Anaesthesia of roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus) with a combination of A3080, medetomidine and ketamine

Abstract

A dose range was determined for anaesthesia of 20 recently boma-captured roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus) with the synthetic opiate A3080 combined with medetomidine and ketamine. A dose of 10-30 μ/kg A3080 (x̄ = 20 ± 8 μg/kg) combined with 5-21 μg/kg medetomidine (x̄ = 13 ± 7 μg/kg) plus 0.29-1.11 mg/kg ketamine (x̄ = 0.71 ± 0.24 mg/kg) was found to be safe and effective for the field conditions in this study. The anaesthesia produced by this drug combination was predictable and characterised by a short induction time, good muscle relaxation, and acceptable physiological parameters for anaesthesia periods ranging from 49-103 min (x̄ = 64 ± 19 min). The wide range (3-4-fold) of doses with acceptable results is also an indication that this drug combination has a wide margin of safety in roan antelope, making it desirable for field use. When 2 dose levels (2-3-fold difference) were retrospectively evaluated, no statistical difference was found in induction times, and no observable clinical differences in the anaesthetic episodes were seen. Based on this study, the recommended dose range in roan antelope for this combination is 10-13 μg/kg A3080, 5-6 μg/kg medetomidine and 0.3-0.6 mg/kg ketamine. The anaesthesia produced by this combination was rapidly and completely reversed by i.m. or i.v. injections of naltrexone at 30 times the A3080 dose (x̄ = 0.60 ± 0.25 mg/kg) and atipamezole at 3 times the medetomidine dose (x̄ = 38 ± 20 μg/kg). No residual effects from ketamine were noted following reversal of A3080 and medetomidine. No mortality was associated with this protocol.