I recently had to make the painful decision to put my sweet soul cat to sleep due to end stage…read morekidney and liver failure. I chose Total Care, and it was honestly the most horrifying experience I've ever had and has left me with a deep soul wound that I will carry with me to my dying day. Maybe they're good if you're using them for veterinary services - I can only speak for their in home euthanasia service. But if you want a gentle, stress free, peaceful passing for your pet, stay away from them.
I had an appointment scheduled, and they kept asking to come earlier - that should have been my first red flag and it felt like they were trying to rush things. Upon arrival, I was told my cat would be given a sedative to calm her and make her sleepy, but that it might make her sick, and the shot might sting. If you're a veterinarian who claims to care about animals and treat them like your own, and you know the sedative you're giving them will hurt, or cause them to vomit, why wouldn't you give them something for pain and nausea before you give them the sedative shot? If someone is paying hundreds of dollars to give their beloved pet a peaceful, gentle passing at home why would you not do everything possible to make everything as comfortable for the pet as you can?
To make matters worse I wasn't even told to get ready for it, or get her ready. The man that accompanied Dr. Rivera snuck up behind my girl before either of us were ready, before I could even close doors, and gave her the shot. She made the worst scream I have ever heard her make as he jabbed her in her little arthritic leg and started running all over the house in fear trying to hide. It was horrible to watch and she almost fell down my stairs at one point in her terror. This is horribly unprofessional in my opinion, and then she started violently retching. Watching her vomit up the last meal I had lovingly fed her will haunt me forever. She was trying to get away while throwing up and losing the mobility in her hind legs, and then using her front legs to drag herself around to try to hide somewhere. I expected a peaceful transition, but was completely horrified and heartbroken. It was terrible and full of fear.
I was able to pick her up and place her in her favorite bed, trying to calm her, but she never calmed. Her eyes were wide with terror and she was crying and hissing and trying to scratch everyone, and my sweet girl never so much as hissed at anyone in all her fifteen years. Dr. Rivera tried to tell me she had a rare reaction to the sedative, but I've since spoken with three different veterinarians and none of them have ever heard of anything like this happening. I can't help but wonder if whatever they "sedated" her with was a wrong dosage or something not meant for cats.
The whole experience was terrible. She never calmed, and it was highly suggested I leave the room because they couldn't get near her to place her IV she was so terrified and I was crying my eyes out seeing my sweet girl suffer so much. They promised me that was all they would do - just place the IV - and now I have to live with knowing her last conscious moments were of me leaving her because they lied and gave her Propofol while I was out of the room (I had to ask later, they didn't even disclose this right after they did it). When I came back in, she looked like she was already deceased, and I can't help but wonder if she was.
I'm especially suspicious of this because of how they rushed things - before I could even pick her up and hold her as I had wanted to do when she passed, Dr. Rivera injected her right there on the floor in her bed. I paid these people hundreds of dollars to come to my home so my pet could feel safe and loved and so I could hold her when she passed, and was robbed of all those things. I just wanted a good death for her, to spare her fear or pain and suffering, but instead these people caused her the most traumatic experience in her life, and at the end of it no less when you can't make things better. They also have left me with doubts, pain, and regret for the rest of my life. They didn't even have a basket to take her little body in - I sent her away in her little bed, as much as I wanted to keep it, because they were just going to wrap her in an old towel.
My experience with Total Care was horrendous and has left me heartbroken and filled with guilt for what they put my sweet girl through. The fear and pain in her eyes will haunt me forever, as will the pain of knowing she lost consciousness without me in the room with her and died on the floor instead of in my arms or on my lap that she loved so much. It was absolutely awful and there was no "care" in their service whatsoever.
Our pets are part of our family and deserve better than this. Next time, I will find a home euthanasia vet who is gentler and more understanding of the pet and me, and I suggest you do the same.