Vomiting can be associated with serious, severely debilitating conditions including gastrointestinal obstructions; therefore, appropriate diagnostic evaluations should be employed.
Administering Cerenia on a completely empty stomach may cause the dog to vomit. A light snack before dosing could help prevent this effect.
The safety of Cerenia has not been established in dogs less than 16 weeks of age (for the 8 mg/kg dose: motion sickness) and in dogs less than 8 weeks of age (for the 2 mg/kg dose: vomiting), as well as in pregnant or lactating bitches. Use only according to a risk benefit assessment by the responsible veterinary surgeon.
Good veterinary practice indicates that antiemetics should be used in conjunction with other supportive measures such as dietary control and fluid therapy while addressing the underlying cause of the vomiting.
Cerenia tablets were well tolerated when administered for 15 days at dosages up to 10 mg/kg bodyweight per day. Clinical signs including vomiting on first administration, excess salivation and watery faeces have been observed when the product has been overdosed in excess of 20 mg/kg.
The safety of maropitant during treatment beyond 5 days has not been explored in young dogs with viral enteritis. In case treatment for a longer period than 5 days is required, careful monitoring of potential adverse events should be implemented.
Maropitant is metabolised in the liver and therefore should be used with caution in dogs with liver disease. As maropitant is accumulated in the body during a 14 day treatment period due to metabolic saturation, careful monitoring of liver function in addition to any adverse events should be implemented during long term treatment.
Cerenia should be used with caution in animals suffering from or with a predisposition for heart diseases. Cerenia should not be used concomitantly with Ca-channel antagonists as maropitant has affinity to Ca-channels.
Maropitant is highly bound to plasma proteins and may compete with other highly bound drugs.
Cerenia is not a sedative and some motion sick dogs may show nausea-like signs during travel such as salivation and lethargy. These signs are temporary and should resolve when the journey ends.
Incidents of pre-travel vomiting, usually within two hours post-dosing, were commonly reported (more than 1 but less than 10 animals in 100 animals treated) after administration of the 8 mg/kg dose.
Lethargy has been reported in very rare cases, based on post-marketing safety experience.
The frequency of adverse reactions is defined using the following convention:
- very common (more than 1 in 10 animals treated displaying adverse reaction(s))
- common (more than 1 but less than 10 animals in 100 animals treated)
- uncommon (more than 1 but less than 10 animals in 1,000 animals treated)
- rare (more than 1 but less than 10 animals in 10,000 animals treated)
- very rare (less than 1 animal in 10,000 animals treated, including isolated reports).
User warnings
People with known hypersensitivity to maropitant should administer the veterinary medicinal product with caution.
Wash hands after use. In case of accidental ingestion seek medical advice immediately and show the package leaflet or the label to the physician.