Isoflurane Anaesthesia

Before starting:

• Insure that you have adequate supply of Oxygen & Isoflurane.
• Weigh the Activate Charcoal filter to insure they have sufficient remaining capacity to adsorb fumes..
• Insure all hoses are untangled .
• Check the integrity of the latex membrane on the cone & replace if necessary.

Induction:

• Open regulator on  oxygen tank
• Place the rat into the induction chamber.
• open the valve on the hose to the induction chamber & insure that the other valve is closed.
• Turn on Oxygen flowmeter  till ball rises to about "2"
• Set Isoflurane flow to "5".
• Monitor rat.

To Shave:

• Turn on valve on hose leading to cone.
• Turn off valve to induction chamber.
• Leave settings for Oxygen  & Isoflurane flow to "2" & "5" respectively.
• Place the rats nose through the hole in latex on the cone.
• Shave the rats head.

Placing Rat in Stereotaxic Frame:

• Disconnect hose from the cone and quickly attach it to the Stereotaxic anaesthesia mask.
• Place the rats incisors over the incisor bar & adjust the mask to fit over the rats nose. Do not tighten incisor bar yet.
• Carefully position ear bars into the rats ears.
• When ear bars are properly positioned, move the incisor bar away from the rat slowly until it rests against back of incisors.
• Tighten incisor bar screw
• Move the anaesthesia mask toward the rat so that you have a snug fit.
• Tighten screw on Anaesthesia mask
• Lower nose clamp so that it fits snugly against the mask.
• Lower Isoflurane flow to "2.5"
• Lower O₂  flow to "1".
• Place a drop of  Tear-Gel in each eye.
• Monitor rat  and adjust isoflurane flow as required.