You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet. However, there are precautions which should be taken. This also means that animals should not be allowed to get frightened, stressed or excited prior to the use of halothane. Cardiovascular and respiratory depression occur as a dose-related response with halothane and both cardiac and respiratory function should be monitored during the anaesthetic period. Excessive depression should be avoided by decreasing the dose rate of halothane and cardiopulmonary resuscitation should be performed if respiratory or cardiac arrest occurs.
Halothane can cause hepatic damage following repeated exposures.
Great care should be taken if using halothane in patients with pre-existing impairment of liver function. The dose of halothane delivered by vapourisers can only be considered reliable of the vaporiser has been regularly serviced because halothane contains thymol as a preservative and this substance causes vaporiser controls to stick and causes occlusion of ports, altering gas flow rates. So, care should be taken when using halothane in animals that have pre-existing renal disease and renal blood flow should be maintained by setting up an intravenous fluid line in patients at risk to develop acute renal failure. All rights reserved.