Sedating the Sick Patient: Safe and Practical Approaches for Dogs and Cats

This session delivers a practical, patient-centered approach to sedation in dogs and cats, focused on real-world decision-making. Learn how to tailor drug selection based on procedure type, pain level, temperament, and physiologic status, while minimizing cardiopulmonary risk, especially in critically ill patients.
We’ll walk through go-to protocols for common scenarios, from healthy and fractious patients to painful and systemically compromised cases, so you can choose confidently in the moment.
Walk away with immediately applicable sedation strategies that improve safety, efficiency, and patient welfare.

• Develop sedation plans based on procedure type, anticipated duration, and degree of pain or anxiety.
• Select appropriate sedative and analgesic drug combinations for a range of clinical scenarios in dogs and cats.
• Adjust sedation protocols for patients with systemic illness, trauma, or altered organ function.
• Recognize the risks, benefits, and reversibility of commonly used sedative agents to enhance patient safety.