Tasha McNerney, CVT, VTS (Anesthesia & Analgesia), tackles one of the most common clinical dilemmas: How do you safely sedate dogs and cats for quick procedures without committing them to a full day of anesthesia or risking complications? If you have ever hesitated before radiographs, wound repair, or diagnostics because you wanted fear-free handling but also needed efficiency, this episode delivers practical answers. Tasha walks through reversible sedation protocols, multimodal analgesia, and how to combine opioids, dexmedetomidine, and local blocks to maximize comfort while protecting the airway. She also shares feline sedation strategies, when to add ketamine, and how local anesthesia can do the heavy lifting for painful procedures. You will walk away with confidence, safer sedation choices, and tools to deliver high-quality care even in spectrum-of-care situations. Gang, let’s get into this episode!
You can also listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts!
LINKS
Veterinary Anesthesia Nerds: https://www.veterinaryanesthesianerds.com/
Dr. Andy Roark Charming the Angry Client Team Training Course
Dr. Andy Roark Swag: drandyroark.com/shop
All Links: linktr.ee/DrAndyRoark
ABOUT OUR GUEST
Tasha McNerney obtained her CVT in 2005 and has worked clinically in the areas of anesthesia and surgery ever since. Tasha obtained her CVPP (certified veterinary pain practitioner) designation in 2013 and became a veterinary technician specialist in anesthesia in 2015.
Tasha has been a featured speaker on various anesthesia and pain management topics at several international veterinary conferences. Tasha is the author of many articles and blogs on anesthesia and pain management related topics.
In 2013 Tasha created the Facebook group Veterinary Anesthesia Nerds, which has over 65,000 members taking part in education and exchange of ideas from all over the world!
Tasha is crazy and bought a 1920’s fixer upper and is now obsessed with home improvement tutorials on YouTube. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, son, one perfect cat, and one jerk cat. Trust me that cat is a jerk.
