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Table 1 Sedation scale from Grint et al. [3]

From: Sedation levels in dogs: a validation study

1. Spontaneous posture

 

 • standing =0

 

 • tired but standing =1

 

 • lying but able to rise =2

 

 • lying but difficulty rising =3

 

 • unable to rise =4

 

2. Palpebral reflex

 

 • brisk =0

 

 • slow but with full corneal sweep =1

 

 • slow but with only partial corneal sweep =2

 

 • absent =3

 

3. Eye position

 

 • central =0

 

 • rotated forwards/downwards but not obscured by third eyelid =1

 

 • rotated forwards/downwards and obscured by third eyelid =2

 

4. Jaw & tongue relaxation

 

 • normal jaw tone, strong gag reflex) = 0

 

 • reduced tone, but still moderate gag reflex =1

 

 • much reduced tone, slight gag reflex =2

 

 • loss of jaw tone and no gag reflex =3

 

5. Response to noise (handclap)a

 

 • normal startle reaction (head turn towards noise/ cringe) = 0

 

 • reduced startle reaction (reduced head turn/ minimal cringe) = 1

 

 • minimal startle reaction =2

 

 • absent reaction =3

 

6. Resistance when laid into lateral recumbency

 

 • much struggling, perhaps not allowing this position =0

 

 • some struggling, but allowing this position =1

 

 • minimal struggling/ permissive =2

 

 • no struggling = 3b

 

7. General appearance/attitude

 

 • excitable =0

 

 • awake and normal =1

 

 • tranquil =2

 

 • stuporous =3

 
  1. aIn this study, a clicker was used in place of a handclap in an effort to standardise the stimulus. Table reproduced with the written permission of the publisher, John Wiley and Sons, through the Copyright Clearance Centre
  2. bA score of “2” was assigned in the published scale (Grint et al. [3]); this was confirmed as a typographical error with N Grint before beginning this study