From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-03-14 23:13:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Anesthetic Question
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Petersen <petersen@i...> wrote:
> I just found out that one of the local vets that we've been using
for
> surgeries uses Telazol for an anesthetic. I'm not sure if he uses
this
> exclusively, or in conjunction with isofluorane (spelling?). Our
regular
> vet (who's very good, just doesn't do the more complicated
surgeries) said
> that Telazol is a hallucinogenic. We have noticed that the ferrets
who
> have surgery with the first vet (Dr. X) seem to take longer to come
out of
> the anesthetic and have a longer recovery time from surgery than
other
> ferrets with similar medical conditions who have had surgery with
Dr. Y or
> Dr. Z, both of whom use iso.
>
> Dr. Williams or other vets, any comments on this? Dr. X is very
> experienced with ferrets and is giving us a HUGE discount, but I
would
> prefer not to use him if Telazol is contraindicated for ferrets.
>
Dear Sara - for many years, I have cautioned against the use of
injectable anesthetics of any type in ferrets. The most common
problem associated with injectable anesthetic is what you have
stated - prolonged recovery.
The longer that a ferret is anesthetized, the more susceptible it is
to hypothermia, the most common cause of post-surgical mortality.
Yesterday onthe list we talked about why to avoid injectable drugs
whenever possible - once injected, they can't be retrieved. The same
principle applies with injectable anesthetics - once you inject them,
for the most part you have to ride them out. With inhalant
anesthesia only, if there is a problem and the animal gets too deep -
you simply turn off the gas, and the animal gets progressive lighter,
and if needed, wakes back up.
You can find this tip and others on my web site http://www.afip.org
in a section called "50 Things your Vet hasn't told you."
With kindest regards,
Bruce H. Williams, DVM, DACVP
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