Medetomidine, a novel alpha 2-agonist drug intended for small animal sedation, was injected intramuscularly at dose rates of 0.02, 0.06 and 0.18 mg/kg. Xylazine (3.0 mg/kg) and saline were used for comparison. The five treatments were tested in a Latin square design in five cats. Treatments differed significantly in three-way analysis of variance, medetomidine inducing an increase in drowsiness with a corresponding decrease in both aroused waking and sleep determined by polygraphical criteria. The duration of effect was dose-dependent. The effect of 0.18 mg/kg medetomidine was comparable to 3.0 mg/kg of xylazine. The drugs also induced bradycardia.

Consumption of chicken products has been increasing. Most of these products in Finland are sold as fresh marinated pieces in consumer packages. The impact of marination on the survival of enteric pathogens is not known. We studied the survival of Campylobacter jejuni on marinated chicken drumsticks and sliced breast strips stored at a refrigerator temperature of +4C. The marinade was an emulsion of vegetable oil and water with spices, NaCl (5.9% wt/wt) and its pH was adjusted to 4.5 with lactic and acetic acid. The survival of C. jejuni was similar in marinated and nonmarinated chicken drumsticks and strips. The organisms were detected for at least nine days at the higher inoculum level (101– 102 CFU/mL) and for at least five days at the lower inoculum level (101– 102 CFU/mL). C. jejuni, inoculated into plain marinade and stored at 4C, was detected after 24 h but not after 48 h. Our results revealed that marination procedure used to reduce and prevent the growth of spoilage organisms does not significantly decrease the survival of Campylobacter jejuni in chicken products.

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