Field anesthesia of American Mink, Mustela vison, using halothane

Abstract

Incidental to Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) capture-recapture operations in southcentral Saskatchewan, Canada, American Mink (Mustela vison) were captured and immobilized using halothane. Thirteen trials were performed on nine mink (7 M, 2 F). An initial dose of 4 mL provided complete anesthesia after 105 s (SD = 37 s, n = 7). Once anesthetized, stand-up posture and complete recovery occurred after a mean (SD) of 123 s (56 s) and 175 s (69 s), respectively. Multiple applications yielded longer and more variable induction times (311 ± 109 s), but similar stand-up (136 ± 80 s) and recovery times (182 ± 83 s). Halothane provided rapid (< 2 min) induction on calm mink, but all animals experienced traumatic anesthesia and recovery. One case involving multiple applications resulted in the death of one animal. We conclude that single applications of halothane may be used for anesthesia of American Mink for short (< 2 min) periods, but that the difficult recovery of immobilized Mink precludes the overall acceptability of this agent.