The WV Board of Veterinary Medicine has been informed that there are a number of CAET's using cardiac puncture (a.k.a. heart stick) when euthanizing cats. The Board’s stance is that cardiac puncture is only allowed if it is used as a “last resort” method on animals that are non-responsive. A responsive animal must be sedated prior to the use of cardiac puncture.
If the CAET is unable to access a peripheral vein, an alternative technique is intraperitoneal injection that is described in the CAET Training Manual. The Board will continue teaching this method in the annual CAET initial training program.