USE OF MIDAZOLAM/PETHIDINE AND TILETAMINE/ZOLAZEPAM COMBINATIONS FOR THE CHEMICAL RESTRAINT OF LEOPARD SEALS (HYDRURGA LEPTONYX) (original) (raw)
Related papers
Effective, Field-Based Inhalation Anesthesia for Ice Seals
Marine Mammal Science, 2005
Thirty five adult crabeater seals (Lobodon curcinophugu) were anesthetized with combinations of the sedative midazolam and the gaseous anesthetic isoflurane during three research cruises to the Antarctic Peninsula (-67"S, 67OW) in the austral winters of 2001 and 2002. Modifications were required to gas anesthetic equipment to achieve field portability and sufficient heating to allow operations in temperatures as low as -2OOC. Seals were sedated with an average intramuscular dose of midatolam of 0.55 5 0.14 mg/kg delivered via a pole syringe (n = 32). One seal was not given midazolam and two seals were injected intravenously. Premedication with midazolam provided moderate sedation, making capture and 717 7 18 MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE, VOL. 21, NO. 4 , 2005 masking practical and safe. Mean induction time with isoflurane was 8 -C 4.8 min. Mean maintenance concentration over the anesthetic period were 2.3% ? 0.9% of isoflurane. Average recovery time was 18.2 2 8.8 min. No substantial difficulties were experienced and anesthetics were easily managed. This drug combination and the use of modified, heated equipment provide an effective anesthetic procedure for crabeater seals.
Journal of the South African Veterinary Association
Anaesthesia in pinnipeds is considered a much higher risk than in most terrestrial mammals because of their frequent proximity to water and physiological and anatomical adaptations related to diving, which also influence their anaesthesia management. Anaesthetising and immobilising entangled seals does not allow for selection of animals that are at a safe distance from the water’s edge. Medetomidine-midazolam-butorphanol (MMB) sedation was trialled on eight entangled Cape fur seals (CFS) (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) to determine if it was safe to use on animals that entered the water post-darting. The MMB was given at an estimated dose of 0.03 mg/kg, 0.2 mg/kg and 0.2 mg/kg, respectively, via remote darting. Sedation was reversed with intramuscular atipamezole (0.15 mg/kg) and naltrexone (0.4 mg/kg) to antagonise the effects of medetomidine and butorphanol, respectively. Moderate sedation was achieved in six animals. Six of the animals entered the water after being darted. Ther...
2002
Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) were caught as part of a long-term demographic study on Macquarie Island. Over 18 months, 1033 seals were caught by hand and anaesthetised intravenously with a 1:1 mixture of tiletamine and zolazepam. Assessments were made of the effects of variations in the body condition and age at capture of the seals on the characteristics of their anaesthesia, including induction time and weighted recovery time. The size and condition of the seals were assessed by morphometric and ultrasound measurements. Weighted recovery times decreased as the body condition and age of the seals increased, but there were no residual effects of sex. There were no fatalities, and no periods of apnoea longer than five minutes were recorded. in individual seals there was a significant increase in weighted recovery time with successive captures. ICtclt I &OI ) cc-O( 20 131, -)33 ½)
Behavioral and physiological reactions of arctic seals during under-ice pilotage
Canadian Journal of Zoology, 1989
ELSNER, R., WARTZOK, D., SONAFRANK, N. B., and KELLY, B. P. 1989. Behavioral and physiological reactions of arctic seals during under-ice pilotage. Can. J. Zool. 67: 2506 -25 13. One spotted seal (Phoca largha) and two ringed seals (Phoca hispida) were studied in experiments designed to determine which sensory modalities were employed in pilotage from one under-ice breathing hole to another. Breathing holes were drilled in the ice of a frozen freshwater pond and a lake near Fairbanks, Alaska. Holes were located 22 -150 m apart. Tethered seals swimming without blindfolding located holes when they chanced to swim within visual detection distance. Blindfolded seals responded to acoustic signals. Tactile sensitivity of the vibrissae was used by blindfolded seals in the immediate vicinity of a hole to which they had been attracted by an acoustic cue. Responses of a juvenile ringed seal did not differ fundamentally from those of an adult of the same species nor from those of the spotted seal. The results indicate that seals relied upon a sensory hierarchy for locating breathing holes: vision, audition, and vibrissal sense. Heart rate was recorded during voluntary dives of the younger ringed seal at 2 and 3 years of age. Profound diving bradycardia was observed, suggesting that a highly developed diving response is routinely invoked by seals of relatively small body size during under-ice excursions. ELSNER, R., WARTZOK, D., SONAFRANK, N. B., et KELLY, B. P. 1989. Behavioral and physiological reactions of arctic seals during under-ice pilotage. Can. J. Zool. 67 : 2506-2513. Des exgriences sur un Phoque commun (Phoca largha) et deux Phoques annelCs (Phoca hispida) ont permis de dkterminer quelles voies sensorielles sont utilisCes lors des dkplacements sous l'eau d'un trou de respiration B un autre. Des trous de respiration ont Ct C forks dans la glace d'un Ctang d'eau douce gel6 et dans un lac, prbs de Fairbanks en Alaska. Les trous Ctaient situCs B 22-150 m de distance les uns des autres. Des phoques attach& sans bandeau sur les yeux rbussissaient B
BMC Veterinary Research, 1991
Background: Chemical immobilization of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) has previously been, for the most part, problematic and this has been mainly attributed to the type of immobilizing agent used. In addition to individual sensitivity, physiological status may play an important role. We investigated the use of the intravenous administration of a 1:1 mixture of tiletamine and zolazepam (Telazol ® ) to immobilize adult females at different points during a physiologically demanding 5-6 week lactation period. We also compared performance between IV and IM injection of the same mixture.
Journal of Zoo and Wildlife …, 2006
The purpose of this study was to provide safe anesthesia for bronchoalveolar lavage and assess the utility of premedication with i.m. midazolam for short-duration anesthesia with isoflurane in harp seals (Phoca groenlandica). Fourteen yearling harp seal pups were anesthetized three times each as part of a prospective, cross-over, blinded study. Each animal received i.m. premedication with saline, low-dose, or high-dose midazolam (respectively 0.1 and 0.2 mg/ kg). Following premedication, anesthesia was induced with 4% isoflurane in oxygen delivered through a mask and connected to a Bain non-rebreathing system. A significantly longer time was taken from the end of general anesthesia to head movement in the high-dose group compared with the saline group (P ϭ 0.002). A significantly longer time was taken from the end of general anesthesia to ambulation in the high-dose group compared with the saline group (P ϭ 0.006). There were no significant differences between groups in the subjective assessment of anesthetic quality or ease of intubation. Premedication with i.m. midazolam at the dosages used did prolong recovery from anesthesia, although to a degree unlikely to be significant clinically.
Milestones in the Study of Diving Physiology: Antarctic Emperor Penguins and Weddell Seals
Smithsonian at the poles : contributions to International Polar Year science, 2009
McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, is the best place to conduct diving physiology studies on marine birds and mammals under free-diving conditions. Both emperor penguins and Weddell seals live naturally in areas of extensive sea ice under which they dive and hunt for prey. The fi rst experimental diving studies were conducted on Weddell seals in 1964 using the isolated breathing hole protocol for the fi rst time. Sea ice, 2 m thick, covers McMurdo Sound until late December. Below the ice is the deepwater environment where Antarctic predators hunt their prey. Here in the Sound diving studies involve attachment of a recording device to a seal or bird and release of the animal into the hole cut in sea ice. This procedure sets the stage for a bird or mammal to hunt without competition, and the only restrictive condition is that they must return to the release hole to breathe. After the animal surfaces, the attached recording devices can be retrieved and the information downloaded. Results from using this experimental protocol range from determining the fi rst foraging patterns of any diving mammal, to measuring the fi rst blood and muscle chemistry fl uctuations during the extended and unrestrained dives. These experiments are the standard for understanding the hypoxic tolerance of diving animals, their aerobic diving limits, and their strategies of foraging, to mention a few. The protocol will continue to be used in 2008 for studies of both emperor penguins and Weddell seals by several investigators.
Marine Mammal Science, 1994
This study compared the effects of drug combinations commonly used for chemical restraint of southern elephant seals. The combinations were: ketamine and diazepam, ketamine and midazolam, ketamine and xylazine, and tiletamine and zolazepam. The main aims were to gather basic information regarding the response of the animals to the different combinations, and to determine which were most useful for routine chemical restraint. All drug combinations could be used safely although apnea and whole-body shaking occurred with each. There were significant differences in several of the responses measured. Poor muscle relaxation and prolonged apnea were associated with ketamine and diazepam use. Animals given ketamine and xylatine were more depressed, took longer to recover, had a higher incidence of thermoregulatory problems, and lower heart rate than after other combinations.
The British veterinary journal, 1996
A study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the alpha-2 agonist medetomidine for sedation of pre-moulting, mature female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina). Two animals were sedated with a single intramuscular dose of medetomidine (0.013 and 0.027 mg kg-1). A further two groups of five animals received medetomidine (0.017 mg kg-1) combined with ketamine (1.90 mg kg-1) and, 20 min later, either saline or the alpha-2 antagonist atipamezole (0.04 mg kg-1) intravenously. Medetomidine alone did not give sufficient restraint to permit intravenous access. The response appeared to be similar to previous findings with ketamine and xylazine. Administration of atipamezole had little effect upon the level and timecourse of restraint. Ketamine and medetomidine seem to offer few advantages over ketamine and xylazine or other cyclohexamine-drug combinations for routine chemical restraint of southern elephant seals.