Route

Anesthesia

Pros

Cons

Tail vein

X

Inexpensive

· Restraining and heating required, stress to the animal

· Difficult to inject viscous substances

· Technically challenging (especially for dark skin animals)

· Greater chances of failure

· More chances of bruising

Femoral cut down

Ö

Accurate delivery into the veins.

· Difficult to access the site of injection

· Limited number of injections

· Not useful for long-term studies

· Technically challenging

Jugular catheter

Ö

Easy access with the catheter for IV injections

· Expensive

· Requires invasive surgery to insert the catheter

· Animal needs recovery time

· Catheter should be maintained carefully by flushing regularly

· Not useful for long-term studies

· More chances of internal leakage from the catheter

· May need to house animals individually

Retro-orbital

Ö

· Less challenging than tail vein

· More chances of successful delivery

· Less stressful to the animal

· Useful for chronic and long-term studies

· Less chances of bruising

· Personnel needs training to inject accurately

· Institutional animal welfare committee should approve the process