Surgical anesthesia in turkeys with thialbarbital sodium

Thialbarbital sodium was found to be a reliable and economical general anesthetic for domesticated turkeys. Despite shortness of action of the initial dose, surgical anesthesia was maintained longer than 2 hours by intermittent infusion via a brachial vein cannula. The drug was reconstituted just before use (66 mg/ml) with sterile 1% saline solution. Rapid smooth induction was produced with an initial dosage of 30 mg/kg for hens and 26.5 mg/kg for toms, when administered within a 30- to 60-second interval. Supplemental infusion of the drug in increments of 0.25 to 1.5 ml was used to sustain the desired level of deep narcosis. The occurrence of respiratory failure was considerably less for thialbarbital than with pentobarbital sodium. Recovery was rapid and smooth.