Vets are very sympathetic about it, just them having to do so is probably one of the toughest parts of their job.
Probably ruins their day almost as much as yours, if it's a good vet.
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Just curious, does the vet stand there and watch you during your weakest moment, or do they perform the injection and then step away? I got 2 dogs that are getting up there, and will probably be in the same situation before too long.
It's kind of a two stage process. First there's a sedation process where they inject a sedative that makes your dog very drowsy and relaxed. She wasn't asleep, but had her head on my wife's lap. The vet left the room for about 10 minutes while we were with her.
The vet then came back and talked to us for a bit about the next step and what to expect (or more what not to expect). This part was actually sort of odd because he is an older guy...probably in his 60's and was telling us that he had to put both his labs down a year at about the same age as ours...he was actually tearing up telling us about it.
He collected himself, produced "the syringe" and explained that it's really just a matter of seconds and she'll be "gone" before he's done pushing the full dose through.
He put it in her back leg, started the push and a breath or two later she was done. Head in my wife's lap and looking as peaceful as ever.
They double checked with us what our wishes were for her remains and then left us alone until we were ready to leave.
I'm very sorry to hear of your tragic loss, losing a family pet is a painful thing to go through. My little Manx girl passed December 3rd and I miss her dearly. She was a former feral that I 'adopted' at about six months of age. She was around our house and I saw that she was very tiny and starving. She hated humans and wouldn't come near them, even for food. I was able to finally trap her and get her to our vet for an exam. His belief was that she had a birth defect (bowel control) related to her breed and recommended putting her down. His exam was quite the spectacle as he finally had to sedate her as she wouldn't let anyone handle her without attempting to shred them. I asked for time to think about it and took her home with me. I kept her caged and brought her back to health with some good food. Lots of cage-changing went on to keep her and her home clean so I was kept busy. We had two house cats at the time and the cages were there to use.
My first time handling her was with leather welding gloves which she had no problem penetrating, sinking a fang into my right thumb. I quickly went back to the old routine, cage swapping. Once she was looking good I took her into the vet to have her fixed and let him know that I was going to try to keep and care for her. I have had numerous health problems to deal with and I couldn't bring myself to put her down just because she would be a handful to care for with her problems. I eventually let her out in my closed garage (my 'man cave') to see what would happen. She kept her distance but explored everything she could. She eventually learned to head into her cage so I could secure it when I opened the car door, making it easy to keep her out of the cage the rest of the time. One evening I was sitting at my laptop in the garage and I noticed that she was sitting next to my feet. I always talked to her all of the time so I said her name and she meowed at me for the first time. I let her sniff my hand and while she was afraid at first, she eventually sniffed it and then surprised me by nuzzling it.
After that, she was all mine. Nobody else in the family could come near without her hissing a nasty warning. When I held and petted her I always had a feeling like I was petting a bottle of nitroglycerin. One quick move and BLAM!, but it never happened. I eventually let her out of the garage and she took over our property. She very tiny, only weighing 4 1/2 lbs, but she was the toughest cat I have ever had. She never ran from a dog, ever. I watched her face down a pit bull with her squatting, urinating and giving a hiss and growl that sounded like death itself. The poor dog was bewildered that this cat would not run and wisely backed off and left. This scene repeated itself over the years and I never tired of it. The neighbors little rag doll dogs were fine with her though, they were neighbors and ignored her. One time a woman was walking her lab past the front of our house and I saw her dash out to the sidewalk to investigate it. I thought WWIII was going to break out. The lady and I were surprised when she sniffed noses with the dog and then rubbed up against its leg! The dog was confused as hell but it just stood there and took the affection. Strange cat.
She was my "Baby Girl" and on December 3rd of last year she headed to her favorite sunny spot in our garden, laid down and passed on. We knew the time was coming where we would have to take her in to the vet to have her put down but she beat us to it. When I found her at first it looked like she was sleeping as usual but as I looked on I knew that she was gone. The vet said that she might make it to 4-5 years of age but we had her for 6 1/2 years. I've had a lot of pets over the years that I have loved but never did I bond with one like I did with her. She looked like a little bobcat so I named her Bobbi Cat.
Sorry this was so long but you people who know what I am talking about will understand. And again, my condolences at your loss.