ABSTRACT
At the beginning of this article, we described the challenge faced by wildlife veterinarians in extrapolating treatment regimens and finding data bases of physiologic variables with which to assess health or depth of anesthesia in wild mammals. For example, we might wish to administer injectable ivermectin to a 75-kg deer and a 75-g squirrel for treatment of intestinal nematodes. An effective dose of ivermectin for the 75-kg deer is 0.2 mg/kg SC, and for the 75 g (0.075 kg) squirrel is 1.3 mg/kg SC. Given the squirrel dose (1.3 mg/kg), the deer could be made very ill or even killed by the treatment; whereas given the deer dose (0.2 mg/kg), the squirrel would not receive enough ivermectin to achieve a therapeutic level. This is the reason for allometric scaling of drug doses. Scaling doses allometrically is an arithmetic procedure that is more precise than trying to extrapolate doses between animals of diverse body sizes (such as the ermine and the wolverine) and between species that have different core body temperature set points (such as marsupial and placental mammals). For many years, in human and veterinary medicine, practitioners have allometrically scaled doses of potentially toxic chemotherapeutic agents using either (1) mg or micrograms drug/M2 body surface area or (2) mg or micrograms of drug/SMEC. Allometric calculations give results that are much more predictable and take into consideration substantial differences in body size and core body temperature.
Subject(s)
Animals, Wild , Mammals , Anesthesia, Inhalation/veterinary , Animals , Anti-Infective Agents/administration & dosage , Anti-Infective Agents/therapeutic use , Deer/physiology , Energy Metabolism , Handling, Psychological , Mammals/metabolism , Reference Values , Restraint, Physical/veterinarySubject(s)
Animals, Wild , Conservation of Natural Resources , Veterinary Medicine , Animals , United StatesSubject(s)
Asthma/drug therapy , Atropine Derivatives/therapeutic use , Fenoterol/therapeutic use , Ipratropium/therapeutic use , Adult , Bronchial Provocation Tests , Clinical Trials as Topic , Double-Blind Method , Drug Therapy, Combination , Female , Fenoterol/administration & dosage , Forced Expiratory Volume , Humans , Ipratropium/administration & dosage , Male , Random AllocationABSTRACT
The author discusses techniques of anesthesia in rabbits as well as characteristics of rabbits that may influence the administration and effectiveness of anesthesia.
Subject(s)
Anesthesia/veterinary , Rabbits , Animals , Rabbits/physiologyABSTRACT
In fish, the most common purpose of anesthesia is to facilitate handling for physical examination and diagnostic sampling. Fish may also be transported to new locations more safely having been sedated. The author describes techniques of anesthesia in fish as well as the biologic characteristics of fish.
Subject(s)
Anesthesia/veterinary , Fishes , Animals , Fishes/physiologyABSTRACT
A coastal population mainly reactive to house dust mite was compared with an inland population mainly reactive to other allergens to investigate whether exposure to house dust mite plays a part in initiating childhood asthma. Respiratory symptoms, asthma, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, hay fever and atopy were all more common in the dry inland area than in the humid coastal area. In both areas 38% of children were atopic. Coastal children had more skin reactivity to house dust mites and inland children were more reactive to grass pollen extracts. The findings suggest that the clinical presentation of asthma may be related more to the total burden of aeroallergens than to exposure to a particular allergen.
