Immobilisation and Epidural Anaesthesia in a Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) Undergoing Pelvic Limb Orthopaedic Surgery

Immobilisation and anaesthesia of wild felids may be complex and potentially dangerous events, making it difficult to implement more advanced anaesthetic techniques such as neuraxial anaesthesia. A Eurasian lynx was referred for femur fracture repair after it was seen with lameness of the left pelvic limb sustained in its natural environment. The animal was remotely darted using a combination of ketamine (5 mg/kg) and xylazine (5 mg/kg) intramuscularly. Once immobilised, the lynx was transported to the veterinary hospital in a restraining cage. After induction and endotracheal intubation, pelvic limb radiographs confirmed a closed, comminuted fracture of the left femur that required open reduction and internal stabilisation. A sacrococcygeal epidural was performed before surgery using lidocaine (2 mg/kg) and morphine (0.1 mg/kg) to complement the ketamine-xylazine-isoflurane anaesthesia, which allows a low-end-tidal isoflurane concentration. Clinical signs were continuously monitored and remained stable during the entire procedure, with the exception of a temperature that decreased to 35.8°C. No intraoperative analgesic rescues were necessary. Recovery was smooth and uneventful. The lynx showed no signs of motor weakness after surgery or other side effects related to the anaesthetic procedure. The successful management of this surgical case suggests that the described anaesthetic protocol could be recommended in orthopaedic procedures of the pelvic limbs in wild Felidae.

Comparative serological investigation between cat and tiger blood for transfusion

Evidence suggests that non-domesticated felids inherited the same AB-erythrocyte antigens as domestic cats. To study the possible compatibility of tiger blood with that of other endangered felidae, blood samples from captive tigers and domestic cats were subjected to an in vitro study. The objectives of this study were to (1) identify whether the captive tigers had blood type AB and (2) determine the compatibility between the blood of captive tigers and that of domestic cats with a similar blood type. The anti-coagulated blood with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid of 30 tigers was examined to determine blood type, and a crossmatching test was performed between tiger and cat blood. All 30 tigers had blood type A. Tube agglutination tests using tiger plasma with cat erythrocytes resulted in 100% agglutination (n=30) with type B cat erythrocytes and 76.7% agglutination (n=23) with type A cat erythrocytes. The 80% of major and 60% of minor compatibilities between blood from 10 tigers and 10 domestic cats with blood type A were found to pass compatibility tests. Interestingly, 3/10 of the tigers’ red blood cell samples were fully compatible with all cat plasmas, and 1/10 of the tiger plasma samples were fully compatible with the type A red cells of domestic cats. Although the result of present findings revealed type-A blood group in the surveyed tigers, the reaction of tiger plasma with Type-A red cell from cats suggested a possibility of other blood type in tigers.