? Civie with nausea - ondansetron dosage?

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Panic

Panic

Member Since 2019
Hey all, my sweet civie Fenton has been nauseous the past couple days and can barely take more than a lick of baby food. I tried to get him in to the vet this morning but they're booked and said to call again later today to see if there's an opening.

I managed to borrow some ondansetron from a friend that I'm going to give him if they can't see him today. If that ends up being the case, how much can I give him again? It's been a while since I've used it. I have 8mg tablets. How often and how much should he (12 lbs) take? Do I need to wait a half hour after giving it to him to offer him food, or is that for Cerenia?

Thoughts and prayers please :bighug:
 
Update: vet was able to squeeze him in a couple hours ago. Poor boy had a 104.6 fever. He didn't find anything glaringly wrong but ran a urinalysis that came back good. He was given fluids, famotidine, vitamin B12 injection, and an appetite stimulant. He decided to hold off on the ondansetron and cerenia for now to avoid side effects being thrown into the mix. A senior blood panel was run and he'll call me tomorrow with the results.

Since I didn't think to ask, would it be better if he stayed inside or got to go outside like he wants? The weather's really nice out so I think he's enjoying himself, but I've never had a kitty with a fever before.
 
I would have tried ondansetron in case he’s nauseous. I’m surprised your vet would give an appetite stimulant instead as if a nauseous cat eats he can decide he won’t eat that food again. You don’t want food aversions. Hope he feels better.
 
tiffmaxee said:
I would have tried ondansetron in case he’s nauseous. I’m surprised your vet would give an appetite stimulant instead as if a nauseous cat eats he can decide he won’t eat that food again. You don’t want food aversions. Hope he feels better.
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I was thinking the same thing but he said the reason he wasn't going to try cerenia was because he didn't want potential side effects from it throwing us off as far as what was wrong.

Now I did go ahead and give him 2mg of ondansetron before I brought him in and originally he said to keep up the ondansetron because he thought I was using it for vomiting, but when I said he hasn't been then he said to hold off. I hope that makes sense, it's always so hard for me to remember everything over the phone.

You think I should go ahead and keep up the ondansetron anyway?
 
Ondansetron works really well for nausea. Max had chronic pancreatitis and wasn’t vomiting. His appetite just tanked. When people on the pancreatitis forum said he was likely nauseous I was surprised because of that. It really helped him. Just keep it in mind even if you don’t use it now.

I never noticed side effects with ondansetron except when on it long term Max got a little constipated so I added a little pumpkin and Miralax as needed.
 
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Thanks for the insight. When Panic had pancreatitis she wasn't vomiting either but she was definitely nauseous. I decided to make a excecuative decision and give him a second dose of ondansetron. He still doesn't want to eat but luckily he's easy to pill and doesn't seem bothered by the water I chase it down with.
 
He's about the same appetite-wise, he almost took a nibble himself but changed his mind after a bite. He's been letting me assist feed him, still not as perky but he took a walk with us this morning (I let the dogs out and the cats like to follow and he felt like coming). He is peeing/pooping fine and he gave himself a face bath to get all the food off him which I'll take as a good sign.

Vet called and said all his bloodwork looked very good, kidney levels were just a little off but he thinks it's from the dehydration. He thinks he just has a viral infection but he doesn't exactly want to give NSAIDS (think he said Clavamox) because he didn't want to bother the kidney values. If he isn't better by Monday he might try it though.

No pancreatitis test but I'd honestly be very surprised if it were, he doesn't appear to be in any sort of pain.
 
He was given less than 150cc yesterday, results said he was 6-7% dehydrated. He did not mention him needing more.
 
Hmm. If dehydration was causing the loss of appetite fluids would be needed more than once and 150 is a little high unless he’s a big cat. His appetite has not returned. Do you know what stage CKD? Since clavamox is being considered he has a UTI or other infection? I’m puzzled. Just like with us viral infections don’t require antibiotics.
 
I guess it depends on what constitutes a big cat, I consider him a big tom at 12 lbs but maybe you're referring to bigger than that.

He said no stages of kidney disease, I did ask for him to email me the results but unfortunately he sent me the urinalysis instead of the bloodwork and they've closed for the weekend.

He didn't have a UTI, though I do think he mentioned it was a bit concentrated.
 
I suddenly remembered the liver shake recipe on a whim and made up a batch - took some encouragement but he just ate quite a bit with assistance!!
 
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