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Animal Doc | Anesthesizing the Horse

Anesthesizing the Horse

First, the operating room is prepared. It must be extremely clean and all of the surgical instruments are sterilized.

Before anyone enters the room they must either put on "scrubs" or a surgery gown. Everyone must also put on a mask and a cap.

All of this is done to keep germs from infecting the horse.

The horse is given a tranquilizer which calms the horse and is then brought into the anesthesia room so he/she can be put to sleep for the operation.

The tranquilized horse is then positioned in a special part of the anesthesia room that has padded walls.

The wall on the right can be tightened against the horse with ropes so that the horse is held up when he/she falls asleep.

The horse is then given a drug to make him/her sleep, and the padded wall prevents the horse from getting hurt as he/she falls asleep. If the wall was not there, the horse would fall down quickly and might get hurt.

The doctor holds the horse's head up as the horse goes to sleep, which occurs in just a few minutes.

When the horse falls asleep, the doctors and assistants lay the horse down gently.

Transferring the Horse >>

 

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Note: Treatment of animals should only be performed by a licensed veterinarian. Veterinarians should consult the current literature and current pharmacological formularies before initiating any treatment protocol.
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This site last updated April 10, 2007