Laboratory Animals > Volume 42, Number 4 > Pp. 473-482

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Repeated anaesthesia with isoflurane and xylazine/levomethadone/fenpipramide premedication in female Beagle dogs: influence on general health and wellbeing

B Bert ^* , I Hartje ^*, J-P Voigt , G Arndt , H-F Ulbrich , H Fink ^* and P Hauff 

^* Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School for Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany; University of Nottingham, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, UK; Institute for Biometrics and Data Processing, School for Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14163 Berlin, Germany; Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Research Laboratories, 13342 Berlin, Germany

Correspondence: B Bert, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School for Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Koserstr. 20, Berlin 14195, Germany. Email: bert.bettina{at}vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Beagle dogs continue to be used in experimental studies and preclinical and clinical trials, many of which address the usage of anaesthesia. In order to reduce the number of animals, researchers tend to conduct several experiments on a single animal. The question arises, however, as to whether or not this frequent usage involves more than simply additional stress and discomfort for the individual animal. Within the framework of an existing study involving six female Beagle dogs, we investigated the effects of repeated (5) isoflurane anaesthesia with xylazine/levomethadone/fenpipramide premedication carried out at short intervals (2 weeks) and compared these with the effects of two treatments intermitted by a longer resting period (8 weeks). To verify our hypothesis that frequent anaesthesia affects the dog's wellbeing more than the occasional anaesthesia, the following parameters were measured at regular intervals: body weight, body temperature, respiratory rate, blood pressure, reflexes and heart rate, both at rest and during a treadmill exercise. In addition, recovery behaviour subsequent to anaesthesia was monitored for one hour. Our observations indicate that the anaesthetic effects are most prominent 24 h after the anaesthetic treatment. However, crossover analysis of our data cannot show that there is no statistical difference of whether dogs were anaesthetized occasionally or frequently. In our study, it appears that frequent anaesthesia within a two-week period did not affect the wellbeing and general health of Beagle dogs in a super-additive manner and that a minimum of two-week testing-free period is sufficient to ensure complete recovery from the unwanted effects induced by anaesthesia.

Key Words: Repeated anaesthesia • isoflurane • premedication • Beagle dogs • animal welfare

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