An Assessment of Tramadol-Xylazine-Ketamine-Diazepam Combination in the Horse

Two sets of trials were carried out to evaluate the influence of tramadol premedication on xylazine-diazepam-ketamine anaesthesia in horses. Five horses comprising of both sexes (mean weight 276±39kg) were each anaesthetized twice. Treatment A (TXDK) consisted of intravenous injection of tramadol (2.5 mg kg -1), followed five minutes later by xylazine (1.1 mg kg -1), diazepam (0.11 mg kg -1) and ketamine (2.2 mg kg -1) while treatment B (SXDK) consisted of saline, xylazine, diazepam and ketamine of equal doses as treatment A. Post induction of anaesthesia, anaesthetic indices and physiological parameters were measured at 10 minutes interval for 60 minutes while blood were collected before and after each trial to evaluate haematological parameters.The duration of lateral recumbency (DLR) was significantly (p<0.05) longer with TXDK (48.0±4.2 mins) when compared to that with SXDK (41.0±4.9 mins), while there were no significant difference in the duration of antinociception (DAN), number of attempts to stand (ATS), time to standing (TTS), and time to satisfactory limb co-ordination after standing (TSC). Similarly, there were no significant differences in the measured physiological and haematological parameters between and within the two groups. The quality of recovery from anaesthesia was adjudged good for both groups with no significant difference.In conclusion, anaesthesia with xylazine-diazepam-ketamine following tramadol premedication at 2.5 mg kg -1 did not prolong the duration of antinociception but increased the duration of lateral recumbency. This showed that tramadol premedication prior to xylazine-diazepam-ketamine combination might not deepen analgesia produced by xylazine-diazepam-ketamine but might increase the duration of recumbency produced by the drug combination.Key words: Anaesthesia, Analgesia , Horses, Ketamine, Premedication, Tramado

Diminazene-resistant Trypanosoma vivax in West African Dwarf lamb, south-west, Nigeria: A case report

A case of diminazene-resistant trypanosomosis in a West African Dwarf (WAD) lamb with no previous record of trypanocidal therapy is reported. Lamb was presented with clinical manifestations that included lethargy, blanched conjuntival mucous membrane, emaciation and exhaustion. Pre- and post-trypanocidal treatment evaluation of blood parasitologically by direct microscopy revealed parasitaemia of 31x106 and 15x 106/ml of blood respectively. Specie specific Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and gel electrophoresis of the PCR products revealed amplicons size of 400 bp, expected size of Tryopanosoma vivax. The trypanosomes isolated obtained from the lamb before treatment was passaged into a haemoparasite free sheep. Pre and post reinfection chemotherapy of isolated trypanosomes into haemoparasite free sheep showed parasitemia of 7.5 x 106 and 15x 106/ml of blood respectively. Epidemiological survey of sheep environment showed moderate infestation of Glossina palplispalplis precipitated by the incursion of different herd’s of Fulani cattle with the history of indiscriminate use of drugs; grazing their animals in the immediate vicinity of the flock. This report confirms the presence of diminazeneaceturate resistant T. vivaxstrain in the study area and also discussed the clinical implication of drug resistance trypanosomosis.Keywords: Dwarf lamb, T. vivax strain, drug resistanc