When I was a Vet Tech, we prefered to use Diprivan (Propofol) to induce anesthesia, and then immediately switch them to the inhaled Isoflourane. Diprivan is also used in human anesthesia - when I worked in the human Operating Room, we called it "milk of amnesia" as it looks just like milk. As an aside, that is the drug that Michael Jackson ODed on.
Both were the safest drugs for the majority of critters. We used Ketamine in Cats for induction, but again, onto Isoflourane... Iso is very safe and metabolized very quickly, so as soon as they are off it, they come around in about 20 minutes, and very quickly regain normal consciousness.
Depending on the procedure, though, a muscle relaxer and a narcotic are often administered (almost always the case in human anesthesia, but situation-dependent for critters).
Proper anesthesia, in humans, is a combo of an "amnestic" (a drug that makes you unconscious and removes any memory of the event - like Diprivan), a "analgesic" - a pain reliever, like a narcotic, and a drug that relaxes EVERY uscle in your body - called a "paralytic" as it literally paralyses you) - to this day "Curare"- based paraytics are used (Curare is the "drug" that the poison frogs in the rain forest make that the native roll their dart tips in to paralyze prey).
As a Tech, I mostly saw Diprivan and Isoflourane and for invasive procedures, a mild paralytic to reduce bleeding, inflammation and pain. Generally a narcotic injection followed the procedure, but not always.
Nowadays, I INSIST my vet prescribe pain meds if the situation calls for it (like a spay). THey have been traditionally reticent to do so, resulting in severe discomfort for the poor critters...
|