Performance of Ketamine as a General Anesthetic for Domestic Fowl

Abstract

Ketamine hydrochloride was tested as a general anesthetic administered as a single intramuscular injection at doses of 20, 30, 60, 175 or 350 mg/kg to 40-day-old male White Leghorn chickens. Doses of 175 or 350 mg/kg are lethal to these birds. Toxicity of the drug was expressed by the formula y = 0.984x + 1.72 using probit analysis with LD50 and LD99 values at 49.07 and 98.86 mg/kg, respectively. The ED50 was 1.67 mg/kg .The therapeutic index (TI) was 29.38.indicating a wide margin of drug safety. The time for onset of anesthesia was 1-10.7 min depending upon dose levels with drug dose and response being negatively correlated (y = - 4.85x + 13.933). Stable anesthesia was maintained for 20-60 min with mean recovery time of 43.6, 42.4 and 35 min in the groups treated at 20, 30 or 60 mg/kg, respectively. Differences between groups, however, were not significant (p > 0.05) when scores for individual birds were analyzed. No untoward effects were observed up to 3 weeks when the experiments were terminated. It is proposed that Ketamine, when given intramuscularly, has the potential to be used effectively and safely as a general anesthetic for domestic fowl.