Adverse Reactions To Convenia In Cats Who Have Tolerated It Previously?

Hi,

My cat has an autoimmune disorder, which we've treated with a combination of antibiotics & antihistamines for the last 9 years.

When she was little, giving her pills & liquid meds was an ordeal, but doable. As she's gotten older, bigger, stronger & more stubborn, it's become nearly impossible for me to administer any medication to her orally.

The last several (5?) times her condition has become bad enough to require medical intervention, she was given Convenia. Other than a day or so of upset stomach, she did not seem to suffer any ill effects from it and it certainly seemed less traumatic than the two adults required, half hour, screaming-growling-writhing-frothing-at-the-mouth-scratchfests that attempting to pill/liquid med her inevitably become.

Her condition is once again flared up. However, I've now become aware of the serious & sometimes fatal adverse reactions so many cats & dogs have had to Convenia and I'm concerned about giving it to her; I have suffered permanent damage from a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, myself, & wouldn't wish an ADR on anyone, least of all my cat.

Are any of you aware of an animal who has previously tolerated Convenia without incident suffering from an adverse reaction to it at a later date?

Are there alternative injectable antibiotics for feline skin/mouth infections? I've not been able to find anything conclusive.

I'd very much appreciate any first hand experiences & information you could share with me about Convenia.

Thanks

If I'm not mistaken, Convenia is only approved to be used for specific skin problems and abscesses and only once or twice in a cat's life. 

Cats:

For the treatment of skin and soft tissue abscesses and wounds associated with Pasteurella multocida, Fusobacterium spp., Bacteroides spp., Prevotella oralis, ß-haemolytic Streptococci and/or Staphylococcus intermedius.   (ADDITIONAL LISTED USES & BACTERIA THAT ARE CROSSED OUT ARE NOT APPROVED BY THE FDA)
 

Click to expand...

http://noconvenia.com/#Uses

It's used off label by almost every vet, though.  I have had 2 kitties receive the injection and they both had the same reaction, extreme lethargy for 7-10 days.  They only moved to eat and potty. 

If your kitty has stomatitis, there is a vet in Dallas who developed a syrup to help treat that.  Some members have used it successfully.  For mouth ulcers, I've used buprenex (I think that's the name) that comes in a syringe, though it's not an injection.  You use the syringe to squirt the meds in the mouth.

Buprenex is a pain medication that is often prescribed for cats as it has a limited ability to overdose on it as opposed to opiate based pain meds. It wouldn't help to heal any mouth sores or lesions but would make them less painful. Convenia is an antibiotic that has a long action which allows treatment with fewer doses. Like any antibiotic, reactions can happen in animals (and people!) who never had any problems before. The main problem with reactions is in regards to the long time period that Convenia stays in your system after a single dose, since it isn't as simple as stopping the meds and recovering in a day or two. Side effects aren't common, but should be looked for especially if they have had any type of allergies or reactions to any antibiotics and similar compounds. If you see a rapid increase in side effects, I'd recommend calling the vet ASAP and getting advice.

Jim

Hi, stephanietx & JMarkitell,

I was not aware that it Convenia was only supposed to be used once (or twice) in an animal's life, presumably as a last resort sort of med. My cat has Eosinophilic Granuloma, which presents in her case as primarily lip & chin swelling & lesions. Getting oral liquid meds into with a plunger syringe is a nightmare and nearly impossible. She starts frothing at the mouth & then makes herself throw up, while making sounds like she's possessed & flailing wildly. Pills are a little easier, but still require long sleeves, long pants, a towel, a small closed off room, two adults & a thirty minute battle. The whole experience is traumatic and exhausting for cat & humans alike and, at this point, I'm frankly concerned for her safety (in addition to her health) because her level of resistance makes it extremely difficult for anyone to hold her both carefully & remotely still enough to get the syringe within inches of her mouth. So, the shot seemed like a godsend but, if what I've read is to be believed, it hardly seems worth the risk. I'm really interested in knowing if there's an alternative injectable antibiotic with a better safety profile than Convenia-? Even one that's short-acting might be enough to re-jig her immune system.

I am not aware of any injectable antibiotic other than Convenia, and believe me, we have the same issue as you with pilling or trying to give anything orally to one of our cats, even though she only weighs a whopping FOUR pounds .   That being said, our little one has had the Convenia shot at least 5 times that I can remember, and never, ever had a problem with it.  And none of those times has been for a skin condition.  Once was for a ruptured anal gland, twice for a UTI, and twice for raised ALT, so something was going on with her liver.  (She's 15 1/2 and a kidney cat and  never had issues with the Convenia) .  Admittedly, it was not the best for the UTI, that's why she ended up needing it twice for the same UTI, but other than that it seems to work great - fir HER.   She doesn't even have any reaction to it at all....not even any lethargy or upset tummy.

If I were you I would just speak very frankly to you Vet about what is best for your little one in view of her issues, particularly with her mouth, and what the possible side effects of the convenia might be if taken too many times, or if she can develop an adverse reaction to it.

I realized after I posted that I mentioned buprenex and that is NOT an antibiotic.  Sorry about that.

I know I'm a little late to this thread, but since others might search for covenia (like I did), I thought I would add my two cents.  

There is a lot of hysteria about adverse effects of many drugs used for pets, and so I tend to take concerns about any particular medication with a grain of salt.  Our cat, Ross, had a very stubborn eosinophilic plaque that continued to get worse over a 6-7 month period, and (it turns out) it was greatly exacerbated by a treatment-resistant staph infection.  After watching the plaque/infection consume his nose area and creep up his face, despite many treatments and visits to the vet, it is such a relief to see the plaque rapidly receding with his third dose of covenia.  Our vet thinks he should stay on it until the wound is completely healed, and we agree.  To avoid stressing him with more visits to the vet, I'm going to be administering all of the shots going forward.

I'm all for avoiding unnecessary medications for both humans and pets.  However, stress is very bad for cats, especially those with immune/autoimmune problems, so in my mind, the small risk of adverse event with covenia is worth not stressing him out daily with oral administration.  Plus, it just works so well on treatment-resistant staph.  

The risks are totally worth it in his case.

I have had great success with treating urinary/kidney infections with this injection. My vet suspected E.coli which already resides in our gut-got out and took a ride on a cell and got into her kidney and caused trouble. we gave the shot and send home with bupre and sub fluids-in 24-48 hours the straining in the box stopped and she became much better. we tested the urine 10 days later and infection was cleared up. She said it works really good for E Coli bacteria. And that the cellular structure of some organs have similar characteristics  to the skin so she says its a good choice when we don't want to stress our pets out further with daily/twice a day pilling etc. This cat is unable to pill-takes three people. she is FAST. so we opted for injections. This was in Feb/march. She was fine-no stomach issues or lethargy.