Whatever you do, DO NOT use a .22 to do the job…don’t ask.
That’s a pretty good question, actually. Obviously there’s a big difference in anaesthetic effect based on mass of injectee, but I bet it would still be a big problem. Could we have discovered… the perfect crime?
“I asked my brother-in-law who’s a vet to put my suffering dog to sleep. I was holding the dog, my brother came in with the needle, and then he *(shifty eyes)*tripped and fell and stuck it in his own arm. I called 911, but he was gone in seconds. Yeah, that’s it, that’s what happened.”
Possibly because knowing the cat had to die is one thing, but seeing its brains splattered all over the place is another.
Personal anecdote: A friend of mine had a cat that was very old and very ill. She was afraid of cars so they didn’t want to traumatize her by taking her to the vet. Her sister in law works at an animal refuge and takes care of animals, so she arranged to get the lethal injection shot and they administered it at home.
It took the cat 2 days to die. She was pretty much a walking zombie for those two days.
Well Rug Burn , being the sick and twisted individuals we all are we want to know why not.
Regarding the OP if you are certain the animal is dying a long and painful death, do it.
My family owns a small farm and about 100 head of sheep and 3 horses along with the obligatory dogs and cats. In the past few years they’ve had put down more than one animal via the 38.
It’s instant; it’s inexpensive and just as humane as the vet. In fact I see nothing humane in subjecting an already sick animal to a 90 minute car ride along country roads.
The following how to is not for the squeamish.
Picture an “X” on the animal’s skull with the lines running from left ear to right eye and right ear to left eye. Aim for the intersection of the lines. Make sure the muzzle of the weapon is no closer than 3 inches. Steady and pull. The hardest part is, don’t close your eyes. If you do you are likely to miss.
All I can picture if the woodchipper scene from fargo 
But I already knew I was a bad bad boy*
*Now accepting applications for my well deserved spanking
IANAD/V, but the vet who euthanized my ferret told me that they give a double-dose of anesthesia, and inject it into some major artery or vein or something, so it’ll work faster (she put it right into the heart for my ferret, since they have small veins and this one had lost some blood). Probably if you jabbed someone with the needle and hit the plunger, you’d have a very good chance of just putting it into the muscle and missing the bloodstream. Since the fast-killing effect is dependent on getting that anesthesia to the heart and lungs efficiently and swiftly, I’m not so sure this’d work very well.
Let’s just say, even two shots from a .22 wasn’t always enough.
I’m the official animal-whacker in these parts. I’ve been asked several times to do the honors, mostly cause I have no qualms about doing it, no emotional scars, etc.
My weapon of choice is a small .22 six-shooter, very short barrel. I did a hit on a large german shepherd (a dog, not a german farmer, btw) with it, did the trick nicely.
Actually tho, one cat did require two shots, and he had already been hit by a car. Tough little pussy.
All my whack-ees have been terminally ill or injured, by the way.
I am amazed almost beyond words that none of the animal-rights people who bitch at me whenever I post about hunting haven’t busted this thread and flamed us all.
Well, here’s a non-shooting option … sedate the cat, then remove the head from the body. Make sure you pour gasoline or something similar on the corpse/hole so other animals don’t dig it up and get sick from it, if that’s a possibility.
Hanging the cat wouldn’t be an option, right? You’d have to attach some pretty big weights to ensure there was enough down force to properly do the job. But it sure as hell wouldn’t be messy.