Simbadol (buprenorphine) Injection Bad Reaction

[Perini89]

My cat is currently going through this as well, we were not informed by our vet that he was giving our cat an opioid. I had to look online to find out all this information and i’m pretty freaked out. we’re at the 13 hour mark so far and really hoping this won’t be fatal for our 18 year old cat dealing with a thyroid problem. I appreciate everyone sharing their stories it helps ease my mind just a tiny bit.

 

[sidneykitty]

Hi Perini89 ! I'm so sorry you're going through this with your 18-yo kitty. It is super scary.

Last month, my cat received Simbadol injection at the vet. She behaved very strangely - did not eat, did not drink, did not sleep, pacing the house endlessly (going down stairs around the living room then back down), hiding under the bed (where she spent most of her time), head wobbling. When I gave her food it was like she did not recognize it and could not eat it because her head wobbled.

We spoke to the vet about and she was quite concerned so we brought her back in for sub Q fluids and Mirtazapine to stimulate her appetite.

After 48 hours, she finally licked a small amount of food. I have to say it was a really awful 48 hours. A little after that, she ate a bunch of tuna. Then she ate a bunch of boiled chicken. And ever so slowly, she started going back to normal behavior. After 3 days, she was eating much more normally again and she had improved a huge amount and after that she proceeded to eat a TON of food as if she had to make up for it. Believe me, it was really stressful. The first time she sat on my lap again after all this, I cried because I was so relieved she was becoming herself again.

I think the best things you can do right now is monitor her, give her space to rest because she probably needs it, keep offering her foods and tell the vet what is going on. Making sure the vet knows what is going on is really important. At the very least if she is not eating/drinking, getting some subQ fluids in would be good. Please be patient and I am very hopeful that the effects will wear off within 24-48 for you and your kitty. Sending you hugs. Please let us know how she is getting on.

 

[Kflowers]

I would also consider looking into a different vet. Even when they won't listen to you they ought to tell you what they are doing and why.

 

[Perini89]

Hi Perini89 ! I'm so sorry you're going through this with your 18-yo kitty. It is super scary.

Last month, my cat received Simbadol injection at the vet. She behaved very strangely - did not eat, did not drink, did not sleep, pacing the house endlessly (going down stairs around the living room then back down), hiding under the bed (where she spent most of her time), head wobbling. When I gave her food it was like she did not recognize it and could not eat it because her head wobbled.

We spoke to the vet about and she was quite concerned so we brought her back in for sub Q fluids and Mirtazapine to stimulate her appetite.

After 48 hours, she finally licked a small amount of food. I have to say it was a really awful 48 hours. A little after that, she ate a bunch of tuna. Then she ate a bunch of boiled chicken. And ever so slowly, she started going back to normal behavior. After 3 days, she was eating much more normally again and she had improved a huge amount and after that she proceeded to eat a TON of food as if she had to make up for it. Believe me, it was really stressful. The first time she sat on my lap again after all this, I cried because I was so relieved she was becoming herself again.

I think the best things you can do right now is monitor her, give her space to rest because she probably needs it, keep offering her foods and tell the vet what is going on. Making sure the vet knows what is going on is really important. At the very least if she is not eating/drinking, getting some subQ fluids in would be good. Please be patient and I am very hopeful that the effects will wear off within 24-48 for you and your kitty. Sending you hugs. Please let us know how she is getting on.

Thank you for the tips! Much appreciation. I’m glad your cat is feeling better!

 

[Perini89]

Hi Perini89 ! I'm so sorry you're going through this with your 18-yo kitty. It is super scary.

Last month, my cat received Simbadol injection at the vet. She behaved very strangely - did not eat, did not drink, did not sleep, pacing the house endlessly (going down stairs around the living room then back down), hiding under the bed (where she spent most of her time), head wobbling. When I gave her food it was like she did not recognize it and could not eat it because her head wobbled.

We spoke to the vet about and she was quite concerned so we brought her back in for sub Q fluids and Mirtazapine to stimulate her appetite.

After 48 hours, she finally licked a small amount of food. I have to say it was a really awful 48 hours. A little after that, she ate a bunch of tuna. Then she ate a bunch of boiled chicken. And ever so slowly, she started going back to normal behavior. After 3 days, she was eating much more normally again and she had improved a huge amount and after that she proceeded to eat a TON of food as if she had to make up for it. Believe me, it was really stressful. The first time she sat on my lap again after all this, I cried because I was so relieved she was becoming herself again.

I think the best things you can do right now is monitor her, give her space to rest because she probably needs it, keep offering her foods and tell the vet what is going on. Making sure the vet knows what is going on is really important. At the very least if she is not eating/drinking, getting some subQ fluids in would be good. Please be patient and I am very hopeful that the effects will wear off within 24-48 for you and your kitty. Sending you hugs. Please let us know how she is getting on.

Thank you for the tips! Much appreciation. I’m glad your cat is feeling better!

 

[Perini89]

I would also consider looking into a different vet. Even when they won't listen to you they ought to tell you what they are doing and why.

I agree! Thanks!

 

[Sassi]

I am so glad I found this website and this post. I took my cat Sassi (13 yo) for a dental cleaning on Tuesday, but the vet ended up extracting 4 of her teeth. Convenia Inject and Simbadol were given to her. When I went to pick her up at the end of the day Tuesday, I noticed she was rolling on her back in the carrier with her paws scratching the inside of the top of the carrier. Once home, she walked around randomly and rubbed her head against everything in the house, chairs, tables, trash can etc.. Then she went to hide under my bed. She did eat some wet food though. She has not slept since coming home on Tuesday. She is pretending she is sleeping now, but I can see her eyes are half open and her third eyelids are showing. It is now Thursday, it has been 48 hours. Based on some posts here, she might back to normal after 72 hours. Will keep my fingers crossed.
Her condition is keeping me awake at night. She had her teeth extracted before by another vet in the same office and had no bad reactions, but he has since retired. I don't know if this new vet has something to do with her bad reactions.

 

[Perini89]

Hang in there! This happened to my cat as well and he went nuts for about 72 hours. I would recommend paying close attention to your cat and even though it’s probably impossible try not to worry to much it will eventually wear off and your cat will start to act normal around the 72 hour mark. I would also recommend putting “no narcotics” on your pets information chart at the vet so they don’t use this medicine on them again. Good luck and stay positive!

 

[white shadow]

... I would also recommend putting “no narcotics” on your pets information chart at the vet so they don’t use this medicine on them again.

Perini89 - that may not be the best advice to offer. It was one particular form of one particular narcotic...that's being discussed in this thread: Simbadol. That's the equivalent of putting "No Food" on the file of someone who has shown an allergic response to a type of shellfish.

Far better that "No Simbadol" appear on the cat's medical chart.

I said that Simbadol is only one form of a narcotic - it is a long-acting form of buprenorphine and buprenorphine is also available as 'standard' duration injection, oral drops format and transdermal formats. The 'standard' duration of effect form is well known to be well-tolerated in cats when dosed accurately. There have been very few reports of adverse side effects to 'ordinary'/'standard' buprenorphine. (that duration of effect is about 6 hours)

Modern pain control - especially for serious/chronic pain - uses a combination of different types of pain medication, one being opioids. These different drug types target different 'pain pathways' to achieve better pain control with less medication and 'side effect'. You would be potentially putting your cat at a disadvantage with a blanket prohibition of "no narcotics".

Hope that explains a few things.




Hi Sassi and welcome to the forum !

It is so upsetting when our kitties are distressed like this. You can probably help her best by keeping her in a quiet space, perhaps a single room with all she needs. You could also use very low volume, soft music. Check "musicforcats.com" for examples.

Now, cats do not "pretend" to sleep.........or, pretend about anything else! What you're seeing is her body's reaction to a drug - she has absolutely no control over any of this. So, please, just be supportive to her until the drug leaves her system and these effects subside.
.

 

[Sassi]

Perini89 - that may not be the best advice to offer. It was one particular form of one particular narcotic...that's being discussed in this thread: Simbadol. That's the equivalent of putting "No Food" on the file of someone who has shown an allergic response to a type of shellfish.

Far better that "No Simbadol" appear on the cat's medical chart.

I said that Simbadol is only one form of a narcotic - it is a long-acting form of buprenorphine and buprenorphine is also available as 'standard' duration injection, oral drops format and transdermal formats. The 'standard' duration of effect form is well known to be well-tolerated in cats when dosed accurately. There have been very few reports of adverse side effects to 'ordinary'/'standard' buprenorphine. (that duration of effect is about 6 hours)

Modern pain control - especially for serious/chronic pain - uses a combination of different types of pain medication, one being opioids. These different drug types target different 'pain pathways' to achieve better pain control with less medication and 'side effect'. You would be potentially putting your cat at a disadvantage with a blanket prohibition of "no narcotics".

Hope that explains a few things.




Hi Sassi and welcome to the forum !

It is so upsetting when our kitties are distressed like this. You can probably help her best by keeping her in a quiet space, perhaps a single room with all she needs. You could also use very low volume, soft music. Check "musicforcats.com" for examples.

Now, cats do not "pretend" to sleep.........or, pretend about anything else! What you're seeing is her body's reaction to a drug - she has absolutely no control over any of this. So, please, just be supportive to her until the drug leaves her system and these effects subside.
.

Thanks so much! The music is great. I couldn't think of another word, so I used 'pretend'. I am just worried that she is not able to close her eyes on her own and the third eyelids being shown concern me. Hope to have better news to report after the 72 hours mark tomorrow.

 

[Sassi]

Thanks so much! The music is great. I couldn't think of another word, so I used 'pretend'. I am just worried that she is not able to close her eyes on her own and the third eyelids being shown concern me. Hope to have better news to report after the 72 hours mark tomorrow.

It is Day 4 after her dental procedure and Simbadol, Sassi has finally come out under the bed and actually got some sleep. She is almost back to her normal self. Still rubbing her head against something but doing less. She seems to be very hungry. Last two days, I fed her wet food in a small portion 4 times each day (usually just twice a day and treats at night). I am just happy that she is fine now after this horrible ordeal. No more Simbadol for her!

 

[princessbootsie]

My kitten is about 6 months old. She was spayed today and they administered the Simbadol injection I'd say before 1pm. It is almost 11pm and she's STILL going nuts! I had to remove her litter b/c she was rolling around in it like she was on Ecstacy. She's playing non-stop and her pupils are all black. She is bonkers and I don't know what to do. I put her in the bathroom w/ food, water, blankets and pee pads everywhere b/c she's nuts with the litter, she was eating it! (glad it was fresh un-used litter) This is a TERRIBLE scenario for a kitten that was just spayed. She's voraciously eating her food like she's never eaten before. This SUCKS!!

 

[princessbootsie]

Update: 6:30am day 2 post-spay. Pupils are still fully dialated with the lights on, she's still as high as a kite, I fed her and all that and she's still restless, she still wants to roll around in her litter and not go to the bathroom. Had to remove the litter again and resume with peepee pads . She has not gone to the bathroom since 4:30pm yesterday.

Side note: I also had to use a little bit of Lick Guard an inch away from the sutures so she would not lick the sutures. Great deterrent. (warning: do not use Lick Guard on broken skin or suture line, it burns! I had a small cut on my finger, and it burned like hell)

 

[Sophie B]

Hi all, my cat is also having very similar reactions to a lot of the posts I've just read. And omg its reassuring to know it does pass and that others have had the same experience.
This is the second time in a few weeks he's been into the vet for suspected pancreatitis (awaiting bloods and investigation next week.) on both occasions has had a opioid injection which the vet said will last 24 hours which I believe is most likely buprenorphine after reading about other options. He's had the same reaction on both occasions but this time it is worse and combined with it being firework night is turning into a bit of a nightmare. He's either walking from one room to another and settling for a minute to stare before moving again or sat as still as a post and staring at the wall / ceiling. He is accepting some comforting in the form of head strokes which seems to relax time temporarily before almost forgetting what's going on and acting surprised to hear me talk to him (which I had been doing the whole time!) dilated pupils and at times it's like he can't see me but comes if I talk to him. Not going to his usual chill out places and will jumped straight off his sofa spot when I put him on there, instead is choosing to sit on the floor in the same place as last time he had the injection. He's eating in small quantities but not yet used his litter tray. Very distressing to watch and I just hope he isn't feeling as lost / confused as he seems.

One tip for any cat parents going through the same thing... I found that he seems to settle and watch the TV quite happily and it's holds his attention for far longer than anything else so far. He's currently watching a David Attenborough sea life episode and it's a relief to see him still and calm! Worth a try anyway and I hope it helps. it happened purely as a coincidence to try and counteract the fireworks for me!

 

[35 year catdad]

yikes hard drugs have hard side effects sometimes. Vets gave my very old Tortie gal pan meds after her spay in 2001 and she felt so good
she ripped loose her stiches and had to get a second closing of the wound. I think their pain is designed to warn them hey watch it...we are injured so back off the activities. Just had my 19 yr old to vet for kidney issues and a U.T. infection for first time and they prescribed gabapentin (Neurontin) which had her jumping up in my chair then falling off on her side before I could grab her.
This is what drives us to maybe try safer options like CBD which I haven't tried. She has been known to self medicate on some tiny fresh young hemp leaves which has never made her loopy. That being said her boyfriend Romeow age 6 had a saddle clot with horrible pain in his cold legs that had no blood so they shot him up I think with this? and it really helped his horrible pain till we got him to a heart specialist 30 miles and 45 minutes later who gave him his last shot ever. RIP sweetie.

 

[daftcat75]

I decided to try it one time without the long lasting buprenorphine shot. I figured I had transdermal at home to get her through the next few days. My normally very sweet Krista was very unhappy. The vet staff told me that none of them wanted to try to retrieve her for me to take her home. I can see why. In the end, I ended up throwing a towel over her and dragging her into a cardboard box carrier. She did settle down once we were in the car ride home. But after that, I vowed not to skip the long lasting shot. Better to have a loopy cat for a few days than one in pain that doesn’t want anyone near her. Which makes it even more difficult to keep up with a pain medicine schedule for shorter acting medicine. I wouldn’t want to go into her mouth with oral bupe every 6 to 8 hours after a dental procedure. She wouldn’t want that either. The long lasting shot is an acceptable “devil’s bargain” to keep kitty comfortable albeit loopy.

https://thecatsite.com/media/my-little-lion.422562/
(Turn your sound on for this one)

 

[Ace’s Mom]

Grateful to have found this site and this thread about Simbadol. Our vet administered it to our kitten post neuter. We are now at the 22 hour mark and he is still acting like a wild animal, bouncing off everything, pupils fully dilated. He hasn’t slept but he’s eaten and gone potty (poop and pee) so I am very happy at this point after reading some of the other comments. I’m hoping it doesn’t last the 72 hours the vet said it might because I am exhausted.

 

[princessbootsie]

Grateful to have found this site and this thread about Simbadol. Our vet administered it to our kitten post neuter. We are now at the 22 hour mark and he is still acting like a wild animal, bouncing off everything, pupils fully dilated. He hasn’t slept but he’s eaten and gone potty (poop and pee) so I am very happy at this point after reading some of the other comments. I’m hoping it doesn’t last the 72 hours the vet said it might because I am exhausted.

Aww so sorry! It will most likely be 3 days, and there will be a noticeable crash on day 3. I got no sleep either, it was a nerve-racking two weeks. It feels like an eternity, but it'll be over before you know it. Hang in there!!!!!

 

[Ace’s Mom]

Aww so sorry! It will most likely be 3 days, and there will be a noticeable crash on day 3. I got no sleep either, it was a nerve-racking two weeks. It feels like an eternity, but it'll be over before you know it. Hang in there!!!!!

He actually settled down a little bit at the 24 hour mark. Enough so that I thought he would sleep. But the slightest noise and he is alert and ready to roll. Currently, chasing a spring around the house. I feel so bad for him. He supposed to be relaxing and taking it easy. No chance of that.

 

[daftcat75]

Aww so sorry! It will most likely be 3 days, and there will be a noticeable crash on day 3. I got no sleep either, it was a nerve-racking two weeks. It feels like an eternity, but it'll be over before you know it. Hang in there!!!!!

Oh my goodness! Your kitty looks like my Krista.