Sevoflurane anesthesia in psittacines

Duration of anesthesia onset (time to intubation) and recovery (time to ext ubation, sternal and standing) and quality of recovery were compared for se voflurane and isoflurane in 10 adult psittacines. Both agents were initiall y administered at an equal volume percentage (2%) rather than at equal mini mum alveolar concentrations (MACs), therefore the initial concentration was above the isoflurane MAC for dogs and birds (1.3%) but below the sevoflura ne MAC for dogs (2.3%). The time to intubation was significantly longer wit h sevoflurane because of initially delivering the sevoflurane below suspect ed MAC for birds. Although recovery times (time to extubation, sternal, and standing) were not significantly different, birds recovering from sevoflur ane were less ataxic. Sevoflurane is a suitable inhalant agent for use in t hese psittacines and merits further study.