1. Sufentanil citrate immobilization of Alaskan moose calves.
- Author
-
Kreeger TJ and Kellie KA
- Subjects
- Alaska, Anesthesia Recovery Period, Animals, Animals, Newborn, Animals, Wild, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Female, Fentanyl analogs & derivatives, Fentanyl pharmacology, Immobilization methods, Male, Naltrexone administration & dosage, Oxygen blood, Respiration drug effects, Time Factors, Tolazoline administration & dosage, Xylazine pharmacology, Deer physiology, Immobilization veterinary, Narcotics pharmacology, Sufentanil pharmacology
- Abstract
Free-ranging Alaskan moose calves (Alces alces gigas) were immobilized with 0.12 mg/kg sufentanil (S; n=16), 0.12 mg/kg sufentanil plus 0.27 mg/kg xylazine (SX; n=11), or 0.007 mg/kg carfentanil plus 0.36 mg/kg xylazine (CX; n=13). Immobilants were antagonized with 1.2 mg/kg naltrexone (S) or 1.2 mg/kg naltrexone plus 2.4 mg/kg tolazoline (SX, CX). There were no differences in induction (P ≥ 0.29) or processing (P ≥ 0.44) times between groups. Moose given either S or SX had significantly shorter recovery times than moose given CX (P=0.001) and recovery times from S were shorter than from SX (P=0.02). Oxygen saturation values for all groups averaged 85 ± 8%, but were significantly higher (P=0.048) for CX (89 ± 7%) than for S (82 ± 8%). Based on these data, sufentanil at 0.1 mg/kg or sufentanil at 0.1 mg/kg plus xylazine at 0.25 mg/kg could provide effective remote immobilization for Alaskan moose calves and could be substituted for carfentanil or thiafentanil should the need arise.
- Published
- 2012
- Full Text
- View/download PDF