1/26 ANY Orbifloxacin/Orbax EXPERIENCE?

[melinda and talbot]

I brought Talbot in to the vet on Monday because he seemed a bit down and his breath was so bad I figured he needed a teeth check.

On the good side, all his blood work came back fairly normal.
Unfortunately they think he is blind in one eye, which was totally unexpected. They did check his blood pressure but could only get one reading. It was good though. The retina looked different in the blind eye than it did in the (hopefully) normal eye. She wasn't able to pinpoint anything specific though. His pupils are dilated, probably due to aging and needing more light in.

He also has a UTI, which could explain the listlessness and water drinking. BUT... she gave me Orbifloxacin. In the literature it said it could cause blindness in cats. Since he only sees out of one eye, this could be a concern. I called her and she said that this should be a safe drug for him and she has never had any cases of blindness. I've used her for years and she is a very good vet but I am slightly concerned. It's one tablet one x a day for 10 days. ANY INFO/EXPERIENCE WITH THIS DRUG?

 

[Larry and Kitties]

I have no experience with Orbax. However, it is in the same class of antibiotics as Baytril which as the same warning about possible blindness. This references says blindness has been observed in cats with Orbax as seen with Baytril. Also, a web search indicate that usually both eyes are effected.
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_orbifloxacin.html

 

[WCF and Meowzi]

oh Melinda i'm sorry to hear about Talbot's eye.

question on the UTI - is a c&s being done?

 

[melinda and talbot]

The vet wanted to do a 10 day treatment and then do a culture. She said in a perfect world she would culture before and after treatment but was opting for doing it after treatment. I wonder if she was thinking cost? They did extract the urine with a needle so it was a good sample.

When I talked to her this morning she said what type of bacteria (?) was present. I didn't write it down though.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Standard practice is to have stopped antibiotics for a week to ten days before doing a culture since the residual antibiotic can adversely effect the culture and sensitivity testing.

 

[Kelly & Oscar]

I have used Orbax before with Yoda. It is a good strong broad spectrum antibiotic. No side effects over here.

 

[Jean and Megan]

I have also used Orbax, with Megan. No problems, and it cleared up what it was supposed to clear up.

 

[Sandy and Boris]

Hi Melinda, No experience with it here. Sorry wish I could tell you something.
Well sucky news on the eye but glad his bw is good. When ever one of the gals from the vets office stops in I have them check Boris's eye's so far so good. I can understand your concern, I was pretty freaked out when Boris was on IM Baytrill shots a few months ago.
Hope Mr.T gets all betters soon. Lovely winter were having, isn't it, lol.
sandy