tank not breathing, recovered later that day, so i wouldn't nescessarily be convinced that the fish you 'euthanised' in this method were dead, possibly in shock or some sort of coma and then died from being taken out of the water and disposed of

we actually lost a fair few fish that day, but the one's who survived there is one angel who is still decidedly unwell 6 months or so later

i appreciated this is a different situation to the alka seltzer thing, but thought i'd share my experiences about suffocatuion by Co2

 

[Canis-Equus]

I have only had to dispatch small tetras and to my mind dropping them into a small container of ice cold water (with icecubes in it) is as quick and painless as any method going. Certainly the times i have done it, first two times the fish died within a second, third time the fish took two 'gasps' and then died so still around 2 or 3 seconds.

For larger fish, i have no idea what i would do, obviously dropping a common plec into iced water is not going to be humane at all!

 

[screamingdonkey]

i can't imagine suffocation with Co2 would be a nice way to go, we had a Co2 'incident' with Ian's tank a little while back, the regulator got knocked in the night (probably by the cats) and was blasting out Co2, when i came down in the morning and saw all the fish drifting aroudn the tank gasping or not even breathing any more with no control of themselves it did not look painless at all in fact one of the fish who we thought was dead, was laid on the floor of the tank not breathing, recovered later that day, so i wouldn't nescessarily be convinced that the fish you 'euthanised' in this method were dead, possibly in shock or some sort of coma and then died from being taken out of the water and disposed of

we actually lost a fair few fish that day, but the one's who survived there is one angel who is still decidedly unwell 6 months or so later

i appreciated this is a different situation to the alka seltzer thing, but thought i'd share my experiences about suffocatuion by Co2

Yes, it is different to your CO2 incident. Very different. I can assure you that the 2nd time around (when I worked out the right way to do it) took literally a few seconds. I'm convinced they were dead.
I got this idea from a thread on these forums, where a report from AVMA endorsed CO2 euthanasia.
The link to the actual document is here

http/www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/euthanasia.pdf

As for one of the other posters who recommended freezing - the AVMA report does NOT recommend this method and someone on this forum cited a personal experience where a 'frozen' fish actually survived some hours later.

 

[sianeds]

Unfortunately I had to say goodbye to one of my male guppies today. I also went for the icy water method. As soon as he hit the water he was gone. One good flick and he never moved again. I watched him for about 10mins to be sure then left his body in the water until my husband came home from work a few hours later.

blue tail male

 

[timmystood]

Clove oil is the best way by far, I use Koi Calm too. I really really really don't understand why everyone doesn't use it. It really amazes me.

 

[Griz]

I know it's difficult for many people but decapitation, done properly, is surely the quickest and least painful method of all. When faced with an animal (fish or otherwise) in pain, I set aside my own discomfort and do what's right for the animal that is suffering. In those situations I believe that my own feelings are secondary.

 

[timmystood]

How is being pinned down and having your head sliced off less painful than simply going to sleep? You would also use drugs to put a kitten or puppy to sleep, so why not a fish?