How are dogs, cats and NACs anesthetized?

General anaesthesia is designed to induce loss of consciousness, muscle relaxation, absence of painful sensation and absence of memory of what happened during the sleep period.

Local anaesthesia targets a specific area to induce complete muscular relaxation and absence of local pain, enabling certain procedures to be performed.

Several situations may require local or general anesthesia on an animal: special examinations requiring complete immobility, surgical procedures, aggressiveness, excessive stress, etc.

Several thousand anaesthesia procedures are performed each year at the AGORAVET clinic. Thanks to state-of-the-art equipment and a well-trained team, anesthetic risks are reduced to a minimum in our practice.

Is anaesthetizing my dog, cat or NAC risky?

Anesthetizing an animal is not a trivial procedure. It requires well-prepared care teams, good equipment and systematically applied protocols. There is no such thing as 0 risk in anesthesia, so initial patient assessment and compliance with good anesthetic practice are essential.

To reduce anesthetic risks, certain precautions are necessary, such as fasting beforehand, depending on the species. Direct examination of the animal (clinical examination) is not always sufficient for a good pre-anaesthetic assessment. That's why, depending on the patient, we recommend certain pre-anesthetic tests, such as blood, urine, cardiac or respiratory analyses.

Following these examinations, a personalized anesthesia protocol is drawn up.

How does anesthesia work for my dog, cat or NAC?

Before each anaesthetic, and whenever possible without aggravating the animal's condition, a thorough clinical examination is carried out. If the examination is favorable, a tranquilizer is administered. This helps to reduce stress and initiate pain management when necessary. In this way, the animal feels no discomfort before, during or after the treatment, as the effects of the medication are prolonged.

Dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits and certain rodents are routinely fitted with an intravenous catheter for drug delivery and perfusion during anesthesia. For other NACs, catheter insertion may be more complicated and time-consuming, or simply impossible on a routine basis due to the animal's size.

Anesthesia is then induced, either by intravenous drug administration or by gas inhalation. Whenever possible, the animal is intubated, i.e. a tube connected to a device delivering oxygen and anesthetic gases is placed in the animal's throat. This increases anesthetic safety by controlling the animal's breathing. This procedure is routinely performed on dogs, cats, ferrets, birds and reptiles. It is sometimes performed on rabbits, guinea pigs and rats, and on more unusual species as required. For other species, this procedure is not routinely possible. Throughout the general anaesthetic procedure, particular attention is paid to temperature control and protection of the eyes, which can be damaged if left open for long periods.

The AGORAVET veterinary clinic has state-of-the-art, modern equipment for respiratory assistance, from the smallest species such as rats and guinea pigs to the largest dogs.

During the entire sedation period, the animal is monitored by a qualified nurse anesthetist and by various monitoring devices: pulse oximetry, capnography, ECG, apnea detectors, measurement of body temperature, heart and respiratory rates, measurement of blood pressure.

At the end of the procedure, the animal is gradually awakened and monitored until it regains full consciousness. It is then placed in a quiet, heated area. It receives the necessary treatments to ensure its comfort and absence of pain. When all the effects of anesthesia have worn off, the animal is transferred to an area adapted to its species. You will find summary information on anaesthesia here ( = document to download for anaesthetic preparation of the patient)