Effects of opioids and anesthetic drugs on body temperature in cats

Abstract

Objective To determine which class of opioid alone or in conjunction with other anesthetic drugs causes post-anesthetic hyperthermia in cats. Study design Prospective, randomized, crossover study. Animals Eight adult, healthy, cats (four spayed females and four castrated males weighing 3.8 ± 0.6 kg). Methods Each cat was instrumented with a wireless thermistor in the abdominal cavity. Temperature in all phases was recorded every 5 minutes for 5 hours. Population body temperature (PBT) was recorded for ∼8 days. Baseline body temperature is the final 24 hours of the PBT. All injectable drugs were given intramuscularly. The cats were administered drugs in four phases: 1) hydromorphone (H) 0.05,..