How should ether be used for anesthesia?
• The effective concentration of ether to produce anesthesia is 1.9%. This concentration can be produced with 0.08 ml (80 microliters) per liter of volume of a container. • Animals may be exposed to ether presented on a cotton ball or gauze pad inside a conical tube or small chamber, but there should not be direct contact of the animal with the cotton or gauze. • Induction takes 5 to 10 minutes. There are mouse strain differences in sensitivity to ether: C3H>BALB/c>DBA/2>ICR>C57B16. Ether is a satisfactory anesthetic in gerbils but it is unsafe in guinea pigs. • See “Use of Experimental Animals at the Johns Hopkins University” (www.jhu.edu/animalcare), and/or consult a JHU veterinarian (410-955-3273) for more information about anesthetizing animals with ether.
