Clopedigril (plavix) Transdermal Gel

[Kimsb]

I'm happy to be a New Member to this site and wish to see if anyone has used a Transdermal Gel in the ear of their cat to administer a medication called Clopedigril/Plavix. My 12 year old Norwegian Forest Cat, Snowbell, has Congestive Heart Failure and has been prescribed this medication to help avoid blood clots. We've administered it in liquid form, by syringe, but the taste is so bitter she foams and drools it out despite it being compounded in a double-marshmallow flavor. I was concerned a Transdermal gel in the ear wouldn't successfully be absorbed well and hoped someone has tried this form of administration for this particular Rx with success. Thank you so very much for your help.

 

[margd]

Although I have no first hand experience in using transdermal gels on cats, I can pass on some general information about them that might help you. The efficacy of transdermal gels varies from cat to cat because so many factors can influence absorption. These factors include age, skin thickness and lipid content, blood flow and hydration levels, the density of hair follicles and the pH of the skin. My understanding is that because of this variability it's especially important to keep a record of symptoms when using transdermal formulations so that vets can monitor and adjust dosages as necessary. In this way, vets can compensate for lack of absorption so you can be assured your cat is getting the medication she needs. I don't know if it always works out that way in practice but in theory, this is the process involved.

I'm so sorry to hear that Snowbell has congestive heart failure - what a heartbreaking situation. I know how worried you must be about her. It makes it so much more difficult when your cat needs a medicine that you know will help but that you can't use without trauma to both of you. It strikes me that if Snowbell is so resistant to being medicated (and it sounds like you've tried everything) what do you really have to lose? Snowbell can either get an incomplete dose because she spits the nasty tasting stuff back in your face or she can possibly get an incomplete dose because of poor absorption through the ear.

I wish that I had some hands-on experience that I could share with you but hopefully someone will come along who has.

It seems odd under the circumstances to wish you a big cheery welcome to TCS, but I do want to welcome you because we are very glad you joined and hope to see more of you and Snowball. This is a wonderful site and when you have time, I hope you'll consider introducing yourself and Snowball here: New Cats on the Block I know that I'm not the only one who would love to learn more about her and see photos of your sweet girl.

 

[Kimsb]

Hi Margd, Snowbell and I are so happy to receive your kind and gracious reply to my first post ss a member of The Cat Site. My Beloved Snowbell, was dx's with CHF 16 months ago. Her condition came as a shock to my family, as she was fine one day, and refusrefused her treats, the next, which led me to have my Vet come to the house to check on her. That visit led to an an ER visit that sadly, unearthed this terminal condition. When they said she wasn't suffering from Cancer, I felt relieved, but now know that CHF, I'd like any illness that can't be cured as The long sad goodbye. She has had fluid tapped from her Plura area around her lungs many times, with as much as 300 cc's removed at one time. She has been such a brave and loving sweet girl, who is medicated 2x day with Lasix and Pimobenden that's combined into one bottle, as well as Potassium Gel also administered 2x day. All of these are given orally by syringe. She is given Methimizole via Transdermal Gel in the ear, which has been a very effective way to dose her. It isy hope that the Plavix will also absorb successfully via the "eat rub gel" as the bitter taste is dreadful. I agree with you that I can keep trying the liquid in the hopes she's getting some, rather than none. My Vet is coming to see Snowbell on Wednesday, at which time I will ask about the Plavix dosing alternative. This is a great site to meet nice people like you, who love cars and enjoy sharing our stories of hope and faith for our special members of our family. Over the past 25 years, I have had four Norwegian Forest Cars. My first, named Torello, passed away at nearly 18 years old from Renal Failure. My beloved Snowbell has brother, named Stuart, who I also have (named after the movie Stuart Little) . I now have a new Wegie named Mitzi, who will be a year old at the end of this month. I Love cats and cat friends. I'm so thankful for your post to me. I'll try to upload a picture of my three fur-babies. Snowbell is a Cream Tabby, her Brother, Stuart is Black with a white locket, and my Mitzi is a Grey Mackerel Tabby with White. Best wishes always to one and all. I hope to be able to help folks here with any knowledge I can offer if need be. Thank you so very much for your warm welcome.

 

[Kimsb]

 

[Kimsb]

Here are my fur babies. Snowbell is the Cream Tabby, Stuart her litter
-mate and Brother, and my newest kitten is the beautiful Silver Mackerel Tabby with White.

 

[margd]

What beautiful cats you have! You only mention three, though and I could swear that Mitzi is actually two cats joined together. When you say she's a "kitten" does that mean that she's not finished growing? Norwegian Forest Cats are terrific cats - you'll find quite a few members here have them or cats with NFC ancestory somewhere. Big, long haired cats - some of my favorites!

Snowball sounds (and looks) so sweet, the way she tolerates being medicated so often. I love her cream coat - she's really very elegant. She looks like she should be daintily eating a treat on a silk cushion. How is she doing, anyway? Does she have to have fluid removed very often? Poor darling to be afflicted with such a nasty disease.

I certainly don't want to overlook the handsome Stuart, especially since I'm a lover of black cats myself. I've had at least one black cat for the last 23 years and everyone has been a delightful charmer. And gorgeous, of course! He looks like he's protective of his sister.

This is a terrific place to meet people, just as you said. We spend most of our time discussing cats, our own and each others and no one ever tells us to change the subject. It's a very caring site, too. People are quick to offer advice and assistance when needed as well as any comfort and support that might help. There's a lot to take in here. Check out the different forums to get some idea of the wide diversity of topics covered and be sure to check out the articles as well. I've been here for over two years and I still don't know all of the articles. There is just a vast amount of information available.

I'm so glad you found us. It sounds like you have a lot of experience in cat-related issues yourself and I'm sure you'll have a lot to offer everyone.

 

[my_cat_gf]

Hello and Meow
I just found this site and your posting about giving Plavix as a transdermal gel to your fur baby. Please let us know if you try it and what the results are. I’ll do the same if I try it. My cat, Girlfriend, has saddle thrombosis or FATE and I started giving her Plavix about a month ago.
At first I tried every compounded liquid in every flavor and she would just froth and drool it out. Her condition was getting worse she could barely move I thought I was going to lose her.
I started giving her 1/4 Plavix pill I put it in some butter and she was swallowing it with some difficulty but her symptoms got better because she was getting more Plavix in her system.
Now she refuses to swallow the pill. She keeps it in her mouth and drools it out again. I’m worried she’s not getting enough of the meds and will start going downhill again.
I wish they would make a drug with the positive effects of Plavix especially for cats. That’ll be the day.
It’s hard because Girlfriend is not a big eater. She’s not into treats much. I can’t hide the pill or entice her with anything to make her less resistant.
Transdermal gel would be amazing if it worked. I had asked my vet about it and she said there’s not enough evidence that it works but I looked it up and there’s a chart for which drugs would do better as a TD gel and it seemed like Plavix (Clopidogrel) would.
I’m glad I found this site and I hope you get help for your sweet fur baby. We love our sweethearts so much don’t we. Mine is my world.
~ meow for now

 

[tortiemama]

I'm happy to be a New Member to this site and wish to see if anyone has used a Transdermal Gel in the ear of their cat to administer a medication called Clopedigril/Plavix. My 12 year old Norwegian Forest Cat, Snowbell, has Congestive Heart Failure and has been prescribed this medication to help avoid blood clots. We've administered it in liquid form, by syringe, but the taste is so bitter she foams and drools it out despite it being compounded in a double-marshmallow flavor. I was concerned a Transdermal gel in the ear wouldn't successfully be absorbed well and hoped someone has tried this form of administration for this particular Rx with success. Thank you so very much for your help.

Hi , I was researching and saw your post from last year re Plavix ...
I was told that it was not available compounded into Transdermal Gel , (Canada) and so the suggestion was made to be able to switch to ASA 81 mg (baby aspirin every 3 days ... I actually was thinking that it SHOULD have been available but that maybe was going to be to difficult for the local compounder. SO, in order to give our old girl some peace from all the tension arising from variety of methods we had to use to hide the Plavix ... we opted for having ASA compounded into transdermal gel . Apart from caution with her ear irritation (she also gets Methimazole twice daily in gel ) so far it seems to be ok. She also is taking Benazepril by mouth hidden in treats etc. Plavix is so extremely bitter according to our vets .,.. and our Amber can detect it now probably at 20 ft away and disguised lol. SO glad that there are options for us at least . I know it has been last year your post , I hope your Snowbell is still with you.

All the best to you .

 

[kalico]

Hi everyone, I've been pouring over this forum for a while now, and recently posted my own thread related to this (Preparing For And Dealing With Your Cat Passing Away).

My 16yo girl has congestive heart failure and we have been dealing with all the problems here - she gets two shots of lasix, one benazepril, and a dia-something three times a day, which sounds like the extremely bitter pill mentioned here. We're trying the two latter via dermal cream and just started tonight as it has become impossible to get her to ingest pills.

When we were able to trick her into eating her meds for the first few days, she was like a kitten again. One week later though, after spotty consumption of her meds, and she's barely eating, has dull eyes, and seems lethargic. Praying this cream helps.

 

[KathyL]

Hi, everyone,

Sorry if I've missed this in the thread above, but wanted to share what's saved us--we lost a beloved cat last summer to heart failure, and now our remaining cat, Jasper, has been diagnosed with the same. We knew what to look for this time, so hopefully catching it early has bought him not only more time, but better health quality time.

Anyway, we struggled with the same foaming reaction to the bitter taste when we tried to pill poor Tim last year. This time we discovered gelcaps. Any local compounding pharmacy will have small ones (we are using a size 3 right now for Jasper's Plavix and lasik in one dose). Tucking them into the little "dip" or pocket at the back of his cheek is easy--the gelcap is smooth and goes right down without upsetting him.

I have seen people on forums suggest coating the gelcap in either butter or something like one of the malt-flavored hairball gels, to make it even more slippery. So far that's not been necessary, but good to know about.

Hope this will help some kitty owners out there. If you don't have a compounding pharmacy nearby, this website appears reputable and certainly affordable. Just note that you have to order a THOUSAND at a time, so you want to make sure you have a size that works for you and your kitty.

Sending good and healing thoughts to everyone dealing with this.

 

[KathyL]

Whoops, forgot to list the website: Empty Gelatin Capsules, Empty Vegetarian Capsules, Flavored Capsules

 

[JoAnna77]

Anyway, we struggled with the same foaming reaction to the bitter taste when we tried to pill poor Tim last year. This time we discovered gelcaps. Any local compounding pharmacy will have small ones (we are using a size 3 right now for Jasper's Plavix and lasik in one dose). Tucking them into the little "dip" or pocket at the back of his cheek is easy--the gelcap is smooth and goes right down without upsetting him.

I have seen people on forums suggest coating the gelcap in either butter or something like one of the malt-flavored hairball gels, to make it even more slippery. So far that's not been necessary, but good to know about.

Kathy, thank you so much, for just the information I was looking for! Our Sadie was just diagnosed with right-sided CHF on August 7th, so the Plavix plays a pretty vital role. The pilling has gone pretty smoothly, considering she's on 6 different medications, for a grand total of 10 doses throughout the day. She just started the Plavix at the beginning of this month. It started out great... But now...ugh, the Plavix. Every dosing is like something out of a horror movie.
I've been pouring over pages and pages of gelcap sizing. Because I want it to be big enough, but small enough to not add the stress of another huge thing to swallow (the Pimobendan is big enough).
So my question...I assume you're giving 1/4 tablet of Plavix? And the #3 gelcap is big enough?

 

[kmoulus]

My cat has right side CHF and among her many meds she takes 1/4 tab of Plavix every morning. And boy does she hate that pill. For a while I put it inside a capsule, my pharmacist gave them to me for free. I am not sure what size, it was sort of normal human size, not the tiny one. I smeared it with butter or laxatone or wet cat food, whatever was handy to make it go down smoother. It was a bit large and Speedy didn't like it but it was better than the drooling and foaming. (BTW it's possible to trim the large capsules so they are not so long. I did that for a while but decided it wasn't worth it.)

The good news is nowadays Speedy tolerates it, after three years on Plavix we both have gotten better at it. Lately I just wrap the pill in a bit of Greenies pill pocket and pop it in her mouth and it goes down. We got into a routine and you will too. I think a big part of it is combining it with treats, Speedy is trained to associate pills with good stuff. All pills other than Plavix go inside Temptations treats, and after the nasty Plavix pill she gets extra treats. Nowadays Speedy loves taking medication, she wakes me up in the morning crying for her meds and if I am late with the evening dose she reminds me. Maybe you can train your cat to associate this bad pill with treats or petting or something good.

(I know many people on this site do not approve of Temptations. My cardiologist says just use whatever it takes to get the pills into her, the nutritional value of a few treats pales in comparison to getting cardiac meds into your cat.)

And by the way, CHF is bad news but you can be a bit hopeful. I read mostly sad stories but Speedy is a great story! After a decade with HCM, Speedy had what I thought were a few seizures. It turned out to be syncope and our cardiologist diagnosed CHF with a prognosis of 9 months, maybe 12 months with diligent attention to meds and diet. That was three years ago! She is now 17+ years old, she continues to be stable, the vet and cardiologist are somewhat surprised and we all believe that we have Speedy perfectly medicated. I don't want to be overly positive about CHF, I know Speedy is unusual, but your cat can be stable and have a good life in whatever time she has.

 

[KathyL]

Hi, JoAnna,

I’m so happy if it was helpful! Yes, the number three capsule size is big enough – just barely – for a quarter tablet of the Plavix. But I decided to do, though, is order the next size up, which is a two, and put not only the Plavix, but the Lasix and potassium he now needs, to offset the effects of the Lasix, all in the #2 gelcap.

It is slightly bigger, but so far it’s working fine. This way I only have to put one pill down rather than three.

I also ordered the #2 capsule tray, which holds them upright while you fill them, and that has been a lifesaver. I am reducing his potassium pills to a powder and filling the capsules with that, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without the tray.

Hope that helps, but please feel free to let me know if there’s anything else I can share with you. Keeping all the very best thoughts for Sadie and for you.