Bad reaction to Tramadol

lcat4

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Hi, My cat, Clark, had/is having a bad reaction to the pain med Tramadol, and I'm wondering if anyone else has had this happen and can share their experience, how long it might last, treatment...

Clark is my cancer baby, with masses in his bladder.  He had a flare up a couple weeks ago, straining, with visible blood in his urine.  A week of anti-spasmodics and a few doses of Buprenex and he's back in his happy place of smaller, frequent peeing, but without much strain or visible blood.  He had a visit to the oncologist this week and we were talking pain meds.  He said Clark could try Tramadol, much cheaper than Buprenex and works well with NSAIDs (which he takes).  Rather than wait for him to be in pain and not know how he'd react to the medicine, I thought I'd give him a dose yesterday morning while I was at home. 

Clark is an experienced sleeper.  If he's not asleep, he's stretched out somewhere, lounging.  I noticed early afternoon that he was sitting upright (head high) in the hallway and realized he had been there for quite awhile.  His eyes were wide open with dilated pupils.  He continued to sit the rest of the day.  He didn't want dinner, and he always wants dinner.  He ate late dinner, but he kept looking around, agitated.  He did not curl up with me in bed, but stood guard at the end.  About 4:00 AM, he got up, pacing.  I got up, saw that his eyes were still dilated, and called the 24 hr clinic. 

Apparently, a bad (rare) side effect of Tramadol is seratonin syndrome.  I guess the seratonin can go beserk in the body, causing agitation, hypertension, dilated pupils, and potentially seizures.  The clinic said I could bring Clark in, they'd check his vitals and give him fluids. The med is supposed to last 12 hours, and he was now at 18 hours.  They said it should resolve soon.  Giving sub-que's to a cat who finds it hard to pee is not always a good idea.  I opted to watch him and give him several small meals with added water mixed in.  He's eating well and has been doing more lounging today, but still not sleeping.  His eyes are still dilated.  We are now at 30 hours.  I believe there is progress and he will be fine, but I'm curious if anyone else has had this type experience.  Obviously, he will not be given any more Tramadol. 

Just now, as I'm finishing up this post, Clark came up to me, and I can see the iris of his eye!  So he's definitely getting better!  Still want to hear of any experiences.  Thanks, Lori
 

vball91

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Hmm, interesting. My cat had a similar but less severe reaction to buprenex in Dec. Her eyes were very dilated, and she didn't move much or sleep much for 24 hours. I mentioned it to my vet at the time, and she said it was not uncommon. Now, upon further reflection, I think the vet gave her too much. She got two full doses within a couple of hours, and she's a little cat at under 7 pounds. So I'm not sure if this was a bad reaction or not, but she did seem to start normalizing after 24 hours, although it was about 36 hours before she would eat again.
 
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