injectable & oral bupe - are they the same?

[Gwen and Morris]

Morris is having his 2nd flare of p~itis right now. Getting the bupe into his cheek pocket is definately an extreme challenge! I asked my vet about getting injectable bupe for him instead - she is not sure that injectable is available yet in Canada (oral is just recently available!). Over in my lantus condos, Cyn was saying she thought that oral & injectable bupe was the same! If that's the case, I could just get his bupe put into a different type of container so that it would be easier to draw it up into a syringe! Does anyone know for sure if they are the same?

 

[Susie and Moochie]

in a word? Yes


BTW, that is per both Jojo and my vet :mrgreen:

 

[chriscleo]

yes, there is a slight difference.
the pharmacy i use has more stringent standards for the injectible bupe, to avoid potential infection. don't remember what term they used but basically they prefer it to be more sterile because it's being shot instead of dripped near the cheek.

 

[WCF and Meowzi]

Generally, they are the same - BUT - and a big BUT at that - I've seen posts here in the last year where vets do really strange things, like order compounded flavoured (?!? - no idea why, the unflavoured version is tasteless, works just fine!) buprenex for their patients (and the compounded version probably costs more too!). I highly doubt the compounded flavoured version is injectable.

The buprenorphine vials or carpujects we get are the original containers, and they are sterile. That buprenex can be injected or given orally.

Twice, after Meowzi's surgeries, we were given buprenex in a brown-glass vial, with a dropper lid. In that form, it was no longer sterile, although it was likely sterile and injectable to begin with. I would not have injected this version; we were instructed to give it orally, which we did.

 

[Susie and Moochie]

Excellent point, Choy Foong! I don't get the vials from my vet but pre-drawn syringes. Guess she doesn't trust me :lol:

Anyway, that makes perfect sense about whether or not it's in a sterile container. I doubt very much that a flavored version is sterile either - too weird that they would do that.

 

[Linda and Bear Man]

Injectable Buprenorphine is available in Ontario, and has been for some time. Buprenex is a US brand name. I was one of those who was given an oral compounded flavored liquid. A couple of tipoffs were (a) label said "chicken flavored :lol: (b) soaring BG's from the sugar in the syrup and (c) number of mls in each dose higher than you would expect with straight Buprenorphine. I eventually was able to order it in pre-filled syringes, which were expensive, but which make sense if you only need it for a short period of time and finally in a small brown bottle for long term use. The problem with the bottle was that it was very expensive, and expired pretty quickly. I think there is currently a shortage of Buprenorphine which may also be affecting the Canadian supply.