Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How clemastine works and lasts in healthy dogs
By Hansson, H et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2004·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Clinical pharmacology of clemastine in healthy dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at how well clemastine, an allergy medication, works in healthy dogs. When given through an IV, clemastine completely stopped allergic reactions for about 7 hours, but when given by mouth, it didn't work as well. The researchers found that the usual oral doses might not be strong enough to help dogs with allergies effectively. This means that if your dog needs clemastine for allergies, your vet might consider giving it through an injection for better results.
Abstract
The pharmacokinetic properties of clemastine were investigated in six healthy dogs and compared with the effect of the drug recorded as inhibition of wheal formation induced by intradermal injections of histamine. Clemastine clearance was high (median: 2.1 L h(-1) kg(-1)) and the volume of distribution large (13.4 L kg(-1)). The half-life after intravenous administration was 3.8 h and the plasma protein binding level in vitro was 98%. After oral administration, the bioavailability was only 3%. Given intravenously, clemastine (0.1 mg kg(-1)) inhibited wheal formation completely for 7 h, whereas the effect after oral administration (0.5 mg kg(-1)) was minor. The data show that most dosage regimens suggested in the literature for the oral administration of clemastine to dogs are likely to give too low a systemic exposure of the drug to allow effective therapy.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15214951/