Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Sedation options for dogs and cats during procedures
By Karas, A Z·Published in Clinical techniques in small animal practice·1999·Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Sedation and chemical restraint in the dog and cat.
Plain-English summary
When pets need to undergo procedures that might be painful or stressful, veterinarians often use sedatives or other medications to help keep them calm and comfortable. This "chemical restraint" can be particularly helpful for things like taking X-rays or performing minor surgeries, as it allows the pet to stay still. The choice of medication depends on the pet's health and how cooperative they are, as well as how deeply sedated they need to be. The report also covers how to assess the pet before sedation, what equipment is needed, and what to consider during recovery. Overall, the findings provide guidance on effective sedation practices for dogs and cats.
Abstract
Small animal patients must often undergo veterinary procedures that are painful or distressful, for which judicious use of sedatives or other agents with anesthetic or analgesic properties can be useful. If the degree of sedation is profound enough, such "chemical restraint" may be employed to provide immobilization for radiographs or minor surgical procedures. The choice of agents to be used will depend upon the physiologic state and cooperative nature of the patient and the desired endpoint, ie, anxiolysis versus deep sedation with analgesia. This report discusses important features of patient assessment, preparation, equipment needs, consideration of the types of procedures for which sedation is useful, and recovery considerations. A brief review is included of the useful effects and contraindications for the various agents employed, and doses for each are listed. Algorithms are presented for a given category of patient, leading the practitioner through a decision making strategy to arrive at examples of sedation or chemical restraint protocols that are commonly found to be effective by the author.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10193042/