Question about cerenia

I was prescribed Cerenia for my cat who I think is feeling a little woozy off the antibiotics she's on for an infection. I was wondering if anyone knew how long it took for cerenia to finally work and kick in with the pill form?

I am a human doctor, not a vet and any advice about cats should be checked by a vet.  However I understand that Cerenia tablets for feline use for nausea is quick acting and when given on an empty stomach can start to act after 1-2 hours.  The speed of action depends on how much food is in the stomach, and on a full stomach, its action is slower. 

With all best wishes,

Geoffrey

Thank you! I googled for the answer everywhere because my cat is too nauseous to eat at the moment. She wants to eat, will walk up to the bowl, sniff around and maybe take a small bite. But that's it. I'm just very impatient. I don't want her to end up getting fatty tissue syndrome cuz she's a big girl. So thank you again, I hope to see an improvement then in the next 30 mins since I gave it to her a little after 6.

How is she doing now? Cerenia worked quickly on my cat.

DreamerRose I wish I could say that it worked, but it didn't. She still hasn't eaten and I'm not sure what to do. She was given an appetite stimulant Monday night and I can't give her another until later tonight. She's still drooling a little bit and refuses to eat because of it. She had caught a fever Sunday night, I brought her to the ER and they gave me antibiotics for a fever of unknown origin cuz blood results came back normal. Her fevers gone, she's not lethargic anymore and everything is back to normal except for the fact she won't eat. She's been suspected of pancrititis or IBD, but I don't have the money for an ultra sound and biopsy at the moment, so we were treating it symptomatically. I'm not sure what else to do. She's a big girl and is prone to getting fatty tissue syndrome and I don't want that. I've been attempting to force feed but she isn't taking to it well. [emoji]128546[/emoji]

jessdotdotdot said:

@DreamerRose I wish I could say that it worked, but it didn't. She still hasn't eaten and I'm not sure what to do. She was given an appetite stimulant Monday night and I can't give her another until later tonight. She's still drooling a little bit and refuses to eat because of it. She had caught a fever Sunday night, I brought her to the ER and they gave me antibiotics for a fever of unknown origin cuz blood results came back normal. Her fevers gone, she's not lethargic anymore and everything is back to normal except for the fact she won't eat. She's been suspected of pancrititis or IBD, but I don't have the money for an ultra sound and biopsy at the moment, so we were treating it symptomatically. I'm not sure what else to do. She's a big girl and is prone to getting fatty tissue syndrome and I don't want that. I've been attempting to force feed but she isn't taking to it well. [emoji]128546[/emoji]

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Hi

Two things could help. 1) cerenia with sub Q fluids is very fast acting plus an injection of zofran which is another fast acting anti nausea drug, and pepcid ac.  This can be done at the vet and then they could also 2) syringe feed her if she doesn't respond as sometimes a little food will jump start them.

Good luck!

StephenQ said:

Hi

Two things could help. 1) cerenia with sub Q fluids is very fast acting plus an injection of zofran which is another fast acting anti nausea drug, and pepcid ac.  This can be done at the vet and then they could also 2) syringe feed her if she doesn't respond as sometimes a little food will jump start them.

Good luck!

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Thank you for the response. I just called my vet about 10 minutes ago to try and get her in to be seen before I have to go to work this afternoon. They said other people were calling and wanted to be seen today too, so she'd get back to me. So now I'm waiting for the call to see if it's possible. I JUST need her to eat. I've never been more stressed.

yes get some sub fluids. They can do this at the office. It's basicly saline solution under the skin. they may decide to give an injection of Cerenia and bypass the stomach. Usually within an hour after this is administered they perk up and eat. And yes the appetite stimulant works for 3 days but if they don't treat the nausea then they still won't eat. Also if the cat is dehydrated they won't eat. a dehydrated cat feels like crap and often lays around and just looks mopey. Try to feed wet food tonight-ask the vet for A/D canned recovery food-it's a pate-pudding style consistency=this may help make it easier to eat. use hot water and add a bit to the food and mash with a fork. The hot water helps the food be stinkier- the smellier the better.

you can also try:

Meat babyfood-no onion/garlic. Beechnut and Gerber has them. my cats love the turkey and ham.

Rotisserie Chicken-no bones/skin. sometimes they like it instead of boiled white breast meat.

Goat's milk. it's easy to digest and has protein. you can find it in the organic section of the grocery store

KMR-Kitten milk replacement-get the powdered form-stick with Pet AG brand. most big box pet stores have it.

Try one or all of these-the key is to increase fluids and get them eating again. some pets do ok with treats. Blue Buffalo has these freeze dried chicken treats and also salmon that my cats go nuts over. or you can go to a specialty pet store and find the higher tier brands of freeze dried treats and crumble them ontop of their regular food. Bornito flakes I think it's called? 

foxxycat said:

yes get some sub fluids. They can do this at the office. It's basicly saline solution under the skin. they may decide to give an injection of Cerenia and bypass the stomach. Usually within an hour after this is administered they perk up and eat. And yes the appetite stimulant works for 3 days but if they don't treat the nausea then they still won't eat. Also if the cat is dehydrated they won't eat. a dehydrated cat feels like crap and often lays around and just looks mopey. Try to feed wet food tonight-ask the vet for A/D canned recovery food-it's a pate-pudding style consistency=this may help make it easier to eat. use hot water and add a bit to the food and mash with a fork. The hot water helps the food be stinkier- the smellier the better.

you can also try:

Meat babyfood-no onion/garlic. Beechnut and Gerber has them. my cats love the turkey and ham.
Rotisserie Chicken-no bones/skin. sometimes they like it instead of boiled white breast meat.
Goat's milk. it's easy to digest and has protein. you can find it in the organic section of the grocery store
KMR-Kitten milk replacement-get the powdered form-stick with Pet AG brand. most big box pet stores have it.

Try one or all of these-the key is to increase fluids and get them eating again. some pets do ok with treats. Blue Buffalo has these freeze dried chicken treats and also salmon that my cats go nuts over. or you can go to a specialty pet store and find the higher tier brands of freeze dried treats and crumble them ontop of their regular food. Bornito flakes I think it's called? 

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Thank you so much! She wants to eat, she walks up and sniffs the food, maybe will even take a bite but that's about it. She's smacking her lips and drooling a tiny bit and that's a sign of nausea. I offer her her favorite treats, and she does eat one or two before not being interested anymore. But when attempting to eat them, they fall out of her mouth a lot and sometimes she just gives up on trying. She hasn't puked at all though, which is good. I'm bringing her to the vet in an hour, in hopes they'll be able to give her fluids and maybe inject cerenia, even tho I gave it to her in pill form last night but it didn't do anything. She has no problem drinking water, it's just eating. The injection of cerenia always seems to work, I was surprised to see the pill form did not.

She's a finicky eater and has never been a fan of human food or any cat food that has chunks of meat or vegetables in it. She likes the old school cat food, so getting her to eat chicken is hard but I'm willing to try everything you mentioned in hopes it changes. Hopefully the vet can help out a little too. Poor thing, this is the third time she's been to a vet in a week and a half. I just want her to be okay!!!

yep I had a cat like that. She hated most canned foods. the only one she will eat is Friskeys Salmon. And nothing else. Fancy feast turkey and giblets classic is the other one she loved. No shreds or chunks. We tried all the top line canned foods. Forget it. Even now with my other 2 cats-they will lick the gravy and leave the rest. My youngest will eat anything out of my hand but she won't touch human food unless it's in my hand. My old kitty who didn't like most canned foods went nuts for fresh turkey off the drumstick. She used to hop into your lap and take your food away.

also eggs-scrambled egg with a bit of goatsmilk? None of my cats like eggs but in my childhood they used to love scrambled eggs..

the things you describe sound like nausea-did the vet look into her mouth and make sure no dental issues? Drooling can be dental issues. Hoping your baby gets better soon!

foxxycat said:

yep I had a cat like that. She hated most canned foods. the only one she will eat is Friskeys Salmon. And nothing else. Fancy feast turkey and giblets classic is the other one she loved. No shreds or chunks. We tried all the top line canned foods. Forget it. Even now with my other 2 cats-they will lick the gravy and leave the rest. My youngest will eat anything out of my hand but she won't touch human food unless it's in my hand. My old kitty who didn't like most canned foods went nuts for fresh turkey off the drumstick. She used to hop into your lap and take your food away.

also eggs-scrambled egg with a bit of goatsmilk? None of my cats like eggs but in my childhood they used to love scrambled eggs..

the things you describe sound like nausea-did the vet look into her mouth and make sure no dental issues? Drooling can be dental issues. Hoping your baby gets better soon!

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I have been told she has some issues with teeth but I haven't had the money to deal with that yet. She's been suspected of having either pancrititis or IBD, but in order to know for sure, I have to have an ultrasound done and possibly a biopsy. But again, I don't have the money for that either. They said they would treat her symtomatically untill I did. She USUALLY has a puking problem, but that's not the case this time. But she spiked a fever on Sunday and I brought her to the ER, and they did blood work and everything came back normal. They labeled it a fever of unknown origin and gave me antibiotics. She became more herself Monday night and was eating on her own, then come Tuesday afternoon just stopped and that's when I noticed the nausea signs. I called the vet again and they prescribed the cerenia in the pill form but it didn't make any difference. At this point I don't know where this is coming from.

Boy, was I wrong. Her toungue is bright red and ulcered. They said that kittens usually get a virus that does that, but not really full grown cats that are up to date on shots . So she advised me to go home and check wires that my cat could have bitten into and let me tell you..... that's something she doesn't do. Never has. I don't even really have exposed wires in my bedroom where she's been stuck the last 4 days. So maybe it's possible that she has whatever virus it was? Either way, she's now been put on inflammatory meds and pain meds, on top of the cerenia and appetite stimulants. I hope she gets over this soon cuz if this doesn't work and she stops eating again, they're talking about feeding tubes and like I said... I don't have the money.

The virus is called Calici virus and it's pretty bad but totally recoverable. Long before tube feeding you can start syringe feeding instead used liquified food like stage one chicken baby food or adding water to a great very calorie dense prescription food called Hills A/D. It's also super tasty.

Your vet can show you how to syringe feed or you can search on YouTube for "syringe feeding a cat" and see lots of videos. It isn't hard. Supplies like a 6cc oral syringe can be gotten from vet or possible a drug store.

Also I think @columbine might have a good link to syringe feeding...

Here it is [thread="227858"][/thread]

I was just going to say that sounds like Cali virus. The pain meds will help. ALOT! and the fluids! just keep trying to syringe feeding-let the pain meds start to work- did they give you buprenorphine? its a liquid that goes on their gums. Make sure to give it to her in tiny sips=you don't want her to swallow it-the meds works via blood vessels in her mouth. it's very fast acting-10 minutes usually. wait 30 minutes after administering bupre to give it time to absorb into her mouth vessels otherwise eating and drinking after giving meds would dilute it and it won't work from the stomach. It's a unique medicine that works sublingually.

How old is your kitten?

When did you get her?

Just trying to figure out how to help you and get you distracted so you don't worry too much. You are a good momma. Thank you for treating her with pain meds..those sores just think about a canker sore-it's miserable.

When you syringe feed-you want it to be puddling like consistency=the runnier the better. you may get lucky and she could lick it from a spoon or off your finger. Baby food is good for this.

StephenQ said:

The virus is called Calici virus and it's pretty bad but totally recoverable. Long before tube feeding you can start syringe feeding instead used liquified food like stage one chicken baby food or adding water to a great very calorie dense prescription food called Hills A/D. It's also super tasty.

Your vet can show you how to syringe feed or you can search on YouTube for "syringe feeding a cat" and see lots of videos. It isn't hard. Supplies like a 6cc oral syringe can be gotten from vet or possible a drug store.

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I was given an oral syringe when I left the ER from when she had a temperature. They told me baby food or wet food mixed with some water. That's how I've been getting her to eat the last few days. She's a big 16 lbs girl, so she needs a lot of food. I was never told how much to syringe or how often, but a wet food only diet she needs 1 1/2 big can of wet food, so I'm assuming that's the amount she needs in a syringe and I can't even get 1/4 of a can empty because she doesn't take to it well. On top of that, it sounds like my vet is against force feeding the cat. Im not sure why, but they don't make it an option. As soon as they found out that the ER told me to syringe feed her, they called and told me to pick up the appetite stimunlants. It's just hard to syringe feed with my work schedule and how much she needs to eat in a day. If you have any idea on how often and how much, that would help out a lot in case it came down to doing that again, which I hope isn't the case at all.

foxxycat said:

I was just going to say that sounds like Cali virus. The pain meds will help. ALOT! and the fluids! just keep trying to syringe feeding-let the pain meds start to work- did they give you buprenorphine? its a liquid that goes on their gums. Make sure to give it to her in tiny sips=you don't want her to swallow it-the meds works via blood vessels in her mouth. it's very fast acting-10 minutes usually. wait 30 minutes after administering bupre to give it time to absorb into her mouth vessels otherwise eating and drinking after giving meds would dilute it and it won't work from the stomach. It's a unique medicine that works sublingually.

How old is your kitten?

When did you get her?

Just trying to figure out how to help you and get you distracted so you don't worry too much. You are a good momma. Thank you for treating her with pain meds..those sores just think about a canker sore-it's miserable.

When you syringe feed-you want it to be puddling like consistency=the runnier the better. you may get lucky and she could lick it from a spoon or off your finger. Baby food is good for this.

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This is my baby Oreo! I've had her ever since she was a little kitten and she is now 9!
I also have another little kitty who is just around a year now. I keep them separated all the time though because my little one likes to harass Oreo. Do you know just in case this IS the disease, if I should keep them apart.. and if so, how long!? I can't let him get sick too!

Is it possible to get the disease even being up to date on all of the shots!? My vet didn't sound like she was so sure it was the virus at all. She's more convinced that Oreo chewed on some wire but I know my cat and that isn't something she'd do. I wonder since she had that high fever on Sunday, if it really is possible to be the virus. I just don't know how she'd get it. Both my cats are indoor only.

They gave me Gabapentin for the pain meds. Oreo gets very sleepy on buprenex and it makes her twitch an awful lot. So we decided to go with this pain med, I hope it's just as strong!

As soon as I got home from the vet, I gave her the inflammation pills. She's so hard to give pills to, that it took a lot of her spitting it out and me putting it back in, after all that... I was able to give her the pain meds and I went and got her the wet food of hills that the vet gave me and I put a quarter of the can in a bowl and then some dry food in another bowl so she has choices, while I'm at work. She went to the wet food and demolished it after 10 minutes of having the medicine...so I hope this means we can be on the right track FINALLY.

Thank you for getting me distracted. I barely slept last night I was so nervous because she wasn't eating and I didn't understand why. She's had a small problem with the fatty tissue syndrome before and I don't want that to ever come back again and it makes me so stressed when she stops eating. She just can never catch a break. She's my best friend and I don't ever want to give up on her. Because of all the ER visits, vet visits and hospitalization, money is getting super low. I only have so much money only being 24. It's a crappy feeling to feel like you could possibly let your fur baby down when they depend on you, but I'm trying to do my best. [emoji]128148[/emoji]

Gabepentin is ok but not as good as bupre. I am surprised that the virus still shows up even after vax.

You can try the gab. It's more of a nerve medicine but can make them sleepy. Did you get it compounded or did they tell you to make a solution from the pill insides mixed in water? My vet had me do it this way at first then we get it compounded into an oral solution but it's oily base and my pumps HATES it but it does work better. Vets are using this instead of bupre due to the dratted drug laws for opioids.

I would keep them separated just in case.  Hope you get some results and eating returns!

also Do you have a health food store nearby? Pred is VERY bitter=you should find a place that sells empty gel caps. And a pill popper.

here it is if you have Amazon Prime-you will have an easier time popping the pill-

When you go to pill-if you take your forefinger and thumb on each side of the nose mouth and tilt your hand back it should help kitty bend her head back a bit to open mouth. The pill popper allows administration of pills without prying open mouth.

When you give the pill=coat it in butter. it will slide down throat much easier AND may hide the taste a bit. but if you can get an empty capsule-put the pred in it -close the capsule=coat in butter-then tilt head back and use that method with your fingers and bend wrist back you may have better luck.

Let me hunt some pictures to show you what I mean.

also babyfood-or any wet food-coat the pill-pill pockets are another good idea.