? Cerenia questions

As mentioned in my previous post regarding capsules, Jester is now on 1/2 Cerenia pill once a day for a week.

Jester's issue is not nausea, but the vet believes he's having tummy troubles and that filling it makes him feel better. (He's almost constantly demanding food.)

I know when the concern is nausea it's important to wait an hour after pilling to feed a kitty. But if that's not the issue is it still mandatory to wait that extra time?

Also, where do you all get your Cerenia to save on costs? Four of these pills just set me back nearly $30.

And now it looks like Jester has a bacterial infection to boot so he'll be on antibiotics (another $30 prescription).

 

I don't wait an hour. With Spot I usually see his interest in food pick up about 15-20 minutes after dosing, but I kind of leave it up to him. Chewy.com sells Cerenia for $11.64 for 4 tablets. That's about the cheapest I've seen.

 

Jester's situation is that he's ravenous nearly all the time. He's not nauseous at all.

When I was giving him Denamarin, the instructions were to give it to him on an empty stomach, then wait another hour before feeding him. Because Jester would cry to eat, I would basically get up at 5:00AM, give him the pill, go back to bed until about 6:15, and start with his morning routine. (That went on for about a month and the vet decided we could stop for a while and I got a little more sleep after that.)

So if the rules are about the same for Cerenia, I'm back to getting up at 5:00AM again and investing in 5-hour energy.....

 

Have you ever tried CBD oil? I don't have any experience with the specific issues you are going through with Jester.. Spot is exactly opposite, I can't get him to eat enough! That being said, CBD oil may be able to just help balance Jester out if the docs aren't able to pinpoint what his issue is... it may be worth looking in to..?

 

Right now I'm just working with what the vet prescribed. She wants to see how he responds and if his ravenous hunger goes away.

That said, I still need to know about the post-pill wait for feeding.

Is it absolutely necessary or is that only in cases of nausea?

 

Cerenia is only labelled for use in dogs for acute vomiting or motion sickness. All prescribing for cats is off label. Nothing in the official prescribing info talks about waiting for an hour after dosing. The instructions say to dose 2 hours prior to travel if it is being used to prevent motion sickness, but I think you are in uncharted territory since Jester is not actually vomiting and has a hearty appetite. I would say if giving it an hour before doesn't work for you, experiment and see what does.

 

I have never been told to wait an hour to feed. Of course, I have also not heard of a vet prescribing it when there is no nausea/reduced appetite. Did the vet tell you why she thinks it will help? It does have anti-inflammatory properties.

 

Cerenia is used extensively in cats and its use in cats is not off label.

I’ve used cerenia quite a bit and I usually wait 30 mins before feeding. I see no reason to wait an hour. However, I also think your vet is really off course on this. If a cat is not vomiting and has no nausea, it’s not going to address a ravenous appetite. I agree that it has anti-inflammatory properties and I’ve used it in that manner as well. However, I just don’t see how the shoe fits here in prescribing cerenia for a ravenous cat. If his eating habits have changed, you might want to look in other diagnostics such as hyperthyroidism. IMHO.

 

We've done tests twice for hyperthyroid.
Both negative.

 

Has there been a test since April? At one time, his tT4 was quite high.

The other thing about thyroids is a cat with other comorbidities can have what is called “euthyroid sick syndrome”. What that means is the other conditions cause the tT4 to look normal but that might not be a true reflection of what it is.

 

I've got a call in to the vet about the prescription. I hate to think I just paid out nearly $30 for something he doesn't need.

 

The tablets are specifically labeled "for oral use in dogs only", while the injectable says "for subcutaneous or intravenous injection in dogs and cats". I wasn't saying her vet was wrong to prescribe it - my cat is also on Cerenia tablets - I was just saying that there is no specific prescribing info from the manufacturer, so I don't know where the 1 hour after dosing guideline came from.

https://www.zoetisus.com/products/p...s_and_injectable_marketing_package_insert.pdf

 

Does your cat have problems with nausea or is there another reason for Spot to be using it?

 

Yes, he takes it for nausea.

 

Cerenia is really for vomiting but does have some anti-nausea properties. Ondansetron is a human anti-nausea drug and is a lot less expensive than cerenia

 

The only reason you wait an hour is so it stays in kitty's tummy. A cat experiencing nausea may vomit right after eating. If the pill doesn't go in first and get a chance to start dissolving it gets vomited up as well and wasted. Tigger would throw up if he ate too fast, too soon, too much, or if he is constipated. There would be sometimes up to 3 Denamarin pills - all in varying states of decomposition - in his vomit. I know those are different because they are enteric coated but it was still very weird and upsetting. One "pill" would be a swollen round coating with (vomit/bile/stomach acid) inside. It was disgusting. Sorry, TMI. I would think that with no nausea present you don't have to wait the hour.