Help Please - Ondansetron Dosage and Formulation

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Critter Mom

Critter Mom

Member Since 2014
Hi all,

Saoirse needs to come of metoclopramide - she has shown warning signs of extrapyramidal side effects (head twitching) and her urine output is ridiculous.

Saoirse has been prescribed ondansetron but the only formulation my vet's wholesaler had were the Zofran melt 4mg. I am very uneasy about a number of things so I've not given Saoirse the medication.

I'd be really grateful if someone could advise me about the dosage. From what I've read online it should be about 0.22mg per kg. Saoirse is approx 4.5kg so that would make the correct dose 1mg per day. Is that correct? (The melt tablets can't be cut up.)

The melt formulation of the drug also contains aspartame. I know that Xylotol is toxic to dogs. Are there any medication sweeteners (or other fillers) that may be toxic to cats?

I've administered a token dose of metoclopramide this morning (c 0.25ml) to tide Saoirse over but I really want to stop giving her this medication as soon as possible.

I'd be grateful for any help and advice that you can give me. Thanks to Tanya's site I've found a UK source for generic ondansetron and they have some in stock and my vet said he can give me an Rx.
 
Hi

Maybe I can help here. You really want the Bristol lab made ondansetron tablets. I get them from a UK online pharmacy called pharmplex direct with a vet prescription for three boxes (get them to write three repeats on it).

They are a fantastic pharmacy, the pharmacist is fantastic. You buy online, send the prescription and you will have them in a day or two. I give remi 1/4 pill twice a day.

http://www.pharmplexdirect.com/ondanset ... 54595.html

Will double check dosage when I get home.
 
Thanks for the reply, Sarah.

Pharmaplex direct is the online source I got from Tanya's site. They advised me that the Bristol brand is the best for cats but that they're out of stock and can't get hold of any at the moment. I've asked them to put me on their email list for when they get it in again.

They do have another brand of generic ondansetron in stock and it's the tablet form, not the melt form. What's the difference in the Bristol Labs version? Would the generic they have in stock be a OK as a stopgap even if it's not quite as effective as the Bristol Labs generic? She still needs anti-nausea med support but I really need to stop the metoclopramide.

Thanks for the advice about dosage. Very much appreciated.
 
Thanks for those links, Larry! The DVM360 one is very informative.

Saoirse's very sensitive to medications. I had a bit of a scare after the one dose of mirtazapine she received and she had a really adverse reaction to a popular spot-on treatment recently. Between that and the worry of triggering more diarrhoea, I'm super cautious when trialling new treatments for her.

Our wonderful vets managed to find some of the generic ondansetron for Saoirse at a local pharmacy this afternoon and sent in the prescription. They really look after us so well. We're blessed. :-D
 
So do some humans with their standard dose. I had a very bad reaction to it when I was prescribed it a few years ago for my PTSD. My brain went haywire and my ankles swelled up like balloons. Not fun.
 
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