COMPARISON OF PENTOBARBITAL ALONE AND PENTOBARBITAL IN COMBINATION WITH LIDOCAINE FOR EUTHANASIA OF DOGS

Pentobarbital alone, pentobarbital plus 1% lidocaine solution, pentoba rbital plus 2% lidocaine solution, and pentobarbital plus 3% lidocaine solution were each used to euthanatize 6 dogs. For each dog, time bet ween the beginning of injection of the euthanasia solution and each of the following events was recorded: collapse, onset of apnea, flat-lin e electrocardiogram, flat-line electroencephalogram, loss of palpable heartbeat, and loss of palpable pulse. Any signs of pain or discomfort were also recorded. There were no significant differences among group s except for time to flat-line electrocardiogram. Dogs euthanatized wi th pentobarbital alone had significantly longer times than did dogs eu thanatized with pentobarbital in combination with any of the lidocaine concentrations. We concluded that pentobarbital in combination with l idocaine was a reasonable alternative to pentobarbital alone when euth anatizing dogs.