IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Eggers, B. | |
| Evaluation of two different doses of butorphanol-medetomidine-midazolam for anaesthesia in free-ranging versus captive black-footed cats (_Felis nigripes) _ | |
| 2016 Full Book | |
The black-footed cat (_Felis nigripes_) is the rarest, smallest wild felid species of southern Africa and is categorized as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List 2012 (Sliwa 2008). These cats are solitary, nocturnally active predators with a high metabolic rate. In order to fuel this metabolism they hunt all night, catching and consuming approximately one fifth of their body weight. In order to facilitate research studies and sample collection a reliable, safe, fully reversible anaesthetic drug combination for use in the field is imperative to enable the cats to resume their hunting as quickly as possible post anaesthesia. Both the captive and the free-ranging populations face many survival challenges, including renal amyloidosis, and the use of an anaesthetic drug combination that does not compromise renal function would be of major benefit. To date, there is no published data on the physiological effects of any anaesthetic protocol in this species. The butorphanol-medetomidine-midazolam combination has been safely and successfully used in a variety of domestic and other wild animal species, and recently it has been used in black-footed cats in the field and zoo setting. We used the butorphanol-medetomidine-midazolam drug combination to anaesthetise blackfooted cats, both in captivity and in the wild. As the drug doses currently used in wild freeranging animals are approximately twice as high as those required in captive animals, concerns have been raised regarding the physiological safety of using a higher dose of this anaesthetic combination in these animals. My aim was to document, evaluate and compare the anaesthetic and physiological effects induced by the use of two different doses of the butorphanol-medetomidine-midazolam combination to effectively and safely anaesthetise captive and free-ranging black-footed cats. |
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