Dehydration commonly develops in anesthetized animals. Intravenous or subcutaneous fluid therapy will often remedy dehydration and speed an animal's recovery. Lung congestion can be prevented by turning a laterally recumbant animals. They should not remain with the same side down for over four hours. Aspiration of vomitus can be minimized by lowering an animal's head slightly below the level of the chest.
Ruminants can develop a life-threatening bloat.
Propping them in sternal recumbancy helps to minimize the development of this. The bloat can be relieved by passing a stomach tube into the rumen to release the trapped gas. Post-anesthesia monitoring charts must be filled out following general anesthesia of all animals except rodents and lower vertebrates. The chart must be kept near the recovery cage to inform all personnel that a procedure has been done and that the animal is being monitored. A minimum acceptable interval between entries is one hour until the patient is able to rest on its sternum and every 6-8 hours until the patient can stand .