Acepromazine maleate

Cats were fasted for 12 h (water was available ad libitum) prior to neutering by a standard open technique [14] . Cats received 0.3 mg/kg butorphanol (Fort Dodge Animal Health, Fort Dodge, IA), 0.05 mg/kg acepromazine maleate (Vedco, Inc., St. Joseph, MO), and 0.02 mg/kg atropine sulfate (Vedco, Inc., St. Joseph, MO) subcutaneously 30 min before induction. Cats were then induced with 2–3 mg/kg ketamine (Vedco, Inc., St. Joseph, MO) and 0.25 mg/kg diazepam (Hospira, Inc., Lake Forest, IL) intravenously. Additional isoflurane (Vet One, India) delivered by inhalation was used if needed. A subcutaneous dose of 1.5 mg/kg carprofen (Pfizer, Inc., Madison, NJ) was given post operatively and repeated 24 h later.

For all injection and imaging procedures, animals were anesthetized with an intramuscular injection of a rodent cocktail containing ketamine (55 mg/kg, Ketaset; Fort Dodge Animal Health, Fort Dodge, IA), xylazine (5 mg/kg, AnaSed; Lloyd, Inc., Shenandoah, IA), and acepromazine maleate (1 mg/kg; Vedco, Inc., St. Joseph, MO). This dosage provided anesthesia for 45–90 minutes. Half of the original dose was used for repeated injections as necessary. Body temperature was maintained with a heat mat and lactated Ringers solution (Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Toronto, Canada) was injected subcutaneously to maintain hydration.

For imaging and optic nerve transection procedures, rats were anesthetized with an intramuscular injection combination of ketamine (55 mg/kg, Ketaset, Fort Dodge Animal Health, Fort Dodge, IA), xylazine (5 mg/kg, AnaSed, Lloyd, Inc., Shenandoah, IA) and acepromazine maleate (1 mg/kg, Vedco, Inc., St Joseph, MO). For stereotactic injections, animals were anesthetized using 2% isofluorane gas in 2∶1 N₂O∶O₂.