A 6-week-old goat was presented for surgical repair of a Salter Harris type 1 fracture of the right tibia. The goat was premedicated with butorphanol 0.2 mg/kg and midazolam 0.2 mg/kg intramuscularly, followed by induction of anaesthesia with ketamine 1 mg/kg and propofol 3.2 mg/kg intravenously. Anaesthesia was maintained with isoflurane in an oxygen air mix. An ultrasound-guided saphenous and sciatic nerve block was performed using 0.1 ml/kg/nerve of ropivacaine 0.75%. Except for a slight gradual decrease in arterial blood pressure, all monitored variables remained within accepted ranges throughout surgery. No additional intraoperative analgesia was required. Recovery from anaesthesia was uneventful and the goat started drinking milk 5 minutes after extubation. Buprenorphine 0.02 mg/kg intramuscularly was administered in the evening and repeated 12 hours after the first dose. Additionally, carprofen 1.4 mg/kg intramuscularly was administered every 48 hours for the following days. The goat was discharged 2 days after surgery.

A 3‐year‐old cat was presented in the clinic following a fall from height. Due to suspected urinary bladder wall rupture, the cat was scheduled for diagnostic imaging. The cat was premedicated with 0.1 mg/kg methadone intravenously. General anaesthesia was induced with a bolus of propofol of 2 mg/kg administered intravenously using a syringe pump. Shortly after, the patient became apnoeic and showed signs of very deep anaesthesia. It was then noticed that almost half of the 20 ml syringe used to administer the bolus was empty, which led to the conclusion that due to a slip‐of‐the‐finger error, a bolus of 8 ml of propofol (20 mg/kg) was accidentally administered. No additional anaesthetics were administered. The cat resumed spontaneous ventilation and was extubated at 70 and 130 minutes after induction, respectively. Full recovery took 23 hours, and the cat showed no permanent damage or side effects in the following 19 days.

A 2-year-old Göttingen miniature pig was presented for elective ovariectomy. After premedication with ketamine 15 mg/kg and azaperone 2 mg/kg intramuscularly, general anaesthesia was induced with propofol 1.5 mg/kg intravenously. With the animal in sternal recumbency, a 15 × 15 cm area on the dorsolateral aspect of the flank at the level of the second lumbar vertebra (L2) was clipped and aseptically prepared. Using a linear transducer, the epaxial musculature as well as the quadratus lumborum and abdominal wall muscles were identified. Then, 0.6 ml/kg of 0.25% ropivacaine was injected bilaterally at the level of L2 using a ventral-to-dorsal in-plane approach under ultrasound guidance. Anaesthesia was stable and uneventful. Predefined thresholds for nociception were not exceeded at any time. After recovery, regular pain evaluation using the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)-Botucatu pig composite acute pain scale did not indicate the need for rescue analgesia up to 4 h after the block was performed.

Objective This study aimed to investigate the suture length to wound length ratio (SL:WL) in an in vitro model of abdominal wall closure. Effects of the surgeon’s experience level on the SL:WL ratio were evaluated, hypothesizing that small animal surgeons do not spontaneously apply SL:WL ratios equal to or larger than 4:1. Procedures Three groups of surgeons with varying levels of experience performed 4 simple continuous sutures before (3 sutures) and after (1 suture) being educated on principles of the SL:WL ratio. All sutures were evaluated for their gaping, number of stitches, stitch intervals, tissue bite size and suture length. Results No significant differences in suture parameters or SL:WL ratios were found among the 3 groups, and 60.5% of control sutures and 77.0% of test sutures had SL:WL ratios above 4:1. There was a significant improvement in the mean ratio after the information was provided (p = 0.003). Overall, the SL:WL ratios ranged from 1.54:1 to 6.81:1, with 36.3% falling between 4:1 and 5:1 (5.17 mm mean stitch interval, 5.52 mm mean tissue bite size). A significant negative correlation was observed between the SL:WL ratio and the stitch interval to tissue bite ratio (r = -0.886). Forty-nine of 120 sutures fulfilled the current recommendations for abdominal wall closure with a mean SL:WL ratio of 4.1:1. Conclusion A SL:WL ratio larger than 4:1 was achieved in 60% of the control sutures and in 77% of test sutures. Additional animal studies are necessary to evaluate the SL/WL ratio in small animal surgery.

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