Mohammad Reza Emami - Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Meshad, Meshad, Iran.
Mohammad Reza Sedighi - Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Meshad, Meshad, Iran.
Shamsedin Sarhaddi - Private Veterinary Practitioner, Meshad, Iran.

Objective: To compare romifidine and xylazine premedication in ketamine anesthesia of the dog. Design: Experimental design. Animals: Fifteen cross-breed dogs. Procedures: Animals randomly allocated into three groups of five. Group G۱ premedicated by xylazine ۱ mg/kg, G۲ romifidine ۴۰ µg/ kg and G۳ romifidine ۸۰ µg/ kg intramuscularly. All animals premedicated with atropine ۰.۰۲ mg/kg subcutaneously ten minutes before induction of anesthesia. Anesthesia was induced by ۱۵ mg/kg ketamine IM. Heart rate, respiratory rate, mean arterial blood pressure and eclectrocardiac activity beside quality of anesthesia were evaluated. Results: No significant differences were found between three groups around all recorded parameters.  Conclusions and Clinical relevance: Usage of different doses of romifidine in canine species is possible without any unexpected outcome, ۸۰ µg/ kg of romifidine make better onset of anesthesia.

Romifidin, Xylazin, Ketamine, anesthesia, Dog