Rompun vet.

Use two sterile needles, one to fill the syringe from the bottle and one to inject the patient. Once the required dose has been withdrawn from the vial, the syringe should be removed from the needle. A separate sterile needle should be inserted into the injection site and the syringe connected to it. The needles should be discarded into a closed container.

Syringes and needles must be sterile. Clean the area of injection site and swab with spirit.

Cattle

Rompun is given by intramuscular injection. The dose rate is 0.05-0.3 mg/kg (0.25-1.5 ml per 100 kg) bodyweight, according to the degree of sedation required. Very fractious animals may require the higher dose rates not exceeding 0.3 mg/kg (Dose rate 4).

Animals should not be disturbed until the drug has taken its full effect. The first effects are usually seen within 5 minutes of injection and the maximum effect is produced 10 minutes later. There is no struggling or excitement during induction or recovery.

If the required depth of sedation is not achieved, it is unlikely that repetition of the dose will prove more effective. It is advisable to allow complete recovery, repeating the procedure with a higher dose after 24 hours.

When any surgical treatment is carried out using xylazine, additional local anaesthesia should be employed.

Horses

Administer by slow intravenous injection, taking from one to two minutes to administer. Dosage depends on the degree of sedation required and the response of the animal and is 0.6-1 mg/kg bodyweight (3-5 ml/100 kg bodyweight). Nervous or highly excitable horses generally require the higher dose. Experience has shown that older horses and those that have undergone severe exertion before treatment respond more readily to Rompun.

Depending on the dosage, light to deep sedation with individually variable analgesia is obtained. The horse does not become recumbent.

Animals should not be disturbed until the drug has taken its full effect. This is usually obtained within 5 minutes of intravenous injection and lasts for approximately 20 minutes.

If the required depth of sedation is not achieved, it is unlikely that repetition of the dose will prove more effective. It is advisable to allow complete recovery, repeating the procedure using Rompun Dry Substance, with a higher dose rate, after 24 hours.

For operations and painful procedures, additional local or regional anaesthesia should be used.

Rompun can also be administered to horses as a pre-medicant for operations on the recumbent animal using chloral hydrate, barbiturates, ketamine or halothane.

Cats

Administer intramuscularly at a dose rate of 3 mg/kg (0.15 ml/kg) bodyweight. The effect is adequate for procedures that are not associated with any considerable degree of pain. Pre-medication with atropine is advantageous.

When used in conjunction with ketamine, xylazine pre-medication eliminates muscular stiffness during anaesthesia and maintains sedation throughout the recovery period.

Barbiturate anaesthesia should not be induced until sedation is at its deepest, i.e. about 20 minutes after administration of Rompun. Under these conditions the dose of barbiturates is reduced by about half.

Dogs

Administer by intramuscular injection at a dose rate of 1-3 mg/kg (0.05-0.15 ml/kg) bodyweight. Other routes of administration may be used, but the effect is less predictable. Good sedation is usually achieved at the lower end of the dose range given above, but excitable or vicious animals require a higher dose. The effect is adequate for procedures that are not associated with any considerable degree of pain.

For painful procedures, use in combination with a local anaesthetic. Premedication with atropine may be advantageous.

When used for pre anaesthetic medication, xylazine reduces the dose required in the case of barbiturates by about half. Xylazine can also be used as a premedicant for ketamine induced anaesthesia.

Further information applicable to all species

Analeptics will shorten the period or reduce the depth of sedation.

Limited information available suggests that alpha-2 blockers such as atipamezole may be effective in reversing the sedation and other physiological effects of the drug.

Transient hyperglycaemia is a common finding after xylazine sedation.