Recommendation: sticky thread on humane euthanasia methods.

Tired · Jan 17, 2023

Obviously the goal with any sick or injured fish is to save it, but, frankly, there are cases where trying to keep an animal alive is more cruel than kind. Severe uronema, fish so emaciated that they can't eat or shredded by powerheads. There is a point at which the kindest thing to do is humanely kill something. Especially in the "fish won't eat" cases; how many of those threads end a couple weeks later in "well, it eventually starved to death"? That shouldn't be happening.

As sad a topic as it is, this section needs an article on how to tell when an animal is at the point where it should be euthanized, with some guidance on how to go about doing that. Knowing when to put something out of its misery is a cornerstone of responsible animal disease treatment, and a fish that's lying on the bottom of the tank, gasping for breath, far past the point where any treatment will save it, shouldn't be left to suffer.

I know there was a euthanasia thread awhile ago that went south from people suggesting methods not actually backed by science, but surely the disease experts on here could come to an agreement about what it looks like when a fish is beyond the point of being saved, and it shouldn't be too difficult to find some links to methods of euthanasia that are proven to be humane. Clove oil, MS-222, pithing if the fish is big enough and the hobbyist confident enough to make it quick and clean.

vetteguy53081 · Jan 17, 2023

@Jay Hemdal actually has an article on this subject with various recommendations.

resortez · Jan 17, 2023

Never really tried euthanizing a fish. The times I’ve had to deal with unfortunate cases where I know the fish has less than 24 hours, I leave them be in a nem box I made of black acrylic. I close the box & have them go to sleep. I’m assuming it’s a more tranquil way of passing but that’s my personal take. I have heard of the clove oil but have never tried it.

Tired · Jan 17, 2023

That article sounds like a good thing to conspicuously pin somewhere. It's honestly kind of disturbing how euthanasia almost never seems to be considered with fish and small reptiles- you wind up with a lot of threads ending in "well, it died slowly", and that just shouldn't be happening. It shouldn't be the default ending to a discussion of an animal too sick to save, which is part of why I think there should be a sticky thread. Someone coming onto this forum with a desperately sick fish needs to have it in the back of their mind that the kindest thing to do may be to let it go. Disease treatment isn't just about protecting an investment, it's about reducing suffering.

resortez said:
Never really tried euthanizing a fish. The times I’ve had to deal with unfortunate cases where I know the fish has less than 24 hours, I leave them be in a nem box I made of black acrylic. I close the box & have them go to sleep. I’m assuming it’s a more tranquil way of passing but that’s my personal take. I have heard of the clove oil but have never tried it.

Better than leaving it to be harassed by tankmates while it dies, but it won't do much for whatever pain it's already feeling. I highly recommend keeping some clove oil on hand; it's a proven humane method if used properly, it's simple to use, and all it looks like from the outside is the fish falling asleep and eventually dying.