I Am Afraid of Anesthesia for My Pet - PART II Sandra L Waugh VMD, MS
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n the first article I discussed what anesthesia is and the need for pain medications as anesthetics provide little pain relief by themselves. In this article I will go over some of the equipment we use to make anesthesia as safe as possible. Let’s take a broader view of this process. Miley, one of our clinic cats, is clearly not intimidated by all of the equipment! She likes the dental tables because there is a circulating warm water pad underneath her and it is turned on so it is warm when our patient arrives. Cats love warm spots! In the first article I mentioned giving a pre-anesthetic dose of a narcotic and
a small amount of a tranquilizer. These drugs make the pet somewhat sleepy and decrease their anxiety. An IV catheter is then placed in a vein, usually a front leg but sometimes a hind leg is used. The fur is clipped to allow us to clean the skin thoroughly. The IV catheter has multiple uses: to give the drugs that induce anesthesia, to give fluids during the procedure to maintain hydration and blood pressure, and to give any other drugs needed during the procedure. After anesthesia has been induced an endotracheal tube is placed into the windpipe (trachea) and a balloon on
the tube is inflated to insure that the pet is not breathing room air, but only the oxygen and gas from the anesthesia machine. The pet is placed on the dental table on its back and the endotracheal tube is connected to the anesthesia machine. If the pet is not breathing we can “make him/her breath” by pressing on a breathing bag. Many pets breath fine during anesthesia, but some don’t. If the pet is not breathing well we use a ventilator (we have heard that term with COVID!). The IV fluid line from the IV pump is connected to the IV catheter and fluids are started.
Anesthesia machine Vaporizer. This holds the anesthetic gas, isoflurane in this case.
Pump for IV fluids
Syringe pump for pain relief medications
Breathing bag (black)
22 4 Legs & a Tail
Anesthesia circuit - brings oxygen and isoflurane to the pet, takes away exhaled gas.
Forced warm air blanket, not yet turned on
Winter 2021