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Clinical evaluation of Alfaxan‐CD® as an intravenous anaesthetic in young cats
Author(s) -
Zaki S,
Ticehurst KE,
Miyaki Y
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-0813.2009.00390.x
Subject(s) - cats , acepromazine , butorphanol , medicine , premedication , anesthesia , isoflurane , surgery , heart rate , blood pressure
Objective To describe and evaluate the use of Alfaxan‐CD ® as an intravenous anaesthetic in young cats. Design Thirty‐five Domestic Short‐hair cats aged from 3 to 12 months were admitted into the University Veterinary Teaching Hospital‐Sydney for elective surgery. Anaesthesia was induced with Alfaxan‐CD® and maintained with isoflurane: 22 cats received no premedication and 13 cats received acepromazine (0.03 mg/kg) and butorphanol (0.3 mg/kg) subcutaneously 30 min prior to induction. Qualitative and quantitative data for induction and recovery were recorded. Physiological parameters were recorded at 0, 2 and 5 min post induction, and every 5 min thereafter until the end of the procedure. Results Intravenous injection of Alfaxan‐CD® resulted in rapid induction of anaesthesia with a mean time to intubation of 122 s. The mean dose of Alfaxan‐CD® used was 4.2 mg/kg in unpremedicated cats and 2.7 mg/kg in premedicated cats. All cats maintained a heart rate above 95 beats/min. No cat developed hypoxaemia. Hypercapnoea was detected in 4 cats and hypotension was observed in 18 cats. Time to extubation ranged from 1 to 9 min. The mean time to sternal recumbency for premedicated cats was 11 min; 77% of premedicated cats and 23% of unpremedicated cats had a recovery score of 1 or 2. Conclusion Alfaxan‐CD® is an effective anaesthetic agent in young healthy cats, providing a smooth induction and rapid recovery. Cats that were premedicated with acepromazine and butorphanol prior to induction with Alfaxan‐CD® had better recovery scores than those that were not premedicated.