General anesthesia is required for a variety of procedures in feline practice. However, cats sometimes appear to have poor cardiovascular function during anesthesia. Dexmedetomidine, a drug commonly used for sedation, has previously been demonstrated to decrease the required dose of isoflurane, a general anesthetic drug commonly used in cats. However, the combination of dexmedetomidine and isoflurane results in increased compromise of cardiovascular function than use of isoflurane alone. This study has been designed to determine if MK-467, an experimental drug, will minimize the cardiovascular effects produced by dexmedetomidine, without reducing its effect on sedation, allowing the veterinarian to reduce the dose of isoflurane required to produce anesthesia in cats.
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