THE EFFECT OF INTRAVENOUS DIAZEPAM ON SOLID PHASE GASTRIC EMPTYING IN NORMAL CATS

doi:10.1111/j.1740-8261.1997.tb00874.x

If you are seeing this message, you may be experiencing temporary network problems. Please wait a few minutes and refresh the page. If the problem persists, you may wish to report it to your local Network Manager.

It is also possible that your web browser is not configured or not able to display style sheets. In this case, although the visual presentation will be degraded, the site should continue to be functional. We recommend using the latest version of Microsoft or Mozilla web browser to help minimise these problems.

Systems Maintenance, Monday, 15th February 2010

Wiley InterScience

Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound

Volume 38 Issue 6, Pages 469 - 473

Published Online: 23 May 2005

Published on behalf of

Go to Society Site

< Previous Abstract | Next Abstract >

Save Article to My Profile Download Citation Request Permissions

Abstract | References | Full Text: PDF (Size: 669K) | Related Articles | Citation Tracking

THE EFFECT OF INTRAVENOUS DIAZEPAM ON SOLID PHASE GASTRIC EMPTYING IN NORMAL CATS

Phillip F. Steyn, BVSc, MRCVS, MS ¹ , David Twedt, DVM ² , Wanda Toombs, CVT ¹

¹ Department of Radiological Health Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biological Sciences Colorado State University, 300 W Drake, Fort Collins, CO 80523. ² Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biological Sciences Colorado State University, 300 W Drake, Fort Collins, CO 80523.

Address correspondence and reprint requests of Dr Phillip F. Steyn, Department of Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, 300 W Drake, Fort Collins, CO 80523.

Funding for this project was provided by the Ralston Purina Company.

KEYWORDS

cat • diazepam • solid phase gastric emptying • scintigraphy • ^99mTc sulfur colloid

ABSTRACT

Intravenous diazepam has been advocated as an appetite stimulant in anorexic cats. Diazepam has also been used to stimulate the intake of radiographic contrast medium-food mixture to determine the gastric emptying time of a solid meal. Diazepam has been suspected to delay gastric emptying in cats. One study found diazepam combined with Valium to have little effect on gastric transit times in cats while diazepam alone accelerates gastric emptying in humans. The purpose of this study was to determine if diazepam influences gastric emptying times in normal cats. The gastric emptying half-time of solid food in normal, non-diazepam treated cats has been previously determined using a scintigraphic technique using ^99mTc-sulfur colloid to radiolabel solid dry food. The median gastric emptying half-time was 2.3 hours and the mean meal size was 16.1 grams. Gastric emptying half-times were determined in this study using diazepam as an appetite stimulant. The median gastric emptying half-times of diazepam tratment groups given both a 16.1 gram meal and a large meal were both significantly longer than the normal non-treated group (P c 0.05). Solid phase gastric emptying is therefore significantly delayed when diazepam is used as an appetite stimulant, irrespective of the volume of the meal.

Recieved July 19, 1994; accepted for publication November 26, 1996.

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)

10.1111/j.1740-8261.1997.tb00874.x About DOI