succinyl choline not acetyl choline

[kaypeeoh]

I posted earlier about using acetyl choline to euthanize dogs in my vet clinic. I was wrong. We used succinyl choline 30 years ago. It's still used as an anesthesia adjunct.

[beerwhisperer]

Don't you think that using succinylcholine for euthanasia is a little barbaric? It is a depolarizing muscle relaxant; it only paralyzes the patient, it does not sedate or anesthetize. After administration the patient would be fully conscious as it asphyxiated. It is used in humans, under some circumstances, to facilitate intubation after anesthesia is induced.

[kaypeeoh in reply to beerwhisperer]

I couldn't agree more. For a time I was the county's dog catcher. I spayed or neutered hundreds of animals hoping they'd get homes. With a DVM degree and 9 years in college I was chasing dogs with a net. (Not literally.) But I was probably the most highly educated dog catcher in the country. I tried had to find homes for the mutts that ended up in my shop. Things didn't always go well. I had a 6-month old Doberman mix scheduled for euthanasia. I surgically trimmed his ears to make him look more like a doberman. But the other half was lab and the trimmed ears just laid there. But a guy fell in love with the mutilated ears and adopted him. I got low on euthanasia solution because of euthanasia cases in state courts and only had Succinol on hand. I'd never used it before, It did the job but I'll never use it again.