Convenia Saved My Cat's Life
With all of the unfavorable articles circulating on the Internet about the dangers of the injectable antibiotic Convenia, I wanted to share our experience with it.
What is Convenia?
Convenia is a long acting antibiotic injection that lasts for about 10-14 days, which means you don't have to give your cat a liquid or pill each day.
Our Experience with Convenia
It all started this past November (2013). My cat Cynthistar (the white cat in the photo above) developed cold symptoms and conjunctivitis. I took her to the vet, where she was prescribed Azithromycin. She got better for a couple of days, but then the Azithromycin stopped working.
So we went back to the vet and she was prescibed Baytril. The Baytril didn't seem to work for her and she didn't appear to feel very good while she was on it. I've had other cats on Baytril in the past, and they did fine on it, but it didn't do much good for Cynthistar (usually just called Cynthie).
Repeated Colds and Eye Infections
For some unknown reason, she kept getting repeated colds and eye infections. Her blood tests came back normal. She lives in a multicat household and no other cat has been ill, but Cynthie just kept getting sick. Her 3rd eyelid was also very visible in her left eye.
I came home from work one day and she had a blood coming from her left nostril - despite having just been on Baytril.
I called the vet in a panic and took her in. The vet said that Cynthie probably had a tumor causing the bleeding and the repeated infections and we almost put her down that day.
Here are two photos of how her left eye looked before the Convenia. As you can see it looks pretty bad.
The vet said she'd like to try one more thing before we put her down and gave her a shot of Convenia.
By the next day, she was about 90% better. By 48 hours she was like a new cat. Eyes completely normal looking, running around the house playing with her toys, eating, and acting perfectly normal.
The above photo shows Cynthie feeling much better and enjoying some sunshine on our enclosed front porch. She would not have been able to enjoy this spring and summer if not for the Convenia injection.
So Why Does Convenia Have a Bad Rep
Despite Convenia's effectiveness and ease of use it has a bad reputation. As soon as we got home from the vet I googled Convenia and saw all sorts of horror stories about it.
The reason Convenia has a bad reputation is that sometimes antibiotics cause a bad reaction in some animals or people. For example, Cynthie gets sick and throws up when she takes Clindamycin. When this happens you generally stop taking it or stop giving it to your animal. But, since Convenia is a long acting antibiotic, you can't just stop taking it if a bad reaction occurs. You would have to wait until the Convenia was out of your cat's system - about 2 weeks or more.
Cynthistar had no problems with the Convenia. All it did was help her and she's had several injections (because she just keeps getting sick). However, the Convenia shots have been working for her, but once they wear off then she gets sick again. The vet doesn't know why this is happening, and she may in fact have a tumor of some kind, but at least the Convenia has extended her life and improved her health so she can live as long as possible.
I can't guarantee that your cat would do well on Convenia, since every cat is different, but it did work for us.
Unfortunately, Cynthie did have a sinus tumor and passed away July 31, 2014. However, the Convenia injections she received kept her alive and in relatively good condition until that dreadful day. I'm certain that without the Convenia injections she would not have lasted nearly so long as she did.