Principals for administering anesthesia to greyhounds

• Never use thiobarbituates, including Biotal, Surtial or Pentothol.
• Greyhounds should have IV fluids administered during all major surgical procedures lasting greater than 25 minutes.  The rate of infusion is 10ml/kg/hour.
• Greyhounds are prone to hypothermia when under anesthesia and should be kept on a heated water bed during surgery.
• There is no age limitation for surgically spaying and neutering, but proper pre-surgical workups should be done based on the age of the greyhound.  This will insure the safety of an anesthetic procedure.
• Acepromazine is a safe and reliable pre-anesthetic tranquilizer in the greyhound.
• Isoflurane is the gas anesthetic of choice.  It is exceptionally safe and recovery is rapid.

Procedure

A dose of 0.2cc of Acepromazine given subcutaneously 30 minutes before surgery will result in a smoother and quieter recovery.

A dose of atroine sulfate or gycopyrrolate should be given prior to surgery or at the time of surgical induction with the intravenous anesthetic.

A reliable IV induction anesthetic combination consists of equal amounts of diazepam and ketamine drawn up in the same syringe.  The calculated dose of this combination is approximately 1cc of the mixture per 10 pounds of body weight.  Half of the calculated dose can be given as bolus, then administer as much as needed to intubate.  If  Acepromazine is used as a pre-anesthetic, then les of the diazepam and ketamine combination is needed for intubation.  Isofllurane can then be used at about 2% to maintain anesthesia.