An evaluation of three anaesthetic regimes in the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica).

The effect of several anaesthetic agents on the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) was investigated. Pentobarbitone sodium at a dose of 50 mg/kg sedated the animals but did not produce analgesia or anaesthesia. A combination of ketamine hydrochloride and xylazine at 40 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg, respectively, sedated the animals, but anaesthetic levels were not attained. Halothane was most effective in producing anaesthesia in Monodelphis domestica. Hypothermia was a major side effect with all three anaesthetic regimes.