Pretreatment of Cats with Vitamin B6 Reduces Vomiting Episodes Following Xylazine Administration

Abstract

Objective- Vomiting is a common problem of administration of xylazine in cats. This study was conducted to evaluate prophylactic antiemetic efficacy of vitamin B6 in sedated cats with xylazine. Design- Experimental study Animals- Eight adult cats (from both genders) were selected. Procedures- All the cats were administered with intramuscular injection of normal saline or four increasing dosages of vitamin B6 (5, 10, 20 and 40mg/kg) an hour prior to administration of xylazine with one week intervals. All the cats were monitored after injection of xylazine for thirty min to record the onset of first emesis, frequency of emetic episodes and the onset of recumbency. Results- Frequency of emetic episodes significantly decreased with each mentioned dosage of vitamin B6. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance- This study showed that pretreatment of cats with vitamin B6 may reduce episodes of xylazine induced emesis without compromising its sedative effect.