Balanced anesthesia in pigeons (Columba livia): a protocol that ensures stable vital parameters and feasibility during long surgeries in cognitive neuroscience

In neuroscience, numerous experimental procedures in animal models require surgical interventions, such as the implantation of recording electrodes or cannulas before main experiments. These surgeries can take several hours and should rely on principles that are common in the field of research and medicine. Considering the characteristics of the avian respiratory physiology, the development of a safe and replicable protocol for birds is necessary to minimize side effects of anesthetic agents, circumvent technical limitations due to the insufficient availability of patient monitoring, and to maintain stable intraoperative anesthesia. Through the consistent and responsible implementation of the three R principle of animal welfare in science ("Replace, Reduce, Refine"), we aimed to optimize experimental methods to minimize the burden on pigeons (