Abstract
This report describes weekly repeated anesthesia in a 7-yr-old, 1,030 kg, female Eastern black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli), that was immobilized six times using a combination of 2 mg etorphine (0.002 mg/kg), 5 mg medetomidine (0.005 mg/kg), 25 mg midazolam (0.024 mg/kg), and 300 mg ketamine (0.29 mg/kg) delivered intramuscularly (IM) via remote dart to facilitate long-term medical care of a bilateral, obstructive Actinomyces sp. rhinitis. The drug combination described in this study resulted in reliable, rapid recumbency of the animal within 2-8 min after initial administration via dart and produced deep anesthesia for 34-78 min without supplemental anesthetic administration. Antagonist drugs (100 mg naltrexone [0.1 mg/kg] and 25 mg atipamezole [0.024 mg/kg] IM) produced reliable and uneventful recoveries in all the procedures. During each anesthetic procedure, the animal was intubated and provided intermittent positive pressure ventilation with a megavertebrate demand ventilator. Tachycardia and hypoxia noted after induction resolved after positive pressure ventilation with oxygen. This report provides useful information on a novel anesthetic protocol used repeatedly for intensive medical management in a black rhinoceros.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1041-1046 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine |
Volume | 49 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2018 |
Keywords
- Chemical restraint
- Diceros bicornis
- etorphine
- ketamine
- medetomidine
- midazolam
- rhinoceros
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Animal Science and Zoology
- General Veterinary