Has anyone tried compounded liquid Cerenia or ondansetron?

Lucy is all of the sudden no longer eating pill pockets after almost a year of her practically chomping off my hand in the morning to get to them. We have also bought a few tubs of the paste you wrap around pills and she is not interested in those either. Not sure why, but she is newly suspicious! She gets Cerenia and ondansetron on a regular basis and they both help her significantly so am worried about this change and would like to avoid the stress on both ends of having to pill her by hand/pill shooter everyday.

Has anyone tried liquid compounded Cerenia or ondansetron with their cats? Both of these pills are very bitter tasting in their pill form, so am just curious if they are tolerable in a liquid format. I can mix it in with Hydracare which loves.

 

Have you looked at what Wedgewood Pharmacy offers? They usually have a few different options for meds. Few cats will take liquid better than a pill. Flavoring the liquid doesn't always help.

Have you tried coating the pills in butter and a little sprinkle of FortiFlora or crushed up treats?

Is the bag of pill pockets new or has it been opened for awhile and your cat happily at them until recently?

 

My boys are picky about this sort of thing. You might try a fresh bag. She might think they smell a little stale.

 

Ondansetron also comes as an injectible, though it stings some cats - not all. Keeping it in the fridge is supposed to help. I've used maropitant (the generic of Cerenia) compounded into a transdermal rubbed into the ear.

I've tried giving Flagyl (also awful tasting in natural form) that was compounded into chicken flavour liquid - the cat was NOT impressed. With same cat, other meds are now given in a Churu sequence. Give sample of Churu a few times, then med, then have the Churu ready right away for follow on snack.

You can also roll pill pockets in Fortiflora.

 

I have Flagyl compounded into capsules arriving today. I'm not sure if the powder tastes any better than the yucky liquid but we'll find out

 

We opened a fresh bag and she seems to be a little bit more interested, will see if it keeps up, fingers crossed!

The pill pockets rolled in Fortiflora really got her attention. I have also taken the other recommendation and give her Churu before/after to make it a more rewarding experience.

All of these seems to have gotten her out of the rut (until she randomly decides to change her mind again?!). Thank you everyone!

 

Yes, it does sting a lot because of the relatively large volume injected. The concentration of the injectable is 2mg/ml while the standard oral dose is 2 mg. However. the bioavailability and half life of the injectable is more than twice that of the oral. Thus less mg is required.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4059788/
As a sideline, transdermal ondansetron is not viable
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28112563/

 

Churu also makes Churu bites, they are like you took a roll that had a dough like exterior and churu creme center and sliced it into pieces. You can shove a pill (several even) into one. 8% carb vs the 69% carb in a pill pocket.

I also use fortiflora dusting when needed. Tbh my boy is an angel who will take pills plain or if cerenia with fortiflora sprinkled on a plain tablet. I don’t deserve him. BUT: you can also get cerenia compounded in a topical ointment. A tiny drop of it rubbed in the ear like you rub mirataz. It’s is crazy expensive. But I keep it on hand because sometimes he can’t keep things down. Of course if you’re giving cerenia all the time it may be cost effective I have done the math.

 

The study you quoted compared pharmacokinetics of oral, subq and IM versions of ondansetron. The dose used in the trial was 2 mg, partly because it was easy to dose 1/2 of a 4 mg pill, a common format. That paper did not have a recommendation for recommended dose. I've seen dosing of 0.5-1.0 mg/kg 3-4 times a day. That is the same dosing as subq, but since oral is not as bioavailable, that is a lighter dose. That Quimby paper also said that only one out of six test cats reacted to the subq administration.