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I am an equine vet tech, and am building a "euthanasia care kit" for our mobile service. It is important to me to help the owners mourn and have an experience with as little pain as possible.
Right now my list is centered around saving hair. It is composed of a brush for mane and tail, long clear bags, and clear hair elastics. We have hair clippers and scissors. I'd offer to clip their coat as well.
Should I have spray conditioner to offer?
How do you feel about receiving sympathy cards?
Is there anything else we can help you during such a difficult time?
ETA: We sedate the horses beforehand, and wait for them to lie down on their own Thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses. I am actively making some changes
I just put mine down on Tuesday so this is fresh.
I would have appreciated if someone put a towel or cloth or something over her eyes after her blinking reflex was gone. It was dead cold and I could literally see the tears freezing on her eyeball.
Maybe also a towel for the owner to sit on. I didn't care at the time but I got pretty muddy while crying on her shoulder.
I knew my mare was going to go that day so I prepared her tail and mane beforehand and cut it when and where it felt right, which was anywhere from a couple days prior to day of. I intentionally left most of her mane and wouldn't have wanted the rest of it cut off. So maybe make that an opt-out thing but bring it up before the big moment.
Also I had no less than 5 people tell me before the appointment that it would be shocking when she fell over. That was extremely helpful because although it was still shocking, I knew it was coming and was mentally prepared.
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My horse was sedated, but she did not lay down. She stood very strangely but would not go down on her own. The vet gave her 2 additional doses of whatever is used for sedation but yeah.