Gerbil Anesthesia

Patient Information ( signalment , species and disease ):

species (Blueberry) Gerbil

age : n/d

sex : n/d

breed : n/d

Primary complaint : Mass removal

differential diagnosis

diagnosis

Intervention ( treatment options )

diagnostic

drug

sx

treatment

Comparison (examination of new treatment v. best practice alternative treatment or no treatment)

what options will we explore :

Buprenorphine + Iso, Buprenorphine/midazolam + Iso, Buprenorphine/midazolam/ketamine + iso,

what is the gold standard : Buprenorphine + iso

Outcome :

What do we hope to achieve with this intervention :

fewer clinical effects

iso sparing

better analgesia

smoother induction and recovery

What is the evidence ?

There is a surprising dearth of data on pubmed searches of gerbil and anesthesia.

reviewed is a textbook, 2 non-systematic overviews, and an RCT^1-4

Procedural recommendation

Buprenorphine 0.1 mg/kg SQ

Midazolam 3 mg/kg SQ^1,2,4

masked maintenance with isoflurane (MAC 1.54%)³

post-op analgesia Buprenorphine 0.1 mg/kg q 6-8 hours²

Final Outcome:

Surgery went well with midazolam and buprenorphine.  Patient recovered well over weekend.

1. Cantwell SL. Ferret, rabbit, and rodent anesthesia. The veterinary clinics of North America.Exotic animal practice . 2001;4(1):169-91.

2. Flecknell PA. Analgesia of small mammals. The veterinary clinics of North America.Exotic animal practice. 2001;4(1):47-56.

3. Gomez De Segura I.A., Benito De La Vibora J., Criado A. Determination of the minimum alveolar concentration for halothane, isoflurane and sevoflurane in the gerbil. Lab.Anim.Laboratory Animals. 2009;43(3):239-242.

4. Hrapkiewicz K, Medina L, Holmes DD,. Clinical laboratory animal medicine : An introduction. Ames, Iowa: Blackwell Pub.; 2007.