Tasha McNerney, CVT, CVPP, VTS (Anesthesia & Analgesia), tackles one of the most stressful situations in veterinary medicine: the critical feline patient crashing through the door after severe trauma. If you've ever felt the urge to rush a painful cat straight into anesthesia, this episode will help you slow down, stabilize first, and make smarter decisions about oxygen delivery, shock management, analgesia, and anesthesia protocols. You'll walk away with practical tips to improve patient outcomes and a clearer understanding of why stabilization is the first treatment. Gang, let's get into this episode!
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Welcome everybody to the Cone
of Shame veterinary podcast.
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:I am your host, Dr.
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:Andy Rka.
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:I got a great one with my friend
Tasha McNerney today, the original
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:anesthesia nerd, and I am talking to
her about stabilizing the critical cat.
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:I start off with a story about a poor cat
that was attacked by multiple dogs and
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:came rolling in and this cat was in a bad,
bad way and I thought, I wanna make sure.
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:That I receive cases like this
in the best way that I possibly
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:can and immediately get to work,
and I felt immediately validated.
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:Tasha was like, please do not rush
to put these pits under anesthesia.
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:let's stabilize them first and
let's talk about what that means.
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:And so, anyway, really great
conversation with Tasha.
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:I feel smarter every
time I talk to her gang.
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:I hope you'll enjoy this episode.
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:Let's get into it.
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:Kelsey Beth Carpenter: This is your show.
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:We're glad you're here.
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:We want to help you in
your veterinary career.
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:Welcome to the Cone of Shame with Dr.
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:Andy Roark.
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
Welcome to the podcast.
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:Tasha McNerney, how are
you, my dear friend?
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
I'm good.
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:Thank you
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: Oh,
man, I so love having you on the podcast.
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:for those who don't know
you, they're missing out.
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:You are a veterinary technician
specialist in anesthesia.
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:You are, the original anesthesia nerd.
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:You are one of the people who organize
and run the Veterinary Anesthesia Nerds
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:group on, It's on Facebook still, right?
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
Mm-hmm.
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:On
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: Yeah,
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011: yep
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
absolutely.
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:The p- it is probably the best
resource on Facebook, bar none.
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:Well, I take that back.
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:There's, there's some other good groups.
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:The NOMV people are there.
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:There's,
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
Mm-hmm.
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
there's some really great, great people.
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:But in a shrinking world of goodness
on social media, the Veterinary
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:Anesthesia Nerds is a, is still a beacon.
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:you are also, one of the co-founders of
the Veterinary Anesthesia Nerds Symposium.
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011: Mm-hmm
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: is a
live event that is sold out, so if you're
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:like, "That's what I need," I'm sorry.
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:I just broke your heart.
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:it is sold out.
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:So yeah,
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
is sold out.
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: you
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
sold out actually every
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:single time we have run this.
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:And, yeah, we're currently
planning for:
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: Yeah.
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:So if, if, I'm just gonna plug
it right here at the beginning.
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:So if people were like, "I wanna be aware
of this in the future," how do people--
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:Like, if I desperately don't want to
miss this in:
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:I get hooked up for the, for the info?
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
Yeah, so, cool thing.
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:We actually are on Facebook, but I
usually tell people, "If you're not
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:on Facebook, like stay off Facebook.
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:our website instead."
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:Like,
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
Don't start
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011: Our
Veterinary Anesthesia Nerds website has
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:blogs and educational videos, and then
you can sign up for our newsletter, and
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:it's a monthly newsletter that gives
you anesthesia and pain management
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:tips and tricks, and any kind of
live events will be in the newsletter
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
That's fantastic.
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:All right, cool.
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:Let's get into this episode here.
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:So there's something I
wanna talk to you about.
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:So I have a friend.
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:I'm actually really glad I
was not the vet on this case.
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:So I have a friend, and he…
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:We were just sort of talking as,
you know, as you do with your vet
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:friends and everything, and he
was like, "Oh man, I saw this case
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:yesterday," and he sent me this picture.
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:And anyway, the long story short is this
poor cat was attacked by multiple dogs.
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:And my friend sent me the picture
'cause he ended up doing a front
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:leg amputation on the cat, and the
cat lived and everything like that.
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:But when this cat came in the door,
Tasha, it was, upsetting, right?
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:Like, like this, this
cat was in a lot of pain.
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:clearly had multiple puncture wounds, you
know, a- a- around the head, chest, legs.
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:You know, the, a lot…
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:It's, it's, it's bleeding everywhere.
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:It's bloody towels, things like
that, and it comes in the door.
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:And I had this thought that
what, what would I do when that
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:cat walked in the door, and is
it the best thing for the cat?
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:And so my immediate thought is, "God,
I have to help this cat right now."
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:You know, I'm immediately thinking
about the pain management for this cat.
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:But then also, I don't know
this cat is, is very stable.
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:I don't wanna do anything that's going
to reduce the chances that I'm going
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:to be able to save the cat, you know?
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:And I've had cats that have crashed
and died on me, you know, in, in the
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:past and, you know, they come in and
you have cats that are struggling to
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:breathe and, and, and in the course
of trying to, to, to address them,
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:especially if you're trying to do
diagnostics, I'm always worried that,
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:that I'm gonna lose this fragile patient.
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:And so I thought that this was a
really great thing just to circle up
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:with you on and be like, all right,
run me through this a little bit.
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:Like, talk to me about when the
unstable cat comes through the door
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:and balancing the need to stabilize
with the need to, provide analgesia
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:and, and, and, and pain support.
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:So Ta- Tasha, how, how do
you look at cases like this?
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011: Okay.
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:So first off, I just wanna make
the differentiation between
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:analgesia and anesthesia.
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: Okay
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
when we talk about these patients that
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:come in, even ones that are kind of
unstable, are gonna do a quick assessment,
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:and we are gonna provide analgesia.
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:Now, that doesn't mean that we're gonna
provide anesthesia or an induction agent,
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:but we are gonna provide analgesia.
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:So let's talk first priority.
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:First priority, the cat comes
in the door, you wanna look at
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:perfusion and oxygen delivery.
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:You can get a quick assessment, right?
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:If you…
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:The first thing you do is
put an IV catheter in, can we
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:get a PCV and total solids?
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:Let's put a pulse ox on this patient.
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:Before any kind of induction agent or
we're even talking about going to surgery
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:to repair wounds, the most important thing
is, is this patient adequately perfusing
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:the tissues and delivering oxygen?
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:Does this patient have enough blood
volume to deliver oxygen to tissues?
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:Is this patient currently hypotensive?
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:Is this patient now anemic
because of blood loss?
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:patient experiencing hypoxemia, right?
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:All of these things we wanna know
and look at before we would even
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:get into an OR to correct it.
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:So let's use this patient
as an example, right?
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:You put an IV catheter in, but
we have to think, number one,
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:cardiovascular stability and perfusion.
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:That's gonna come first, right?
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: Cone?
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
in, and then let's see, can we get a
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:PCV total solids to give us a little
bit of estimate of what's going on as
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:far as volume or anemia, et cetera?
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:And can we get a blood
pressure on this patient?
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:Now, if the patient is in so much pain
that we cannot even put an ECG and blood
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:pressure on, okay, then provide oxygen
to the patient, either a tight-fitting
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:mask or flow by, and then make sure
you get some pain control on board.
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:Remember, pain control is part of
stabilization, but choosing which pain
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:control is going to be important, right?
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:Because as we talked about on a
previous episode, opioids are gonna
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:function a little bit differently than
an analgesic like dexmedetomidine,
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:which is gonna function differently
than an analgesic like ketamine
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:pain, right?
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:If we don't control that pain, that
is going to cause a sympathetic
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:surge, and combined with, the
initial stages of shock, we can
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:see tachycardia in these patients.
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:That also can lead to increased myocardial
oxygen demand, so that's why we wanna
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:make sure we are providing supplemental
oxygen, flow by oxygen, et cetera.
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:Also, if we don't provide pain control,
then we are going to have to worry
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:about things like, increased chance of
arrhythmia or an increased amount of
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:induction drugs that we're gonna need.
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:So if we don't provide good pain
control in the beginning, we're gonna
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:have to use more of other drugs later.
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:And if we have to use more induction
agents to either get this patient, lateral
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:or on their back for an ultrasound, et
cetera, you know, if I have to use a huge
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:amount of propofol, especially in a shocky
patient, then if I am in-- using a huge
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:amount of propofol and now I'm making
this patient even more vasodilated, then
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:that's gonna lead to more hypotension,
which is going to even decrease further
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:their oxygen delivery and perfusion.
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:So it's no surprise that I hear from
people who have a patient like this that
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:maybe is hypovolemic in the early stages
of shock, they give it a huge amount of an
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:induction agent, something like propofol
or even something like acepromazine
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:that is gonna cause some vasodilation,
and then the patient can kind of, you
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:know, have this kinda crash and burn
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: Yeah.
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:So, okay, so talk to me more
about this, 'cause this is, this
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:is exactly what I wanna get into,
so I'm really glad you said this.
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:So, so let's say that we've got a
patient come in and they are hypovolemic,
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:and they've got like a, a low blood
pressure and things like that.
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:To me, I think my natural instinct
would be, "Oh, crap, if I, you know,
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:if I, if I'm heavy-handed with pain
medications here, I'm going to further,
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:you know, re- relax the internal
workings of this, of this cat."
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:You know what I…
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:And, and, and my, my worry is
we, we would move it in the wrong
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:direction, and you're saying that you
don't, you don't have that concern.
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:And so, yeah, so yeah, so, so talk to me.
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:Like, when, when you look at
the hypovolemic hypotensive cat
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:that's coming in, and it's, it's
traumatized, you're like, "Yeah,
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:I know it's hypo, hypotensive.
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:We're still going to go ahead and
we're gonna add in pain medications."
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:Is that right?
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
Yes, certainly.
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:Right?
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:So again, as we said, pain is going to
contribute to things like tachycardia,
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:increased oxygen demand, catecholamine
release, which we don't want.
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:So if I'm going to think…
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:If I think I'm gonna have to do
diagnostics on this patient and
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:I'm gonna cause increased stress
to this patient, and potentially
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:I'm gonna take this patient into
the OR where they're gonna be on
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: Yeah.
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
anesthetics, I wanna control that
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:tachycardia, I wanna decrease that
oxygen demand, provide some extra oxygen.
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:I don't want their stress catecholamines
to be surging so much because they, if
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:they're surging so much, then they're
not gonna be able to mount any kind
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:of sympathetic response, and that's
when we get into, you know, decom-
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:decompensatory shock and those stages.
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:We're not there yet with
this cat, let's say.
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:So this cat comes in, and what I
really would like you guys to do,
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:if you have the ability, is to
give this patient a full mu opioid.
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:So this is gonna be
something like methadone.
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:This is gonna be hydromorphone.
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:Now, if you don't have that at
your practice and you're like,
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:"Tasha, the only thing I have is
butorphanol," well, guess what?
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:You're giving the patient butorphanol.
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:You're gonna use what you
have on your shelf, right?
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
Gotcha
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011: Okay.
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:This analgesia is gonna be really
important because not only is it
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:going to reduce that tachycardia,
which is then going to improve cardiac
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:stability, and then it is going to
reduce that sympathetic drive, right?
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:And that is actually going to improve
our oxygen delivering capability.
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: Okay.
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
We want that.
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:So
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
I love it
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
analgesia.
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:So remember, our analgesics or
something like a dose of an opioid,
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:that should be given as part
of our stabilization technique.
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:Other drugs like induction agents and
inhalant anesthetics, those things
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:need to wait until after stabilization
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
So talk to me about, how we know that
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:stabilization has been achieved, right?
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:So I-- this is not ideal.
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:It's not going to be ideal.
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:I'm not going to fix this
cat before I fix this cat.
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:how do I know when good
enough is good enough?
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
Yeah, sure.
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:So the thing with stabilization is we
really want them to return, you know,
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:return to normal as much as possible.
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:The thing with this cat that comes in
that has multiple bite wounds or multiple
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:lacerations is we don't know what this
cat's normal was, but we're gonna use,
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:you know, feline normals as our guide.
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:We know that we are not gonna be
completely perfect with this patient,
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:before we get into anesthesia where we
might have to do some laceration repair
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:stuff, but we want them to be stable
enough that they can handle the side
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:effects of something like a propofol
or an inhalant anesthetic, right?
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:So what we're looking for is a heart rate
that is more trending towards normal.
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:We don't want them to
be overly tachycardic.
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:We also are looking for a blood
pressure with a mean arterial pressure
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:of at least 70 millimeters of mercury.
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:So again, if you wanna throw a Doppler
on or oscillometric, get a couple
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:measurements and see, has my fluid
bolus and my oxygen and my opioid
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:analgesic helped stabilize a little bit?
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:we wanna make sure that we are
getting nice adequate pulses
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:or stronger pulses than before.
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:you don't need completely normal lab
work or completely normal vitals before
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:we go to surgery, but we wanna make
sure that the patient has stabilized
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:enough that they can handle the side
effects of the other drugs that we
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:may need to throw into their system.
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
Gotcha.
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:So when we start to make our, sort
of a approach like this, you're sort
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:of doing these things in, in fairly,
in fairly rapid succession, right?
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:As far as moving, moving from, the IV
catheter into, you know, into fluids,
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:into, into pain management, analgesia,
things like what are the pitfalls
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:that you see people tripping up on?
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:So in this process of sort of starting
to stabilize patients, what are the most
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:common mistakes that you see teams making?
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011: Yeah.
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:So the most common mistakes that
we usually see them making is them
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:thinking, that when a patient comes in,
that the tachycardia in the beginning
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:stages of shock is the problem, and
we need to take, treat the tachycardia
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:when really the tachycardia that we're
seeing is the compensation either for
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:hypovolemia, right, or hypoxemia or pain.
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:So we need to treat one
of those things, right?
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:It's not necessarily about
getting that heart rate down.
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:It's about providing supplemental
oxygen, providing fluid volume so it can
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:deliver oxygen, and providing analgesia.
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:That's gonna help with
the tachycardia, right?
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:If you anesthetize a patient, right?
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:Let's just say you're like,
"Nope, I need to get X-rays.
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:We need to make sure," and we
give this patient a dose of
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:something like a propofol, or
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: Yeah
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
like mask it down, we remove that
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:body's natural compensation, right?
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:Then the hypotension that the patient is
experiencing becomes really profound, and
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:that's when we see these patients kind
of like tip over the because they just
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:can't maintain that tissue perfusion.
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:They cannot deliver oxygen to the
tissues that need to get the oxygen.
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: So
say I'm, say I'm, say I'm a technician,
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011: So,
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
and I've got, I've got this veterinarian
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:and, and he's saying, "Look, we
need to get this, we need to get
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:this cat under some propofols and
g- and and get some radiographs."
294
:it's gonna take a moment to sort
of stabilize this, this cat before
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:that's the right move to make.
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:Do you have a ballp- I know,
I know this is probably very
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:different to the patient, like,
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011: Yeah.
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
do you have a ballp- you know,
300
:but do you have a ballpark time?
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:'Cause, 'cause I can imagine people
saying, "How long does this take?
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:Is this instantaneous?
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:We're just bolusing fluids and
the heart rate drops down?"
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:Like, that's not gonna happen.
305
:But
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:like like how do you think about this?
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:Yeah, what's, what's, what's a, what's
a normal ballpark time for stabilization
308
:before, you know, before we end
up feeling comfortable to move on?
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:I know that's gonna vary hugely with the
individual patient, but, but you, you see
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:what I'm sort of, what I'm looking for?
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:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011: Yeah.
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:Right?
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:I get it.
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:I've worked in urgent care, I've
worked in general practice urgent care
315
:before, and sometimes, you know, I
don't have 45 minutes to stabilize a
316
:patient or have the staffing to do that.
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:We're not talking about
that length of time.
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:I'm really talking about stabilization
as far as, initial fluid bolus, which
319
:you can do over 15 minutes, right?
320
:Get your IV catheter placed, at
least get a PCV total solids.
321
:Bonus points if you're able to get
a lactate or something like that.
322
:Get a blood pressure, get an ECG,
get some analgesics on board.
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:So all within a span of 15 minutes.
324
:And at the end of that 15 minutes,
reassess and have you seen a
325
:noticeable shift, an improvement
in your blood pressure, in your
326
:heart rate, in your perfusion, if,
you know, oxygenation was an issue.
327
:If you've seen improvements
in that, okay, now we can go
328
:ahead and talk about next steps.
329
:And next steps for that patient
may be, can I give them a little
330
:bit of propofol so I can get that
ultrasound or get that radiograph?
331
:You know, propofol or Alfax,
whatever it is at your practice
332
:that you guys are utilizing.
333
:but I always say, again, if you have a
patient that you've just been stabilizing
334
:and now we are giving them something
like a propofol or Alfaxalone, we wanna
335
:be ready in case they have a period of
apnea, and that means just being ready
336
:to intubate this cat should I need to
337
:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: So
in your hands, do you approach these cases
338
:any differently now than you did, say,
pre-pandemic, like five, six years ago?
339
:Or do you f- like, like what's,
what's, what's new to you,
340
:I guess, around these cases?
341
:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011: I
would say that probably what's new to
342
:me around these cases, and this is not,
not necessarily a pre-pandemic thing,
343
:this is really just a Tasha finally
learned more about physiology thing,
344
:is that I-I'm a huge fan of ketamine.
345
:and for a long time, again, in
the context of analgesia and as an
346
:a-adjunct analgesic, I was like,
"Let's add a little bit of ketamine.
347
:We can reduce our overall, you know,
inhalant anesthetic, et cetera."
348
:And it wasn't until I had a conversation
with a human anesthesiologist who was
349
:talking about the way ketamine functions
and the way that it, it asks the
350
:body to mount a sympathetic response.
351
:And remember when I said that if our
stress catecholamines are surging so
352
:much and so much and so much, now we get
into that decompensatory stage of shock.
353
:If a patient comes in in that stage
of shock and they can't mount a
354
:sympathetic response, and then we
give them something like ketamine,
355
:can cause a cardiovascular collapse.
356
:And I am much, much more
judicious with my ketamine.
357
:That patient's gotta really stabilized
or shown massive improvements,
358
:with my stabilization efforts
before I'm probably gonna give
359
:any ketamine to a patient in shock
360
:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
That, that makes sense.
361
:When you take a patient like this and
then you move towards anesthesia, is there
362
:anything that you would wanna make sure to
emphasize, any best practices in shifting
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:from, you're like, "I think we're good.
364
:I think we're solid at, in terms of
stabilization from what I can tell."
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:Do you do your induction of anesthesia
any differently than, than what you
366
:would do or how you would do it, y-
you know, if you hadn't gone through
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:this sort of stabilization process?
368
:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
Yeah, so probably.
369
:again, every patient's gonna be a little
bit different, but for the most part,
370
:if we have had to stabilize a critical
patient and now we are at the stage
371
:where we're talking about taking them
into the OR, remember, I wanna minimize
372
:anything that's gonna cause vasodilation,
and the big players in that are gonna
373
:be things like our induction agents
like propofol and our inhalant agents
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:like, you know, isoflurane, sevoflurane.
375
:So if I can layer in things like
maybe before I give the propofol,
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:I give a dose of midazolam, right?
377
:And I do a co-induction
with midazolam and propofol.
378
:Reduce the amount of propofol I'm giving,
also reduce the MAC and the percentage
379
:of inhalant anesthesia that I need.
380
:Then another key player, big, big one is
get somebody on your staff that is trained
381
:and well-versed in local blocks, because
let me tell you, from a-- for a critical
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:patient, if I really wanna minimize
the amount of propofol I'm giving and
383
:minimize the amount of inhalant I need to
use, the local blocks are gonna be your
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:heavy hitters and make a huge difference.
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:So get somebody on staff who can
do that sacrococcygeal block or
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:maybe even do a brachial plexus
block for a front limb amputation.
387
:Again, hit me up on Anesthesia Nerds
if you want more information about
388
:local blocks and how we can do those.
389
:But local blocks are a huge component
for these more critical patients
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:that just can't handle the side
effects of propofol and inhalant.
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:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
So when you're looking at something
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:like this and you start to do local
blocks, I know we say we're going in
393
:for diagnostics and things like that.
394
:Like what is the, what is the
length of time that you're hoping
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:to get with these blocks, right?
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:So like, again, I'm, I'm, I'm,
I'm just trying to think here
397
:of, of let's say I'm moving into
a diagnostic phase, for example.
398
:I'm still not exactly sure what,
you know, what we're gonna find when
399
:we, when we really get in there.
400
:I mean, I've obviously assessed the
patient to some degree, but, um, but
401
:let's say that the, that the outcomes
here are still uncertain as far as what
402
:I'm, what I'm actually weighing into.
403
:Like Tasha, like, I mean, what do you…
404
:I, I think what I'm sort of digging at is,
is sort of like when you do these blocks,
405
:how long do you expect this to last?
406
:Is it, I mean, it, it's sort
of a short term fix as we
407
:start to, to just to wade in.
408
:And then I, as my follow-up question
I guess is sort of like beyond your
409
:expectations of sort of duration, is
this something that, you know, are you
410
:trying to lean towards, local blocks like
as soon as we're sort of stabilizing?
411
:Does that add to the benefits
we talked about earlier in terms
412
:of reducing pain and all the
benefits that we see from that?
413
:Like, like when does this come into
the process, and then how long do
414
:you expect to see benefits from this?
415
:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011: Yeah.
416
:All right.
417
:So hit you with the first
thing is duration of action.
418
:That's gonna p- depend on what
local anesthetic you choose, right?
419
:So lidocaine is gonna have a
shorter duration of action.
420
:So if I need something that's just gonna
cover me, let's say, you know, it's a
421
:blocked cat and I need to place a U-cath,
and I just need something that's going to
422
:last for a few hours while this is, you
know, indwelling catheter, and maybe once
423
:I get the patient on oral transmucosal
buprenorphine, they're gonna be a little
424
:bit better as far as pain control.
425
:But I need something for a couple
hours, so I'm gonna choose lidocaine.
426
:But, like, let's use the example
of this, this cat that came in,
427
:that potentially has some trauma.
428
:could it potentially
have some broken ribs?
429
:If so, then I would wanna do an
intercostal block on that, right?
430
:That's gonna help with
stabilization because that's
431
:going to relieve some of the pain.
432
:And especially if we have a patient
with broken ribs that is tachypneic in
433
:their breathing, we know that utilizing
something like an intercostal block
434
:with bupivacaine or ropivacaine, et
cetera, where we can get six to eight
435
:hours of duration, is just gonna help,
stabilize that patient and let them
436
:oxygenate and breathe smoother, better,
and again, reduce the overall amount of
437
:inhalant anesthetic I would need should
I need to go in, you know, surgery
438
:later and we're doing a lung lobectomy
439
:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014: Okay.
440
:And then, just sort of…
441
:Y- you start to move into local
blocks as quickly as you possibly can?
442
:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011: Yes.
443
:so it really depends on what kind of
local blocks that we are utilizing, right?
444
:So for instance, yesterday at work,
we had a pitty puppy that came in,
445
:you know, got bit in the face by a
housemate and had a, mandibular fracture.
446
:So what we did with that, again,
stabilization, check this patient,
447
:how much blood have they lost?
448
:Are they oxygenating?
449
:Get an IV catheter, get a fluid bolus.
450
:but, you know, we needed to give
this patient a little bit of propofol
451
:in order to get a dental X-ray to
check the, the break in the mandible.
452
:while this patient is under the
influence of propofol, guess what?
453
:I'm gonna slip a local block in there.
454
:So, and it, and it happens a lot
with our patients that have to
455
:be a, a little heavier sedated
for radiographs or ultrasounds.
456
:Guess what?
457
:While they're under that heavy sedation,
I'm gonna pop a local block in there
458
:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
That totally makes sense.
459
:Tasha, thanks so much for being here.
460
:Are there any last words of wisdom
that you would give me before I
461
:waded in, into cases like this?
462
:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011: Yes.
463
:Please, please, please stabilize
your patients before you put
464
:them on inhalant anesthetic.
465
:Remember, like, if we anesthetize
them without correcting it, then
466
:you're gonna ride a rollercoaster of
anesthesia that nobody wants to ride
467
:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
That's fantastic.
468
:Thanks for being here.
469
:Tasha, where can people find you online?
470
:tasha-guest596_1_03-03-2026_160011:
Ooh, yay.
471
:So you can find us at
veterinaryanesthesianerds.com
472
:or on the Veterinary Anesthesia
Nerds group on Facebook.
473
:in addition, you know, myself, Darcy, and
Steven, we lecture all over the place.
474
:yeah, we're pretty…
475
:We're, we're online a lot.
476
:maybe too much.
477
:Maybe too much.
478
:dr--andy-roark-_1_03-03-2026_160014:
Thanks for being here.
479
:Guys, thanks for tuning in, everybody.
480
:Take care of yourselves, gang
481
:And that's what we got guys.
482
:Thanks for being here.
483
:Thanks to Tasha for being here.
484
:oh, she's just so great.
485
:I just enjoy the heck outta her gang.
486
:If you enjoy the episode,
please, share with your friends.
487
:Get the word out.
488
:Let's spread the education knowledge and
also, feel free to write us a review.
489
:Leave us a, a thumbs up,
you know, rate, subscribe.
490
:Do all the things you're
supposed to do with podcasts.
491
:If you are enjoying the episode,
it just means the world to me.
492
:I'd love, I'd love to
have people tuning in.
493
:Anyway, guys, that's it.
494
:That's what I got.
495
:Take care, everybody.
496
:I'll talk to you later on.
497
:Bye.