Comparison of xylazine/tramadol and xylazine/pentazocine for sedation and analgesia in dogs

Abstract

The effects of intramuscular administration of xylazine (1 mg/kg) -atropine (0.04 mg/kg) combined either with tramadol 4mg/kg or pentazocine 2 mg/kg were evaluated for quality of sedation and changes in physiological parameters over a 60 minute period in 5 intact Nigerian indigenous dogs of both sexes with mean body weight of 10.2 ± 1.5 kg (mean ± Standard deviation). Pentazocine demonstrated appreciable analgesia in combination with xylazine. Analgesia was produced in all the dogs with xylazine-pentazocine combination compared with only 2 dogs with xylazine- tramadol combination and one dog with xylazine alone. Onset and duration of analgesia with the xylazine-pentazocine group were 6.8 ± 3.3 and 31.2 ±7.1min respectively. Onset of sedation and time to sleep with xylazine-tramadol (12.2 ± 3.3 min and 16.8 min) were significantly longer (p < 0.05) than with xylazine alone (6.0 ± 3.4 min and 10.6±2.4 min) and with xylazine-pentazocine (5.8 ± 1.9 min and 8±2.3 min). There was no significant difference (p>0.05 ) in the sleep time of the dogs with the three treatments; xylazine (41.4±9.3min) ; xylazine-tramadol (39.8± 9.2 min) but xylazinepentazocine (45.0± 3.3min) had the longest sleep time. The time to stand with both xylazinetramadol and xylazine-pentazocine were significantly shorter (p < 0.05) than with xylazine alone. Peak sedation occurred by the 20th and 30th minute in all the dogs with the three treatments. Heart and respiratory rates, systolic, diastolic, mean arterial blood pressure and rectal temperature were within physiological range with the three treatment groups. It was concluded that xylazine-pentazocine produced preferred quality of sedation and therefore recommended for minor procedures associated with pain or premedication in dogs.