Anesthesiology

Banfield launched a new anesthesia program, including Anesthesia and Analgesia for the Veterinary Practitioner: Canine and Feline and the introduction of Anesthesia Medical Quality Standards. Guidelines, protocols and Clinical Essentials have been developed from an evaluation of the current literature, consensus of board-certified veterinary specialists and align with other professional standards, whenever possible.

There are no safe sedative or anesthetic drugs, just safe delivery practices.

Cats represent a large part of the US pet population; as of 2012, the approximately 74.1 million cats outnumbered the approximately 69.9 million dogs in this country. Although these numbers represent an overall decline in dog and cat populations, the proportion of cats that are mature (>7 years old) or geriatric (>11 years old) has …

There are approximately 74.1 million pet cats in the United States1 but, despite this popularity, anesthesia and analgesia remain challenging in cats. Surprisingly few anesthetic and analgesic products are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in cats, but several new products have become recently available. The v-gel provides a protected and secured airway, allowing use of positive pressure ventilation and administration of inhalant anesthetics without exposure to staff or the environment. It can also be used for emergency resuscitation if an endotracheal tube is not available.

Heidi L. Shafford, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVAA Local anesthesia techniques are important analgesic tools. The author provides step-by-step instructions in providing IVRA and ring blocks to both dogs and cats. Local anesthetics block nerve impulses caused by painful stimuli, which makes them effective analgesics. Regional and peripheral blocks are versatile and can be applied to …

Part 3 in our anesthetic monitoring series, which has covered the goals and reasons for anesthetic monitoring, the physiologic parameters for anesthetized dogs and cats, and anesthetic monitoring equipment and its purpose.

Part 2 in our three-part series discussing the goals of anesthetic monitoring as well as associated procedures and equipment.

This article is the first one in a series that will discuss the goals of anesthetic monitoring as well as associated procedures and equipment. In this first article, the authors provide an overview of modern anesthetic monitoring and answer questions about why and how to provide cutting-edge anesthesia for your patients.

Many veterinary practices rely on the same anesthetic methods they have always used. However, for the good of your patients, challenge yourself to improve your anesthetic standards.