Effects of Chloramphenicol Pretreatment on Xylazine/ketamine anaesthesia in cats

.Keyword: Chloramphenicol, xylazine, ketamine, anaesthesia, cats The effect of pretreatment with a single intramuscular (im) dose of chloramphenicol (10mg/kg) on the anaethesia induced with im injection of ketamine (25mg/kg) was investigated in five cats premedicated with im xylazine (1.0mg/kg) and atropine (0.04mg/kg) with regard to the onset of anaesthesia (OAN), duration of analgesia (DAN), sleeping time (SLT) and standing time (STT). In addition, changes in heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR) and rectal temperature (RT) were recorded immediately after ketamine-induced anaesthesia and at 10-min intervals over a period of 60 mins. The difference in OAN between treated cats (2.8+1.7 mins) and the control cats (1.4+0.9 min) was not significant (P>0.05). The DAN in the treated cats (124.4+51.1 mins) and the control cats (114.4+50.9 mins) were significantly different (P It was therefore concluded that pretreatment with chloramphenicol somewhat prolongs the duration of anaesthesia produced by i.m injection of ketamine in xylazine premedicated cats, although this effect may not be of clinical concern Trop. Vet. Vol. 20(4) 2002: 231-237