The onset of analgesia (OAN), duration of analgesia (DAN), sleeping time (SLT) and recovery time (RCT) were determined for 10 healthy domestic short haired cats following administration of either 0.5% diazepam (1 mg/kg, i.m.), 0.5% midazolam (1 mg/kg) or 1% propofol (4 mg/kg, i.v.) in ketamine (20 mg/kg, i.m.) sedated cats. In addition, changes in heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR) and rectal temperature (RT) were determined at 10 min intervals over a period of 60 min. In this study, the OAN was longest in the ketamine/propofol (KP) combination (4.6±2.5 min), intermediate in ketamine/diazepam (KD) combination (2.3±0.5 min) and shortest in ketamine/midazolam (KM) combination (1.8±0.8 min). Similarly, the DAN was longest in KP (57.4±5.2 min), shortest in KD (33.8±11.1 min) and intermediate in KM (44.6±10.0 min). Also, the RCT was longest in KP (133.2±25.5 min), intermediate in KD (124.0±43.6 min) and shortest in KM (120.4±42.2 min). However, the HR, RR and RT did not differ significantly (P>0.05) between the three anaesthetic combinations. It was concluded that ketamine/midazolam combination is preferable of the three combinations owing to its shorter onset, longer duration of analgesia and early recovery.
Cat, Diazepam, Ketamine, Midazolam, Propofol
