A veterinary technician named Ranee Baker notified BRAT volunteers a few years ago to use the follow anesthesia protocol for basenjis. One of our fosters nearly passed away after a neutering procedure because our vet used its own standard protocol. The problem with basenjis is that many of them have lower than normal fat tissues. As a result, the standard anesthetic procedures used by many vets actually overloads their systems. We've used Ranee Baker's anesthesia protocol every time since then and have found that our foster and resident basenjis recover FAR faster:
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I premedicate with:
Buprenex (pain medicine) weight in pounds divided by 2.2 X 0.02 divided by 0.3 given intramuscularly
Ace Promazine (tranquilizer) weight in pounds X 0.05 divided by 20 given intramuscularly
EXAMPLE: a 20 pound dog will get 0.6ml of Buprenex and 0.05ml Ace Promazine.
I give this 15-20 minutes to work, the dog will get relaxed and may go to sleep.
I then place an IV cathter in the cephalic vein (in the forearm).
To induce anesthesia:
Ketamine/Valium (1:1 ratio) 1ml per 20 pounds given intravenously via the catheter.
This is given to effect, you may not need the entire dose. I generally give half the dose then see how sleepy the dog is. If the dog is not relaxed enough to intubate I continue to give in 0.1ml increments slowly.
Once relaxed, I intubate (place a tube down the dogs trachea) and maintain anesthesia by gas at 1 liter of oxygen and 2% Isoflurane. The Isoflurane is adjusted as needed to keep the dog at the required anesthetic plane throughout the procedure.
Monitoring of anesthesia is done by a registered veterinary technician. I use a pulse oximeter to measure heart rate and oxygen saturation and take a blood pressure reading every 3-5 minutes. Respirations are also monitored.
Once the dog has been shaved, scrubbed and moved to surgery, she is placed on a hot water heating pad to keep her warm and IV fluids are started to keep her blood pressure up. Surgical fluid rate is 5 X the patients weight in pounds. EXAMPLE: a 20 pound dog will receive fluids at 100ml per hour.
This rate is increased if the dog's blood pressure drops below 80.
Once the procedure is over, the Isoflurane is turned off and the dog is maintained on 1 liter of oxygen for 5 minutes. The dog is then disconnected from the anesthesia machine and moved to a recovery cage with a hot water heating pad. Once the dog is able to swallow, the endotracheal tube is removed.
We monitor the dog for a few hours before sending them home. The dog will get another injection of Buprenex (for pain) 6 hours after the first one and will go home on pain medication._