What is your experience with Cerenia?

Discussion in 'Feline Health - (Welcome & Main Forum)' started by MargaretM, Aug 13, 2019.

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  1. MargaretM

    MargaretM New Member

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    Mar 20, 2017
    Hello Everyone, I wanted to ask this...
    So my kitty tolerates Cerenia well, there are no visible side-effects. But as usual I'm so scared of all these drugs and what effect they may have on liver and kidneys. I try to use it with caution, but his vomiting seems to increase lately and we (me + 2 vets) can't really find the underlying cause. Everything is, as always, just guessing... either IBD, increased UREA in blood, or pancreatitis... Lately he's been doing rather ok (diagnosed July 2015), "just" the vomiting...

    So my question is... does anyone have experience with long-term Cerenia use?
    How often did you give Cerenia and for how long? And what effect did it have on liver/kidney blood test results? Or maybe you noticed some other side-effects related with long-term use?

    Thank you for help.
     
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  2. Chachi's Mom

    Chachi's Mom Member

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    Jun 5, 2019
    My Chachi takes 1/2 of a 16 mg Cerenia tablet along with 1/2 of a 5 mg tablet of Prednisolone EVERY OTHER DAY for the past 2 years. His Diabetes is steroid induced but his IBD symptoms come back if I go any lower with the meds and he becomes just so miserable. He takes 1 unit Lantus 2x day. He seems to tolerate all the meds well and his Diabetes , so far, is under control. His numbers stay with in normal limits. I do worry about liver and kidney but so far his numbers are good there too. I think keeping his dosagee low may help his body tolerate the meds better but I am realistic that there may come a day that he will begin to show other symptoms. i worry more about the steroid right now. I just want him to be as happy and comfortable as possible. The Cerenia is not quick acting so it needs to be taken on a regular or routine basis. Ondansetron is more of a quick acting anti nausea med. Chachi takes that on rare occasions if he is stressed much.
     
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  3. Tracey&Jones (GA)

    Tracey&Jones (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Dec 12, 2016
    Jones was on a daily cerenia dose for almost 2 and a half years. He got a 1/4 tab a day for his IBD/pancreatitis. It had no affect on his liver or kidney values. Outside of not vomiting didn't notice any side affects. We did try to go to every second day and that just meant he vomited every second day. Vet indicated that it was ok long term. His vomit was smooth brown liquid type, and usually happened after eating.

    Now, just to through this out there. I have CKD kitty that vomits just white foam/water and she only gets the famotadine (pepcid) if needed.
     
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  4. MargaretM

    MargaretM New Member

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    Mar 20, 2017
    Thank you very much for answering.
     
  5. Sandi&Maxine&Whispy(GA)

    Sandi&Maxine&Whispy(GA) Well-Known Member

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    Oct 2, 2015
    I apologize in advance for the length of this post, and some stuff that is a little gross, but we've recently been down this road with our oldest, Sugar, who just turned 18. Correction, we are still on this road!

    So that is why I wanted to respond to you, we are playing the guessing game with her as well. I am sharing everything just to see if anything in this story resonates with you. Cerenia is just one thing that we tried.

    The whole time we've had Sugar, about 19 months now, she has had a profuse vomiting problem [ETA: She is not diabetic]. We have 6 cats currently, and have another 7 who have passed on -- in other words, we've seen a lot of medical issues over the years. I've never seen vomiting like this before. Not smooth brown liquid like Jones had or white foam like Tracey's other cat (although we've seen that a lot from 4 other senior cats we've had with kidney disease), not right after eating, and she doesn't scarf her food down quickly.

    She would just be sitting there minding her own business, and (sorry this is gross) in the blink of an eye she projectile vomits everything in her stomach in a spray from where she is sitting to about 4 feet away. No retching before hand, no looking like she is going to vomit or bring up a hairball. Bang, vomit. about every 3 days. Although her stool looked ok, often the field of vomit would start right outside her litterbox. Here's what we've been through.

    Bloodwork first, including an SDMA test. Early kidney disease. Started her on omeprazole (Prilosec). Didn't affect the vomiting, but still giving it daily anyway since we know she has CKD.

    No idea what she was eating before we adopted her, so for months we tried elimination diets, novel proteins, to see if it is food allergy. No luck.

    Metronidazole for its anti-inflammatory effects in case it is something like IBD.

    Maybe chronic constipation or megacolon? Perhaps the vomiting was after straining in the litter box, even though we didn't always witness the vomiting? We did an xray and she was backed up, so she had an enema and then we added Miralax daily for that. Still no help with vomiting. So we added cisapride for a couple of months, no help with the vomiting. She HATED the compounded cisapride, so left that out and it made no difference. But monitoring of her litter box showed much more regular stool once we got the right dose of miralax...too much and we didn't see diarrhea, but she was dropping tiny little turds in her bed so we reduced it and now the poop department is good and we don't think it is contributing to the vomiting.

    Hairballs? Added hairball treats for a month. No difference.

    So then in addition to the Miralax and omeprazole, we start trying to just address the vomiting without knowing what is causing it (if that makes sense). Got a cerenia injection at the vet with no other changes just to see what it would do, and she was good for about a week, which was a record. But then the vomiting started again, so we started cerenia tablets. Didn't get the same affect as the injection, still vomiting every few days, but tried cerenia for about a month to be sure. No help.

    So then we started two things at the same time, which I am telling you so that you are aware that I do NOT know which one is helping. We started a half tab of Ondansetron (which we put in an any gel cap with her omeprazole to easily pill her just once) every evening about 1 hour before her dinner. But we also added 100mL of fluids every evening. With her getting miralax every day, which pulls fluids in from your body, even though I water down her wet food 50/50, we thought it was a good idea. Now, I know that Ondansetron is supposed to be fast acting and has a very short half-life, but my vet liked the idea that it addressed vomiting in a different fashion. From a human page: "Ondansetron hydrochloride is a new serotonin receptor antagonist that is effective in preventing emesis associated with cancer chemotherapy. The antiemetic effect appears to be exerted through a peripheral vagal blocking within the gastrointestinal tract, as well as an inhibitory effect within the chemoreceptor trigger zone (CTZ). " I won't pretend to understand all of that, but it was this last part about the CTZ, a trigger within the brain that induces vomiting, that made her think about the immediateness of her vomiting.

    Long story longer, so now she is still on 1/2 tablet Omeprazole and 1/2 tablet of Ondansetron daily an hour before dinner, and 1/8 tsp miralax twice daily in wet food at breakfast and dinner. Knock on wood...it's been two months now (anti-jinx, anti-jinx) and no vomiting. I am skeptical of the Ondansetron actually helping based on what I know about it, but I am also unwilling to stop it right now because we were all miserable fighting the vomit -- she had to be confined to one room to keep an eye on her ins and outs and also to minimize the damage. The whole room and bed was covered in fabric painting tarps, we were doing laundry all the time, and eventually that carpeting is still probably going to have to be ripped out. Even though she seemed ok both immediately before and after vomiting, that can't feel good, right?

    IF our two month "streak" eventually ends, I'll probably remove the Ondansetron and wait and see if the frequency of vomiting increases or the vomiting was just a one-time event to try and definitively determine if Ondansetron is making any difference. Sugar is a champ at getting fluids, purrs the whole time and doesn't leave my lap even when we are done, it's good for her CKD, so we will continue that and the omeprazole regardless. She's 18 so we aren't going to put her through anything like an endoscopy, or anything like that. Even when she was vomiting, she seemed very healthy and happy, and she continues to be one of the happiest and most outwardly loving cats I've ever had, from the very first night that she was in our house. She even gained some weight during this (?!?), she was a little underweight when she came to us.

    All of this might not help at all, but I wanted to share just in case there's any tiny piece that resonates with what you are seeing because I know it is frustrating. I made the same comment about Sugar, that she is just fine except the vomiting thing! Also this is an interesting article: http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/diagnostic-strategy-vomiting-dogs-and-cats-proceedings-0

    I hope you can find something to help your kitty too. :bighug:
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2019
    Reason for edit: clarification -- not diabetic
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  6. Justin & Sebastian

    Justin & Sebastian Well-Known Member

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    Feb 1, 2019
    I've used both Cerenia and Odanstetron on Sebastian with zero effect. In fact, there were occasions where giving him the pills caused him to throw up. He's gotten injectable Cerenia at the vet before that seemed like it might have been a little more effective but they seemed reluctant to give me more for home use so I don't know how much of an option that is.

    However I will say that over the past month we've transitioned to a raw food diet and also did the Animal Biome Fecal Matter Transplant supplement and that seems to have worked wonders. He hasn't vomitted in a while and he's had a much easier time getting weight back up. Sebastian has similar diagnosis, diabetic, pancreatitis, possible IBD. He's doing really well now and isn't on any medications or supplements besides the insulin.

    Edit: Just to be clear, when I say the Cerenia and Odanstetron had "zero effect", I mean they didn't stop the vomitting. We didn't use it long enough to see any side effects.
     
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  7. Margie and Jackson

    Margie and Jackson Member

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    Apr 26, 2019
    Oh man, thank you for sharing this epic tale. I want to add that I just cleaned up a pile for the second day in a row so I know how not funny it can be, but it’s still kind of funny and gives a priceless sense of connection to read about this. Boy. You are a true cat hero.

    For a long time, I felt like daily vomiting was just something older cats did, not the description above, but a little foam, or sometimes a little muck. I did see a huge drop off when I started feeding my (now passed on) elderly cats higher quality food. I never had such an intransigent problem with it (anti-jinx!). Good luck with Sugar’s streak lasting forever. She better be loving!
     
  8. MargaretM

    MargaretM New Member

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    Mar 20, 2017
  9. Sandi&Maxine&Whispy(GA)

    Sandi&Maxine&Whispy(GA) Well-Known Member

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    Oct 2, 2015
    Cool, thanks for that link, it's always good to know more. (And know that I really didn't answer your question about long term Cerenia use, but since are doing the same dance that you are doing, I wanted to share in case any of it helped)

    Have a good day!
     
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  10. MargaretM

    MargaretM New Member

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    Mar 20, 2017
    I truly truly appreciate it. Because we are now trying Cerenia, that's why I try to learn as much as I can about it, but if ever things got even more complicated now I also know about Omeprazole and Ondansetron that you use, and this is always such a relief just knowing that there are options, that there might be some plan B. Thanks to your story I also decided to try with fluids again, even though it's not easy with him... but we'll keep trying. Thank you once again for sharing your story.
     
  11. JoyBee&Ravan

    JoyBee&Ravan Well-Known Member

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    Feb 17, 2018
    I believe in trying Natural remedies,herbs & supplements "before" using " Pharmaceuticals" The Majority of people here use drugs. I was raised in a family that used herbs & a more natural approach to healing.

    I'm almost 73 yrs old & do not take any meds at all, just some vitamins & supplements. My 3 cats are 17 years old . Ravan has diabetes, Kidney disease & high blood pressure. ( inherited genetic problems from the mother cat who was feral.)

    He takes insulin & high blood pressure meds. I give him CBD oil ( Paws by Charlotte's Web ) once a day for inflammation, fish oil & Methyl B-12. You can look at his SS & see he's doing pretty good.

    His litter mate,Peggy Sue has recently been diagnosed with Oral cancer.She has had injections of Chemo & so far the only "meds" she has needed are CBD OIL for pain & getting her to eat.

    I've had Bad experiences using Pharmaceuticals myself & with my cats. That's just me.

    What ever you choose to do I wish you the best of luck!
    [​IMG]
     
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