Sedative and physiologic effects of tiletamine–zolazepam following buccal administration in cats

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the sedative and some physiological effects of tiletamine?zolazepam following buccal administration (BA) in cats. Methods: Seven healthy spayed European Shorthair cats (three males, four female) were studied twice in this randomized, blinded, crossover study. Each cat received two doses of tiletamine?zolazepam by BA: the low-dose (LD) consisted of 5 mg/kg of each drug, and the high dose (HD) consisted of 7.5 mg/kg of each. Baseline systolic blood pressure (SAP), heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR) and a sedation score were recorded prior to administration of each treatment. The same variables plus the percentage of hemoglobin saturated with oxygen as measured by pulse oximetry (SpO 2 ) were recorded at predefined intervals for the next 2 h. Results: All cats completed the study. No retching or vomiting were observed. Hypersalivation was observed in 0/7 and 3/7 for LD and HD, respectively (P = 0.2). There were significant changes in scores over time for posture, response to clippers and response to manual restraint for both groups, without differences between groups. RR, HR and SAP changed significantly over time. SAP and RR were significantly lower for HD than for LD. No values for hemoglobin saturation <95% were observed. Conclusions and relevance: BA of tiletamine?zolazepam at the doses studied here is a simple and effective method for chemical restraint in cats, where the LD had a lower impact on SAP and RR than the HD.