It is important to carry out temperature control measures into the recovery period, with particular care being taken in species that may overheat quickly, such as chinchillas, or those that may lose...
Although relatively new in veterinary medicine, anaesthesia checklists in human medicine have been shown to decrease complications and mortality rates (Hohenfellner, 2009) by reducing the occurrence...
Blood pressure, or more accurately intravascular pressure, is the pressure that blood physically exerts on a vessel wall. This pressure is important because the difference in intravascular pressure at...
Patient monitoring in critically ill patients is essential, and RVNs are extensively involved in this aspect of patient care (Figure 1). Monitoring should be uniquely tailored to the patient, with...
The veterinary surgeon will decide when anaesthesia is necessary — this may be at the time of injury or may not be until the patient has been stabilised, which may take a few hours or even days.
Close monitoring is vital to recognising changes that are indicative of patient deterioration. It allows time for intervention to avert an impending crisis. Instead of using a single one-off...
Nutrition is described as the processes of food utilisation by a plant or animal (Merriam-Webster, 2020). The terms macro and micronutrients refer to the volume of each that is required....
Premedication can be a useful tool in small mammal medicine. The use of a premedicant can sedate the patient, reducing stress on induction, and some drugs may have an anaesthetic-sparing effect,...
The acute presentation patient will always demand the most attention from those in the practice and it will be necessary to consider whether the patient is dyspnoeic and/or has increased...
Pre-medications are routinely given to canine and feline patients but may be overlooked in small mammals. The aim of pre-medication is to calm the animal, promote smooth induction of anaesthesia,...
The patient was transported to the practice in a wire cage. To minimise stress the patient was kept in this cage following initial clinical examination. The patient was kept in a warm, quiet room,...
Drug selection should be made on a case by case basis, considering pre-anaesthetic clinical findings, American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) status (Table 1), patient signalment, temperament and...
On admission the cat's vital parameters were determined: heart rate (HR) was 168 beats per minute and respiratory rate (RR) 48 breaths per minute (Table 1). This elevation in RR may have been due to...
Manual IPPV is an inexpensive and effective method of providing regulated ventilation to an anaesthetised patient, both if the patient is unable to spontaneously ventilate, or is having difficulty...
ECG machine configuration and functionality varies from basic machines to complicated top range models. If unsure how to use the practice machine, refer to the user manual and practice using it as...