Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Medetomidine injection does not change eye pressure in healthy cats
By Malmasi, Abdolali & Selk Ghaffari, Masoud·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2016·Department of Internal Diseases·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Lack of effects of intramuscular medetomidine on intraocular pressure in clinically normal cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of healthy cats was given a sedative called medetomidine to see if it affected their eye pressure during a routine check. The study found that the sedative did not significantly change the eye pressure measurements compared to cats that received a saline solution. This suggests that medetomidine can be safely used to calm uncooperative cats without impacting their eye pressure readings. If your cat needs sedation for eye exams, medetomidine might be a good option to discuss with your veterinarian.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the effects of intramuscular medetomidine on the results of tonometry in healthy cats. METHODS: Sixteen healthy cats were randomly divided into two groups of eight cats. The first group was sedated with intramuscular medetomidine alone (100 µg/kg) and the second group received only saline (0.5 ml/5 kg). Intraocular pressure (IOP) values were measured immediately before (T0) and after the injections at 15 mins (T15) and 25 mins (T25) in both groups. RESULTS: Sedation with medetomidine did not cause a statistically significant change in the mean IOP values. The pretreatment mean ± SD IOPs in the treatment and control groups were 16.2 ± 3.1 and 15.9 ± 4.0 mmHg, respectively. In the medetomidine group the mean ± SD IOPs at T15 and T25 were 16.1 ± 4.1 (P = 0.9) and 14.6 ± 2.2 (P = 0.1). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Based on this study in healthy cats, medetomidine may be a good choice as a sedative agent in uncooperative cats when IOP measurements are needed. Further investigations in cats with abnormal IOPs are warranted.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25922358/