Convenia Injection: Caution

[Guangxi09]

Hello, my 3 year old cat received an injection of Convenia antibiotics for a small but deep gash. Five days later, with almost no food and little water intake, he is in kidney failure and has a fifty percent chance to live. He has been placed on 48-hour fluids via IV. He was a healthy, good natured cat until he received the Convenia antibiotic injection. I wish we would have brought him into the vet earlier for blood work The vet thought our cat was being stubborn or had stomach problems. If your cat does not eat or drink for 36 hours, get blood work done. It is about100 - 150 dollars -very worth it!! We do not know if our cat will survive. I just wanted to post a caution so that others would know to be careful of Convenia and ask your vets about the drug. It seems to have more lethal side affects than acknowledged.

 

[lavishsqualor]

I'm so sorry about your cat and I hope he makes a full recovery. Many of us here are very wary of Convenia and would not allow it to be administered. Thank you for your warning and again, I am pulling for your little boy.

 

[epona]

Good luck with your kitty.

One of mine, Radar, is currently suffering from anorexia for other reasons (following surgery), and you are correct in that getting them treatment quickly if they stop eating is crucial.

Fingers crossed for your little guy. xx

 

[lacy2000]

Thank you for the warning!! I hope your baby is ok and back to his good natured self soon!

 

[Muffkin]

I've read a few bad things about it, I'm trying hard at the moment to get my cat to eat zeniquin pill crushed up in tuna juice, but he's not eating all, covenant is what they said I should do, said it is not the first choice for his condition, but would be better then nothing, but idk, I don't know if I trust that drug, especially if that happened to ur kitty. I hope he pulls thru

 

[Margret]

Oh, dear. You must be frantic with worry. It was very kind of you to join TCS in order to give this warning at such a difficult time.

Convenia is a long-term (2 months!) antibiotic with a very bad reputation. When a cat has a bad reaction to it there's no way to withdraw the drug. I would immediately switch vets if my vet prescribed it, and I strongly recommend that you do exactly that. It seems to me unwise to trust the doctor who caused the problem to fix it.

We're pulling for you and your cat; please keep us informed about his condition.

Margret

 

[Ghostycat]

Sending positivity to you and your little guy. <3

The convenia information out there is definitely scary. My girl just got a shot last weekend, and while she is okay now, I will still be on edge for a bit. I knew nothing about it until I looked it up after coming home from the vet...Try not to beat yourself up for letting him receive that antibiotic, although I know its easier said than done. We do the best for our pets with the information we have. Thank you for putting this out there!

 

[LTS3]

There's a good article here about the risks of using Convenia: Convenia- long term antibiotic: Is it worth the risk?

It's common for vets to not inform pet owners about potential side effects or reactions to medicine And many pet owners don't question the vet about the treatment plan. It's really important to ask the vet about the plan of treatment and make sure one understands completely about how the treatment plan was decided upon, side effects, length of the treatment plan, etc. If the vet gets annoyed with all the questions, it might be worth considering finding a vet who will explain things.

I've read a few bad things about it, I'm trying hard at the moment to get my cat to eat zeniquin pill crushed up in tuna juice, but he's not eating all

Try Pill Pockets or other brand of pill dough.

 

[Gizmobius]

Back when Gizmo had his first vet visit at about 11 weeks after being adopted, he had a fever and they gave him an antibiotic. I thought nothing of it at the time. He seemed to be alright, aside from some digestive issues and a few bouts of vomiting. I just recently looked over all my vet receipts for him and noticed that the antibiotic they gave him was Convenia. I wouldn't have known the things I do now about it back then but it gave me a moment of shock after all that I've since read about it.

I sincerely hope your kitty takes a turn for the better and makes a full recovery.

 

[Neo_23]

I’m really sorry to hear about your cat, but I’m just also really curious to know how you are sure that the convenia is causing the kidney failure? You mentioned he had a deep gash, so could it be due to an infection?

I’m just asking because I had a cat receive a convenia shot not long ago and I was also very worried because of everything I read online. I asked a vet that I trust about it and she said that it’s hard to really say that convenia is as dangerous as people online say it is because all of the animals who receive convenia are already sick. I think that there definitely is something concerning about injecting an animal with a foreign substance that stays in their body for 2 months because you don’t know how they will react, and I’m sure that there have been adverse reactions to the drug, but I also wonder if some of the adverse reactions experienced are actually not due to the drug but are rather misplaced because of all of the horror stories online.

 

[les26]

First I hope that your kitty recovers and lives a long time with you, all the best.

When Sebastian was sick, a vet gave him a shot of Convenia. When he wasn't doing much better I took him to the local vet who KNEW that he already had had that shot and she gave him ANOTHER ONE WITHOUT TALKING TO ME ABOUT IT FIRST!!! I questioned her about it and she said "he didn't seem to be responding to it, and sometimes they need a second one". I still to this day wonder if she killed him or at least hastened his death, I have read many bad things about that shot!!!

Again, I hope that your kitty comes through....

 

[ailish]

Since we're trading anecdotes... I took Ailish to the vet because she had a bunch of itchy bumps around her neck. The vet told me that they were an infection and that she would give her an antibiotic shot that would last 14 days and that it should be cleared up by then, but if not I should return for a second shoot. The bumps were almost gone at the end of 14 days, so I thought maybe we were good and didn't go back. Nope, two weeks later we're back at square one. So back we go, we get another shot and an appointment for a second two weeks later. By the end of the two consecutive shot course of treatment we are good. No itchy bumps, no side effects. There's all sorts of info on Convenia out there, plenty of it indicating that it is not any more of a problem than any other medication. One legit issue does seem to be that if there is an allergy it can't be reversed. On the other hand, for a cat that needs an antibiotic, it provides a steady, measured dosage unobtainable during the usual wrestling match involved with pilling a cat, so your cat is actually being medicated more effectively.

 

[Guangxi09]

Hello All, Day 14 after our cat's mince with meds and he is finally doing better. His cultures have come back clean tough we are still unsure of how his kidneys will be longterm. Our vet thinks he had an intolerance to the anti-inflammatory med but I am still wondering about the antibiotic. Still, our sweet kittycat is home, eating and happy. Thank you for all the thoughtful messages. It really was nice to feel all the good vibes.