A survey on anesthetic procedures for elective surgeries in small animal practices in Flanders

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to report and evaluate the auxiliary anesthetic equipment and procedures used for elective surgical castration procedures with a low perianesthetic risk in small animal practices in Flanders. This online survey showed an overall acceptable standard of anesthetic procedures by veterinarians in Flanders. Practices are fairly well equipped to monitor patients safely during anesthesia. The main areas of improvement include in general an absence of emergency crash kits and a lack of intraoperative fluid therapy. Specifically for feline anesthesia, there appears to be a lack of endotracheal intubation, IV access and anesthetic monitoring. Although postoperative analgesia is offered to most patients, additional attention should be given to provide analgesia for a sufficient period of time.