14 day antibiotic shot Convenia

[Brenttv7]

I see that several people have spoken highly of this new antibiotic. I'm happy it's effective for some (and obviously) convenient. However, my Cleo is wasting away to nothing. I trusted my vet that this "new" method was the best and easiest way to treat her gum infection. She is NOT THE SAME CAT since taking Convenia! Not only is she being force-fed for survival, she is a total zombie... staring into space more than a week after taking this drug! Did Pfizer do enough testing before releasing convenia? Is Cleo a guinnea pig for convenience sake? Is a recall necessary? I am not convinced this is a wonder drug. I'm now wondering if my cat will ever be the same!

[That_girl]

The clinic I work at - we use convenia daily as well. I'd be willing to bet what you are seeing is not from the convenia, but a whole other issue entirely.

[TIFFERS]

As I said before in this thread, we have used Convenia daily since the day it came out to the market. We have NEVER had an issue with it. It is a Cyclosporin and so if your cat is allergic to that type of thing, she will obviously have an issue with the medication. Now, if you're treating a 'gum infection' then more than likely the infection has spread to multiple organs in her body as the mouth is the direct route to all of them. It's likely due to infection, not Convenia. What has your vet said about this? Sounds like she needs some Baytril or Doxyclycline, or maybe even Clindamycin (sp?)...which are all stronger antibiotics.

[hollypady]

I visited this site yesterday while I was doing some research on Convenia. After reading some of the horrific problems that occured with this drug, I decided maybe this injection was not right for my 18 y.o. cat.

My cat has had recurring eye infections primary and developed a URI secondary. I went to my vet appt. and discussed it with the vet (BTW, not my regular vet) and she assured me that she had seen no ill effects from Convenia and recommended it. I thought about how stressful it is (on her and us) to give 2 doses of liquid antibiotic daily,it takes 2 of us to get it in her, and I decided to go ahead with the injection, despite my gut telling me not to do it. You know the saying, "follow your instincts", well I should have.

This morning she is not eating and the worst part is she is having trouble with her motor skills. She is wobbling when she walks and it seems her hind legs aren't working properly. I watched her walking and thought she would fall over.

I am so upset with myself for using the Convenia. I should have never let the vet "persuade" me. I will follow up & let you know how she is doing.

PLEASE DO NOT USE CONVENIA, IT IS NOT LIKE AN ORAL ANTIBIOTIC THAT CAN BE DISCONTINUED- ONCE IN THE SYSTEM IT IS THERE FOR 14 DAYS!!!

[TIFFERS]

Now, just because your cat had a reaction to the medication does not mean it's a horrible medication and shouldn't be used by anyone. Same as with humans, people react to different medications. If your cat was able to take other cephlosporins in her life, it's highly likely that Convenia is NOT what is causing these symptoms in your cat.

The amount of antibiotics being put into the body is constant, whereas with oral antibiotics you don't get that. Even if you give the medication twice a day as you were told.

Secondly, what has this vet said? At 18, there could be a million other things than blaming Convenia, which you do not know caused these symptoms in your cat.

[special]

For general information here is information from the pfizer website on convenia:

CONVENIA is not for use in dogs or cats with a history of allergic reactions to penicillins or cephalosporins. Similar to other cephalosprins, side effects for both dogs and cats include vomiting, diarrhea, decreased appetite/anorexia and lethargy. The safety of CONVENIA has not been determined in lactating or breeding animals.

source:

http://www.pfizerah.com/Product_Over...=EN&species=FL

So if these cats had never had those other antibiotics it would not be known that they were predisposed to a bad reaction

If your cat does have a reaction there are a couple numbers you can call

Pfizer Animal Health
Pfizer Inc
235 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
Poison Control Center Phone: 1-866-531-8896

Emergency telephone number:
CHEMTREC (24 hours): 1-800-424-9300

[TIFFERS]

Originally Posted by special

So if these cats had never had those other antibiotics it would not be known that they were predisposed to a bad reaction

Exactly. So, no one is to blame. Not the owner, not the vet, not the drug. There's no way to know if you or your animals will have a reaction to a medication. We take that risk with every patient, and you take it on yourself every time you swallow a pill. It's no one's fault. There's absolutely no way to know.

[hollypady]

It's been 10 days since my cat had the Convenia injection and she is still limping & in pain. I took her back to the vet after 7 days and as my vet examined her hips & hind legs, my kitty cried out in pain. After watching her walk, (limping & back arched) she thought she may have hip displasia and x-rayed her to find everything was fine. SHE DID NOT HAVE THIS PAIN OR LIMPING BEFORE CONVENIA. It would be a very big coincidence that this new problem started directly after her injection. I have since contacted Pfizer to make them aware of these side effects. I have been told by 3 vets and Pfizer that they have never heard of these side effects. I can't wait until this drug in out of my cat's system, hopefully only 4 more days, to see if she is back to her old self. She is now on pain meds and new antibiotics, as she still has her eye infection and nasal discharge.