Buprenorphine

corinnemmm

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Aug 13, 2016
Messages
2
Purraise
1
My Gus had 3 teeth pulled on Thursday (I'm posting this on Saturday afternoon.
A) His brother, who stayed home, doesn't recognize him and is being aggressive- but that's a separate issue
B) The vet gave me Buprenorphine to give him .2ml twice a day for 5 days. My cat is 8.5lbs and he looks "high". His pupils are huge and he's walking around like he has no idea what's going on. I looked up the medicine and had no idea how potent it was. Does this seem like a super high/prolonged dose? I'm asking because I'm sure every vet has an opinion and I know that my vet isn't necessarily right. I don't like the fact that my cat is basically on drugs, as I'm afraid he will have withdrawal symptoms (I'm not kidding) and I think this is also contributing to my other cat refusing to accept him. On the other hand, I have no idea how painful a tooth extraction can be and I wouldn't be able to tell if by stopping the medicine I was causing my cat pain. His temperament is always so gentle.

Advice?
 

red top rescue

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 27, 2012
Messages
4,466
Purraise
1,486
Location
Acworth GA, USA
I give my 8 lb 17-year-old that dose and she's fine with it.  Her pupils do get big but shes happy as a clam, walks just fine, and gets hungry (she gets it because of a stomatitis flare and her mouth hurts.  After the meds, the mouth stops hurting.  By the next day I get her a steroid shot and then she won't need pain meds for a long time, but for that first flare, it does wonders. 

Different cats react differently, and it is also controlled by how much pain they have.  If he isn't having all that much pain, then perhaps a lower dose (0.1 ml.) would be just fine to keep him comfy without being zonked.  It's a very good and very safe pain med for cats.  Just try the smaller dose next time and see how it goes.
 

red top rescue

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 27, 2012
Messages
4,466
Purraise
1,486
Location
Acworth GA, USA
By the way, he won't have withdrawal symptoms (1) if he isn't on it more than a few days, just like the dentist gives you pain pills after extractions but only enough for a few days, and (2) if he is on it longer, like some are for broken bones, hit by car accidents and the like, you taper him down gradually, just as we do with humans.  It's also a fine drug to use for hospice care to keep an animal out of pain, as in cancer, for instance, and in that case you never withdraw it.
 

Geoffrey

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Apr 17, 2016
Messages
521
Purraise
387
Location
Sydney Australia
My Gus had 3 teeth pulled on Thursday (I'm posting this on Saturday afternoon.
A) His brother, who stayed home, doesn't recognize him and is being aggressive- but that's a separate issue
B) The vet gave me Buprenorphine to give him .2ml twice a day for 5 days. My cat is 8.5lbs and he looks "high". His pupils are huge and he's walking around like he has no idea what's going on. I looked up the medicine and had no idea how potent it was. Does this seem like a super high/prolonged dose? I'm asking because I'm sure every vet has an opinion and I know that my vet isn't necessarily right. I don't like the fact that my cat is basically on drugs, as I'm afraid he will have withdrawal symptoms (I'm not kidding) and I think this is also contributing to my other cat refusing to accept him. On the other hand, I have no idea how painful a tooth extraction can be and I wouldn't be able to tell if by stopping the medicine I was causing my cat pain. His temperament is always so gentle.

Advice?
I am a human doctor, not a vet and everything I write about cats should be checked by your vet.  The extraction three days ago would not now need high dosage analgesia in man.   Opiates, such as Buprenorphine usually cause pinhole pupils in man in therapeutic dosage, but larger pupils on larger dosage or on continuous dosage.  Pupillary size in cats should be the same as in humans and react to medications in the same way so  Gus' large pupils suggests that the dosage of Buprenorphine is now too high.  Talk to your vet as it seems that the time has come to start to wean Gus off the Buprenorphine.

Incidentally Gus' brother is likely to have smelt the Buprenorphine on him and that is why he rejects him.  He should accept Gus when Gus comes off the medication.

With best wishes,

Geoffrey
 
Last edited:

stephanietx

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
14,768
Purraise
3,489
Location
Texas
My cat had two teeth extracted earlier this year. We only kept her on pain meds for a couple of days after the extractions.  I don't like to medicate my cats unless needed, so I would probably back down on the meds.  Stop giving them to him and see how he does.  I would definitely call your vet and let him/her know what's going on as the meds seem to be affecting him too strongly.  Until he's fully recovered, feed him some canned food, though my kitty still eats her dry food with no problems and did so a day after we brought her home.  She still gets her wet food twice a day, though.

As for your other cat not knowing him. The reason is because he doesn't smell right.  He smells like the vet hospital and now the meds are probably affecting things.  It's kind of like bringing home a new cat.  They need to get reacquainted with each other and they should be fine once again. 
 

darkhorse321

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Messages
316
Purraise
74
I had a similar reaction with my male cat---he needed it for pancreatitis and he was stoned for 3 days! I gave him all of 2 doses of .08mls (in the cheek pocket), and it lasted for quite awhile. My vet got a rather kick out of it and we started calling him a junkie---but, he had no ill effects when I stopped and has been fine. The dialated pupils are normal---my boy was so trashed, I had to giggle--but he was fine--he was able to use the litterbox and eat, just really slow and spaced out.

My cats had extractions when they were younger and my boy needed no pain meds but my female did--they were in a pill form and she had all of 1 and that was it. Hope this helps!

And another cat hissing is often from the smells of the vet clinic. I worked at a vet clinic when I was young and my cats had to 'sniff' me over every single time I came home! Hahahaah
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

corinnemmm

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Aug 13, 2016
Messages
2
Purraise
1
Oh! Thank you for all of the replies! Incidentally, this morning Gus' brother licked his forehead : )
Today marks day 3 of his meds. I think I'm going to titrate down (from .2/day 2x/day to .1) and start there.
I'm really glad to hear he won't suffer from withdrawals- but last night he was rolling around and rubbing himself all over his scratching post like a weirdo.
 
Top