Long-acting intramuscular anesthetic regimen for swine

A two-stage, long-acting, injectable anesthetic regimen which provided pain-free restraint for swine was developed using nine mixed-breed domestic pigs. Each animal was administered a first-stage drug combination consisting of meperidine hydrochloride and azaperone in the caudal thigh muscles, followed after 20 minutes by a second-stage group of injections consisting of ketamine hydrochloride combined with morphine sulfate in the same muscles of the opposite leg. A mean surgical anesthetic time of 60.6 +/- 18.6 minutes was achieved with this regime and it was found that total anesthetic time could be doubled by a second injection of the ketamine and morphine components alone. All animals had a rapid, uneventful recovery. This combination regime not only provided reliable, long-acting anesthesia but was administered easily, required no tracheal intubation and produced no significant changes in the animals' heart rate or body temperature during the anesthetic period.