Convenia in cats.

Re: Convenia in cats.

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 22:36:45 GMT

[quote user="Stephen Courtney"]

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]

[quote user="Stephen Courtney"]I do however find that in about one third of cat bite wounds, it doesn't do the trick.[/quote]

Do you mean fresh wounds, or happened-yesterday-so now-it's-swollen wounds, or abscesses?

[/quote]

Fresh wounds and infected bites. Open, draining abscesses cleaned out properly tend to do great no matter what you give them, probably because they don't need anything further at that point! I worry more about abscesses on the 'top' surface of the cat however - things where natural drainage is deeper into the cat. Those always get antibiotics.

[/quote]

I'm glad you don't mean abscesses! I don't think I quite agree about which abscesses should be worried about though; I don't think it's gravity necessarily that encourages or discourages drainage, I think it's more to do with tissue planes, muscular movement. and the adequacy of the drainage tract. No matter.

I find it pretty rare, myself, for a short course of clavamox and NSAID to fail in a recent bite or a cellulitis. When it does, I have long reckoned that that was due to the wrong bacteria being implanted too deeply and probably it was doomed to be an abscess from the start. Neutrophils are pretty good at wiping out bacteria, but you do need an outlet for the pus.

Please please, I have no big axe to grind about this and I am not criticising anyone (yet )

Re: Convenia in cats.

Stephen Courtney — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 22:17:52 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]

[quote user="Stephen Courtney"]I do however find that in about one third of cat bite wounds, it doesn't do the trick.[/quote]

Do you mean fresh wounds, or happened-yesterday-so now-it's-swollen wounds, or abscesses?

[/quote]

Re: Convenia in cats.

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 23:46:48 GMT

[quote user="Stephen Courtney"]I do however find that in about one third of cat bite wounds, it doesn't do the trick.[/quote]

Do you mean fresh wounds, or happened-yesterday-so now-it's-swollen wounds, or abscesses?

Re: Convenia in cats.

Stephen Courtney — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 22:19:27 GMT

Convenia isn't really a third gen ceph - it has the same spectrum of activity as common old cephalexin, if I remember rightly. It isn't one of the high powered, best kept for special occasions type drugs like zinacef or ticarcillin

I know they call it a third generation drug but that is mostly marketing hype in my opinion, based more on the pharmacology of distribution within the body than its effect on bugs.

Having said that it is fantastic - i reckon it works twice as well as oral cephalexin, this in spite of the same antibacterial spectrum. I can only assume that half my prescribed cephalexin ended up under the sofa or was forgotten about. I don't worry about using it, i think giving a course of antibiotic that does not require compliance is less likley to cause resistance than a half completed course.

I do however find that in about one third of cat bite wounds, it doesn't do the trick. I assume this is due to a lack of anaerobic activity, so i usually choose antirobe if i can. But it is great for dermatology cases, especially in cats, where compliance is a real issue. I don't often use it in dogs, as they tend to be easier to trick into taking pills. But some of the little tinies do very well on it.

Re: Convenia in cats.

Michael Woodhouse — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:23:09 GMT

Have never used it because with our throughput doubt it would get used in time.

Betamox LA repeated q48 hours seems to work well. Sensible clinets I will give them the Betamox in the syringe to inject the cat themself. I rarely prescribe oral antibiotics in cats as I worry we as vets underestimate the difficulty people have pilling cats. Owners appreciate the injections.

If we had Convenia I would overuse it so that we weren't throwing it out.

Re: Convenia in cats.

Mark Hedberg — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:10:06 GMT

I prefer to use it if culture and sensitivity indicate it; or indeed if it's a pet impossible to pill or the owner is not capable. I do worry about overuse; mainly because it is pretty good stuff. Have used it in both dogs and cats; but only if first line drugs don't work or not sensitive.

Re: Convenia in cats.

Rachael Winder — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:09:21 GMT

I'm pretty sure that Danielle Gunn-Moore was saying at a recent webinar that they're already seeing multidrug resistant uti in cats where are also resistant to it.

I rarely use it and have never yet used it in a dog.

Re: Convenia in cats.

Louise6732 — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:58:54 GMT

Convenia is great for the appropriate cases. However I feel it is horrendously over-used. I always ask clients if they can tablet, show them how if they say they can't, and say the long acting injection is a last resort and often not the most appropriate antibiotic for the infection you're trying to treat.

I often wonder how things would pan out if instead of a 3rd gen cephalosporin, it was a fluoroquinolone long acting injection... Would it get used quite so frequently?

Re: Convenia in cats.

Charlotte Marshall — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:48:50 GMT

I also worry about using it routinely being a third generation cephalosporin. However I am afraid I mainly use it in cats that the owners can't tablet. I do try and get them to try in food etc if at all possible though. I can't remember the last time I used it in a dog!