Quick sedation gets a fresh look in dogs and cats

CURRENT BRIEF VERSION: A new episode of Dr. Andy Roark’s How Do You Treat That? series puts a spotlight on a familiar clinical problem: how to get dogs and cats safely sedated for short procedures without defaulting to full general anesthesia. In the March 17 episode, Tasha McNerney, CVT, VTS (Anesthesia & Analgesia), outlines practical approaches for “quick procedures” in otherwise healthy pets—from low- or no-pain handling and diagnostics to more involved work such as wound cleaning and suturing when clients cannot pursue full anesthesia—with an emphasis on reversible sedation, multimodal analgesia, opioids, dexmedetomidine, local blocks, feline-specific strategies, and selective ketamine use. The discussion lands at a time when pre-visit pharmaceuticals and low-stress handling protocols are becoming more embedded in small animal practice. (drandyroark.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary teams, the message is less about a brand-new drug and more about a practical shift in workflow: using targeted sedation and analgesia to improve safety, efficiency, and patient welfare in cases that don’t necessarily need a full anesthetic event. That also connects to a broader conversation in practice culture about reducing the physical and emotional toll on staff when fearful or painful patients are pushed through care with restraint alone. Current guidance from AAHA and feline-friendly handling resources already support matching sedation depth to the patient’s fear, anxiety, stress level, procedure pain, and overall health status, while recent literature continues to build around oral trazodone, gabapentin, pregabalin, oral transmucosal dexmedetomidine, and other protocols that can reduce handling stress before or during visits. (aaha.org)

What to watch: Expect continued interest in fast-onset, reversible, and pre-visit sedation protocols, especially as clinics look for ways to improve safety, throughput, and the experience for patients, staff, and pet parents—and to better manage high-FAS patients before encounters escalate. (drandyroark.com)