Anaesthetic effects of tiletamine-zolazepam-xylazine-tramadol combination in cats undergoing surgical sterilization

Li, Lin; Dong, Jing; He, Jianbin; Cui, Jixian; Yu, Xuewu; Tan, Dezhan; Fan, Honggang

doi:10.2754/avb201584020181

Acta Veterinaria > Archive > 2015, Vol. 84 > Issue 2 > Anaesthetic effects of…

Acta Vet. Brno 2015, 84: 181-185

https://doi.org/10.2754/avb201584020181

Anaesthetic effects of tiletamine-zolazepam-xylazine-tramadol combination in cats undergoing surgical sterilization

Lin Li¹, Jing Dong¹, Jianbin He¹, Jixian Cui², Xuewu Yu², Dezhan Tan³, Honggang Fan⁴

¹Shenyang Agricultural University, College of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang, China
²Institute of Animal Medical Research, Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center of Liaoning Province, Shenyang, China
³Shaoyang Vocational and Technical College, Shaoyang, China
⁴Northeast Agricultural University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Harbin, China

Received July 23, 2014
Accepted January 14, 2015

This study was conducted to evaluate the anaesthetic and physiological effects of tiletamine-zolazepam-xylazine-tramadol (TZXT) combination in cats undergoing surgical sterilization. A total of 20, 13.3 ± 2.5 months old, with a body weight of 2.4 ± 0.2 kg, male cats were used in the experiment. Cats were randomly assigned into the anaesthesia group (group A) or to the surgery group (group S). The tiletamine-zolazepam-xylazine-tramadol combination was administered with an intended dose of 2.4 mg·kg^-1 tiletamine-zolazepam (TZ), 0.36 mg·kg^-1 xylazine (X), and 0.8 mg·kg^-1 tramadol (T) into the lateral femoral muscle. Physiological indicators including rectal temperature (RT), heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR), haemoglobin saturation by oxygen (SpO₂), mean arterial pressure (MAP), systolic arterial pressure (SAP), and diastolic arterial pressure (DAP) were collected after baseline values (time 0). Cats were immediately given the intramuscular injection drug combination. Physiological indicators were recorded before injection of this combination and at time 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100, and 120 min after administration of the tiletamine-zolazepam-xylazine-tramadol combination. In group S, castrations were performed using a closed procedure. Vomiting, excitement, apnoea, and abnormal behaviour were not observed in any cat during anaesthesia. All changes in indicators were within cardiorespiratory acceptable limits in both groups. The tiletamine-zolazepam-xylazine-tramadol combination produced satisfactory anaesthesia in cats and it will be useful not only in induction of anaesthesia but also for surgery of short duration.

Keywords

Castration, immobilization, heart rate, respiration rate, mean arterial pressure.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31302149 and Grant No. 31001092) and Science and Technology Research Project of Heilongjiang Province Department of Education (Grant No. 12521003).