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The anaesthetist aims to prevent awareness of pain, provide immobility and, whenever this is needed, relaxation of the skeletal muscles. These objectives must be achieved in such a way that the safety of the patient is not jeopardized during the perianaesthetic period. Many animals fear and resist the restraint necessary for the administration of anaesthetics thereby increasing not only the technical difficulties of administration but also the dangers inseparable from their use. A fully conscious animal forced to breathe a strange and possibly pungent vapour struggles to escape and sympatho-adrenal stimulation greatly increases the risks associated with the induction of anaesthesia. For this reason, veterinary anaesthetists often employ sedative drugs to facilitate the completion of general anaesthesia as well as to overcome the natural fear of restraint inherent in animals and to control any tendency to move suddenly during operations under local analgesia. In addition, the veterinary anaesthetist must recognize that not only does the response of each species of animal to the various anaesthetics differ due to anatomical and physiological differences, but that there is often a marked variation in response between breeds within each particular species. Another factor which must be considered is that in many parts of the world veterinarians must perform tasks without highly skilled assistance and when employing general anaesthesia, after inducing it themselves, have to depute its maintenance to a nurse or even to a lay assistant. (It must be pointed out that in many countries, including the UK, the delegation of tasks related to anaesthesia to an untrained person may in law be considered negligent if a mishap occurs). Thus, the continued development in recent years of safe, simple, easily applied techniques of general anaesthesia and regional analgesia, together with the institution of nurse and anaesthetic technician training programmes, are particularly welcome.

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