I am not a big fan of injected anesthesia for ferrets. We had ferrets
back when that was what tended to be used and the death rates were
much higher than they were after vets began using gas anesthesia for
ferrets. Yes, I know that many things have improved over the decades,
including anesthesia (in more than a few ways) and how many of them are
given, but you still can't do as much about an injected anesthesia if
it goes wrong as you can with a gas one. Still, this sort of article
can be useful:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21831049

Vet Anaesth Analg. 2011 Sep;38(5):439-50.
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-2995.2011.00635.x.

Medetomidine/midazolam/ketamine anaesthesia in ferrets: effects
on cardiorespiratory parameters and evaluation of plasma drug
concentrations.

Schernthaner A, Lendl CE, Hartmann K, Pragst I, Preissel AK, Henke J.

Source:
Centre of Preclinical Research, Technical University Munich, Munich,
Germany Animal Clinic Erben, Fitz & Partners, Gessertshausen, Germany
Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich,
Munich, Germany Preclinical Research and Development, CSL Behring
GmbH, Marburg, Germany Nonclinical Drug Safety, Biological Laboratory
Service, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach/Riss,
Germany.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the cardiorespiratory effects and plasma
concentrations of medetomidine-midazolam-ketamine (MMK) combinations
administered by intramuscular (IM) or subcutaneous (SC) injection in
sable ferrets (Mustela putorius furo).

Study design: Prospective randomized experimental study.

Animals:
Eighteen adult ferrets: weight median 1.19 (range 0.81-1.60) kg.

Methods: Animals were allocated to one of three groups: group IM07
received 20ug/kg(-1) medetomidine, 0.5mg/kg(-1) midazolam and
7mg/kg(-1) ketamine IM; group IM10 20ug/kg(-1) medetomidine,
0.5mg/kg(-1) midazolam and 10mg/kg(-1) ketamine IM; and group SC10
20ug/kg(-1) medetomidine, 0.5mg/kg(-1) midazolam and 10mg/kg(-1)
ketamine SC. Following instrumentation, cardiorespiratory parameters
and plasma drug concentrations were measured every 5 minutes (T5-T30)
for 30 minutes Ferrets were then euthanased. Data were analysed using
anova for repeated measures. P < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: Results are mean +/- SD. Induction of anaesthesia (minutes)
in IM07 and IM10 [2 (1)] was significantly faster than in SC10 [5
(2)]. All groups demonstrated the following: results given as groups
IM07, IM10 and SC10 respectively. Mean arterial blood pressures (mmHg)
were initially high [186 (13); 174 (33) and 174 (9) at T5] but
decreased steadily. Pulse rates were initially 202 (20), 213 (17) and
207 (33) beats/minute(-1) , decreasing with time. PaO(2) (mmHg) was
low [54.0 (8), 47.7 (10) and 38.5 (1)] at T5, although in groups IM07
and IM10 it increased over time. Plasma concentrations of all drugs
were highest at T5 (36, 794 and 8264 nmol L(-1) for medetomidine,
midazolam and ketamine, respectively) and decreased thereafter: for
both midazolam and ketamine, concentrations in IM07 and IM10 were
higher than SC10. Conclusions and clinical relevance:MMK combinations
containing either 7 or 10mg/kg(-1) ketamine and given IM are suitable
combinations for anaesthetising ferrets, although the observed degree
of hypoxaemia indicates that oxygen administration is vital.

(c) 2011 The Authors. Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia.
(c) 2011 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and the American
College of Veterinary Anesthesiologists.
PMID: 21831049 [PubMed - in process]

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)

[Moderator's note: Please check details at the source if you need this
abstract. The encoding of the post and website was not compatible with
any of several methods I tried and some characters didn't display at
all. I copied it the best I could but data may have been lost in the
process. BIG]

[Posted in FML 7154]