Results
All cats pretreated with saline solution (control treatment) showed episodes of emesis after
receiving 0.66 mg/kg of xylazine HCl and vomited most of the food they were fed
(mean±SEM) (number of episodes of emesis was 5.33±1.09). Number of episodes of emesis
was 3.00±0.82, 2.83±0.70 and 2.67±0.33 for ondansetron at dosages of 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8
mg/kg, respectively. Pretreatment of cats with ondansetron at any mentioned dosages
significantly reduced the number of episodes of emesis induced by xylazine HCl (Fig. 1). This
effect was not dose dependant.
The time until onset of the first emetic episode and the time until onset of sedation after
administration of saline solution or 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 mg/kg of ondansetron prior to
administration of xylazine were shown in Table 1. Pretreatment of cats with mentioned
dosages of ondansetron could not significantly increase the time until first emetic episode
after administration of xylazine HCl. Prior treatment with ondansetron at any of these dosages
did not significantly alter the time until onset of sedation after administration of xylazine.