Telazol

Each morning, piglets were weighed, and any remaining formula was measured. On PND 34 or 35, piglets were sedated with an intramuscular injection of Telazol^® (Tiletamine HCl and Zolazepam HCl, 3.5 mg/kg BW each, Pfizer Animal Health, Fort Dodge, IA, USA). Piglets were then euthanized by an intracardiac injection of sodium pentobarbital (72 mg/kg BW; Euthasol, by Virbac, Westlake, TX, USA). The brain and liver were removed and weighed. The small intestine was cut at 10% and 85% from the proximal end to give 3 segments corresponding to the duodenum, jejunum and ileum, respectively. A 25 cm section of jejunum and ileum were cut longitudinally, and mucosal scrapings were obtained and frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at −80 °C. In addition, the large intestine was excised, and segments were cut from the most proximal and distal parts corresponding to the ascending colon (AC) and rectum (RC), respectively. Five-centimeter pieces of each intestinal segment were fixed in formalin for 48 h for histomorphological analyses.

On d8 of the study (postnatal day [PND] 10), blood was collected via jugular vein in either plain, K₂EDTA, or Na Citrate-laced vacuum tubes (BD Biosciences, Franklin Lakes, NJ) to perform chemistry, complete blood count (CBC), and coagulation time analyses, respectively. On d22, animals were sedated with an intramuscular injection of Telazol^® (Tiletamine HCl and Zolazepam HCl, 3.5 mg/kg BW each, Pfizer Animal Health, Fort Dodge, IA) and blood was collected via cardiac puncture for chemistries, CBC, and coagulation time analyses 3–6 h after the final feeding. Piglets were then euthanized by an intravenous injection of 86 mg/kg BW sodium pentobarbital (Euthasol; Virbac AH, Inc., Fort Worth, TX). Urine samples for urinalysis, spleen, stomach, kidneys, heart, lungs, intestine, and liver were collected and fixed for analysis as previously described [15 (link)].