Convenia - "long-acting, single shot" antibiotic

[Vicky & Gandalf (GA) & Murrlin]

Peter & Devon,
What you call "rodent ulcers" can be caused by an allergic reaction. SO, there is something in the wet food she is allergic to and that ingredient is not in the dry food or not in the same form so does not affect her the same way. Please see this wiki article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eosinophilic_granuloma

Gandalf was treated with Depo Medrol for this condition over 7 years, but didn't develop diabetes until about 3 years after his last Depo shot. The condition stopped after I moved from the apartment we lived in for those 7 years. And he was also fed Science Diet dry hairball Control food for almost that long too. So you're right to be concerned about the Depo, but in light of what Dr. Lisa has seen with Convenia, it seems the lesser of 2 evils.

 

[Lisa dvm]

So you're right to be concerned about the Depo, but in light of what Dr. Lisa has seen with Convenia, it seems the lesser of 2 evils.

We are discussing apples and oranges.

One is an antibioitic and one is a steroid. This is not an 'either/or' situation.

 

[squeem3]

Bumping up Dr. Lisa's post.

 

[chriscleo]

discussion went off a lot on tangents but just wanted to add that i wish vets would tell their clients before injecting their cats with "unknown/unnamed" substances, and let them know potential side effects and what to watch out for so they can give informed consent.

when cleo got convenia, the vet did what others have mentioned and took her into a back room and injected her without even telling me. at the time we were concerned about skin infection so i do think it was a good use of the drug and cleo had no adverse reactions. but i hear more and more stories of vets taking action without first informing the client. in a case of a drug with serious side effects that increased tendency gets a lot more scary. i don't know how we can fight this battle except for one vet at a time.

 

[pamela and tigger]

Bumping up Dr. Lisa's post again.

 

[Lisa dvm]

Hi Pamela,

Thanks so much for bumping this up. I am getting so tired of seeing this antibiotic over-used and abused. It is making me a bit crazy....and very frustrated.

 

[Helen & Snickers]

Dr Lisa, I'm not sure if you'll have the time to answer this, but I have a question about what is considered a "skin infection" (which you said Convenia's supposed to be used for). Back in February one of my cats had a very large abscess, probably from a bite or scratch from one of our other cats. She had to have surgery for it, and had a drain put in (she had two drain tubes, actually). At the time I didn't know much about Convenia, and that was the AB that was used (Sasha also had a dental with an extraction done while she was under for the drain). Would the abscess have been an appropriate use of the drug, or am I just lucky that Sasha didn't have any problems with it?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[Lisa dvm]

Would the abscess have been an appropriate use of the drug?

Would it have been absolutely impossible to treat her with a much safer drug like amoxicillin? If the answer is "no", then it was inappropriate to treat with a drug that stays in the body for over 2 months.

 

[Helen & Snickers]

Thank you for the quick reply! I will consider myself lucky that she didn't appear to have any problems from it. I have a hard time giving ABs (when I've had clavamox they kept spitting it out, and wouldn't touch food with it mixed in), but I'd rather continue trying something else rather than give them something inappropriate.