The word euthanasia comes from the Greek and means “easy death”.  It is the act of painlessly ending a pet’s life for humane reasons.  

A sedative is given prior to euthanasia if the pet is very nervous or stressful.  Then an overdose of an anesthetic agent is injected directly into the vein. The pet does not feel the euthanasia solution when it is given, but very quickly relaxes and then goes to sleep. The solution then slows and stops the heart, by which time your pet will not have any sense of pain or consciousness.