Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Oral dexmedetomidine to make cats vomit safely
By Maxwell, Kathleen M et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2024·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Use of orally administered dexmedetomidine to induce emesis in cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Six cats were brought in after potentially eating toxic substances like lilies, onions, or acetaminophen. To help them vomit and remove the toxins, veterinarians gave them an oral medication called dexmedetomidine. This treatment worked well, successfully inducing vomiting in five out of the six cats. While all the cats became quite sleepy, only one showed signs of toxicity from acetaminophen, but the others did not have any serious side effects. Overall, this method proved to be an effective way to help cats who might have ingested something harmful.
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Abstract
CASE SERIES SUMMARY: This case series describes the use of orally administered dexmedetomidine at a dose of 20 µg/kg to induce emesis in six cats. Emesis was successfully induced in 5/6 cats, with each of the cats vomiting once. The reasons for inducing vomiting included known or suspected ingestion of lilies, onions, acetaminophen (paracetamol) or acetylsalicylic acid. Four of the five cats in which emesis induction was successful did not develop any clinical signs of toxicity associated with the toxin ingested; the fifth cat developed clinicopathological changes consistent with acetaminophen toxicity. All six cats exhibited moderate to profound sedation, as expected, but no other adverse effects were documented. RELEVANCE AND NOVEL INFORMATION: Induction of emesis in cats is notoriously difficult. This case series describes a novel route of administration of dexmedetomidine, a commonly available medication, with a high success rate observed for inducing emesis in this group of cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38717831/