Drontal: all about the drug and veterinarian recommendations

What will you learn from the article?

1. Instructions for use Dosage

Is there a cat without worms?

Here we have the answer ready:

So that your cat does not suffer

We need to give him Drontal!

We have already written more than once that worms lie in wait even for domestic cats who have never crossed the threshold of an apartment and have only seen the street through the kitchen window. Alas, we ourselves constantly bring parasites into the house, so in no case should we forget about regular deworming of our pet (and ourselves!). Our task is to tell you about all possible helper drugs, and your right is to choose the best of the best.

In this material, as we openly hinted at the very beginning, we will talk about the drug Drontal for cats against worms.

Drontal: composition, release form, storage conditions

Drontal for cats is available in tablets, each of which is designed for 4 kg of cat weight. Manufacturer: German company BAYER Animal Care. One tablet contains:

• pyrantel embonate – 230 mg,
• praziquantel - 20 mg,
• auxiliary components.

The drug is stored under normal conditions: in a dry place, protected from direct sunlight at temperatures up to 25 °C.

Drontal has a long shelf life of five years, so when purchasing, look at the manufacturing date. It is not advisable to buy a drug that was produced 4–4 and a half years ago. There is a risk that the tablets were stored improperly - for example, they were exposed to heat. Buy the most “fresh” drug possible.

Brief instructions for storage and dosage are provided on the back of the Drontal package.

Indications for use

Drontal is prescribed to cats for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes for nematodes (toxocariasis, toxascariasis, hookworm) and cestodoses (tenidosis, dipylidiasis, echinococcosis, mesocestoidosis).

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As follows from the instructions, Drontal is used for the treatment and prevention of common helminthiases in cats:

• roundworms (nematodes), among which are dangerous for cats: different types of roundworms,
• toxocara,
• hookworms, etc.;

Drontal does not protect against fluke worms (trematodes), since it contains praziquantel in a low dose. Trematodes include Opisthorchis felineus, which causes opisthorchiasis. This is a very common disease that animals contract by eating raw or poorly cooked river fish. If your cat eats a raw diet or has access to natural bodies of water, it is worth considering additional prevention of opisthorchiasis.

To solve this problem, I recommend periodically (no more than once a year) using praziquantel in a higher dose, then it is active against trematodes, among other things. For example, the drugs Milbemax or Milprazone.

How to get a cat to take medicine

Drontal does not have a pleasant taste, so the animal will not take the medication of its own free will. To find an individual approach to your pet and force the cat to take the medicine, veterinarians recommend using one of the following methods:

• Grind the tablet into powder, then mix it with water and pour it into the cat’s mouth. It should be borne in mind that the substance does not dissolve in water, so the mixture should be given immediately after preparation, otherwise the medicine will precipitate. You can draw the liquid into a syringe without a needle and gradually squeeze it into the animal’s mouth. This method is convenient for small kittens, since a large and strong cat is difficult to keep in a motionless position while taking the medicine.
• Mix the medication with food. In order for the cat not to refuse food, the pet must be hungry.
• Make the cat swallow a pill. It is recommended to place the cat on a horizontal hard surface in a sitting or lying position. For physically active or shy animals, it is recommended to wrap a blanket tightly or wear a special retaining bag. With one hand you need to hold the cat, maintaining the chosen position, and with the other palm, firmly grasp the back of the head and throw the pet’s head back with its mouth up. The second person should pull the cat's chin down. In this position, the animal’s mouth will involuntarily open, and the tablet can be inserted there. While continuing to hold the cat in this position, you need to stroke the pet on the neck, causing a swallowing reflex. If the tablet goes deep enough, the cat will quickly swallow the medicine. Do not push the tablet with your fingers - a frightened pet may bite strongly. You can use tweezers or a special device offered by veterinary pharmacies.

Possible side effects and contraindications

In terms of the degree of impact on the body, Drontal is classified as a low-hazard substance (hazard class 4 according to GOST 12.1.007–76). Well tolerated by cats of different breeds and ages. A contraindication to the use of Drontal tablets is the cat’s individual hypersensitivity to the components of the drug (including a history of it).

As a rule, there are no side effects or complications when using Drontal in accordance with these instructions.

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The active ingredients of Drontal - pyrantel and praziquantel - are well tolerated and usually do not give any individual reactions, even with a slight overdose. In rare cases, drooling, diarrhea or vomiting are noted, which pass quickly and, according to the instructions, do not require treatment.

Several years ago, there were many fakes of Drontal on the market. The use of the “scorched” drug caused symptoms of poisoning similar to those indicated above. Nowadays there are much fewer such cases, but they do happen. If your pet develops side effects, the medication may not be genuine. When purchasing an anthelmintic, carefully study the packaging. It must correspond to that declared by the manufacturer, and the batch serial number must be present. For a genuine drug, the blister will have all the necessary symbols and drawings on the back side.

The blister must contain complete data - logo, composition, dosage, batch number, date of manufacture and expiration date of the drug. Information may be in Russian or English

Security measures

When interacting with the drug Drontal, it is necessary to comply with the usual hygiene rules and safety standards defined for working with medications. While working with the medicine, eating or drinking water, as well as smoking, is not allowed. After interaction, it is recommended to wash your hands with hot water and soap. If the medication comes into contact with the skin or mucous membrane of the eyes, rinse the contact surface under running water.

People with hypersensitivity to the components of the drug Drontal are advised to exclude the possibility of direct contact with the medication. If an allergy occurs or a substance enters the body unintentionally, you should seek help from a doctor, taking with you the instructions for using the medicine.

Interaction with other drugs

The manufacturer does not recommend using Drontal with other anthelmintics containing piperazine.

If possible, anthelmintic drugs should not be combined with anything at all; only healthy animals should be treated. If your pet is sick and does not have a pronounced helminthic infestation, it is better to postpone treatment until he recovers. The exception is chronic diseases. In case of kidney or liver failure, the animal should be given deworming tablets as prescribed by a doctor.

Who are the tablets for?

The instructions for drontal for cats indicate its combined effect. The active substance is considered toxic to round and tape varieties of parasites.

• Correctly selected dosage allows you to quickly get rid of helminthic infestation.
• Most veterinarians prescribe the drug for nematodes.
• Thanks to him, it is possible to get rid of toxocariasis, toxocaredosis and ankylomatosis.

To calculate the volume of the active substance, you will need to take a stool test and scraping from the surface of the mucous membranes. Based on the results of the examination, it is possible to detect the type of worms and select the appropriate treatment method.

Analogues of the drug

There are many anthelmintics for cats. Most often they are produced in the form of tablets, but there are also suspensions, gels, and drops on the withers. Preparations in the form of tablets have more advantages than drops on the withers, since the active substance enters directly into the intestines, where most of the worms are located. Suspensions are mainly used for small kittens.

In order not to get confused in choosing tablets, you need to know that they all contain the same substances. Each manufacturer just combines them in different ways.

• Pyrantel embonate, or pamoate, is the most common and safest remedy against roundworms. It is almost completely excreted from the intestines unchanged, without entering the blood.
• Praziquantel is the only common drug against tapeworms and, in high doses, flukes. It is actively absorbed into the blood, biotransformed in the liver and excreted by the kidneys. Therefore, it is used with caution in case of renal and liver failure and during the reproductive period.
• Fenbendazole - acts on round helminths, penetrates poorly into the blood and is mainly excreted in the feces, like pyrantel. In combination, these two substances enhance each other. Fenbendazole is used for infection with protozoa (giardia, coccidia).
• Milbemycin oxime is active against intestinal nematodes, as well as dirofilaria larvae, which makes it indispensable for the prevention of dirofilariasis. Well absorbed into the blood.
• Febantel is converted in the body to fenbendazole.

Manufacturers of drugs with similar compositions give conflicting recommendations regarding restrictions on use, and sometimes they completely skip this point in the instructions. Therefore, it is better to rely on information about the active ingredients. Pyrantel is safe during the reproductive period, fenbendazole is almost the same, and praziquantel is potentially dangerous. Therefore, in such cases, it is better to use monopreparations containing one active ingredient for treatment.

For adult animals, on the contrary, it is important to use a complex drug that will provide protection against all types of helminths. But for cats that eat raw river fish, the dose of praziquantel needs to be increased further.

Table: comparison of anthelmintic drugs for cats

Owner reviews

We buy DRONTAL, the weight is already written on each cell. 4 kg, just right for our two-year-old purr, who weighs exactly 4 kg. The drug is very easy to use. It is given with something tasty or familiar food (minced meat, wet food).

tanyusik

https://otzovik.com/review_37489.html

We didn’t have any problems with worms with this drug, although in the spring and summer cats go to the dacha and roam freely there, respectively, and rummage in the sand, and eat different grass, and communicate with neighboring cats - which can contribute to infection. There were no adverse reactions to taking Drontal. The second cat I had was found and she moved in with a full “bouquet” of all the delights of homeless life, including worms - Drontal cured her in two doses. The only relative disadvantage is that it is not so easy to force a pet to take a pill, but this generally applies to any tablet medications.

Olya2309

https://irecommend.ru/content/otlichnyi-preparat-dlya-lecheniya-i-profilaktiki-glistov-u-koshek-takzhe-kak-dat-pitomtsu-le

Drontal. Now this word will be associated in me with the horror of the night I experienced. I gave the tablet to a 1.5 year old cat. Before this, they dewormed with another cheap drug, there were no problems. But after reading positive reviews I decided to try Drontal. An hour later, the cat began to fall on its side and squint when walking. When we decided to attract his attention with the standard “kys-kys,” he opened his eyes and I screamed. There were no eyes, but only white spots, like in a horror movie... As it turned out later, the third eyelid closed the eyes. The spectacle is not for the faint of heart. It was late, and while we were looking for a 24-hour veterinarian in our city, it took another two hours to get there. The veterinarian immediately gave three injections, put on a drip and said that if they had not brought him, the cat might not have woken up from pulmonary edema. He prescribed medicine for intoxication and ordered me not to feed him for a day. Thank God, the cat felt fine in the morning.

Yulia Nesterova

https://irecommend.ru/content/chut-ne-ostalis-bez-kota

Without a doubt, I recommend Drontal for your animal! It is tolerated by the animal’s body as well as possible and has a wide spectrum of action. The only drawback I can note is the large size of the tablet, which makes it difficult to feed it to the cat. From our experience, I can firmly and confidently say that giving a tablet mixed with food is a waste of money! Because the tablet flies back out along with all the contents of the stomach. Twice I masked Drontal in wet food, once in bread pulp. Once I passed with food, but there was vomiting. But the second time the cat vomited. The tablet had to be washed off and given again (and this procedure is stressful for both the cat and quite nervous for the owner).

Avdeeva

https://irecommend.ru/content/effektivnaya-profilaktika-i-lechenie-glistov-u-kota-chto-takoe-degelmintizatsiya-i-zachem-on