Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Best medetomidine dose to make cats vomit after swallowing something
By Sänger, Florian & Dörfelt, René·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2025·nchen Small Animal Clinic, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of different doses of medetomidine for the induction of emesis in cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats that ingested foreign substances were treated with different doses of a medication called medetomidine to make them vomit. The best dose found was 20 micrograms per kilogram, which successfully induced vomiting in most cases within about 5 minutes. While all doses worked, the lower dose caused less sedation, which is a common side effect. In cases where vomiting didn't happen after the first dose, a second dose was given, and the medication was reversed in most cats to reduce sedation. Overall, medetomidine proved to be an effective option for inducing vomiting in cats.
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Abstract
ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the emetic effect of medetomidine, determine the best dose for clinical practice and investigate any adverse effects at different doses.MethodsIn this prospective, observational study, 10, 20, 30 and 40 µg/kg of medetomidine was administered intramuscularly (IM) to cats after ingestion of foreign substances, to induce emesis. The success rate, frequency, time after injection, sedation score and adverse effects were recorded. If induction of emesis was not successful after 10 or 20 µg/kg medetomidine, a second bolus of medetomidine (20 µg/kg IM) was administered 10 mins later.ResultsA total of 58 cats were included after foreign material ingestion. Emesis was achieved with all doses of medetomidine (39/58), whereby the highest success rate was reached with 20 µg/kg (13/17). The success rate after the first injection was not statistically different between the different medetomidine doses ( = 0.457). The median time to emesis after the first injection of medetomidine for all cats was 5 mins (range 3-14). The sedation score was lower after 10 µg/kg medetomidine compared with 40 µg/kg ( = 0.013). The most common adverse effect was sedation. Medetomidine was antagonised with atipamezole in 47/58 cats.Conclusions and relevanceMedetomidine is an effective drug for inducing emesis in cats and is a reasonable alternative to other alpha-agonists. The most successful dose with the least adverse effects was 20 µg/kg IM.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41017076/