Comparison of oral and subcutaneous administration of buprenorphine and meloxicam for preemptive analgesia in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy.

OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of preoperative PO and SC administration of buprenorphine and meloxicam for prevention of postoperative pain-associated behaviors in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy. DESIGN Randomized controlled study. ANIMALS 51 female cats (4 to 60 months old; weight range, 1.41 to 4.73 kg [3.1 to 10.4 lb]). PROCEDURE Cats received 1 of 5 treatments at the time of anesthetic induction: buprenorphine PO (0.01 mg/kg [0.0045 mg/lb]; n = 10), buprenorphine SC (0.01 mg/kg; 10), meloxicam SC (0.3 mg/kg 10.14 mg/lb]; 10), meloxicam PO (0.3 mg/kg; 10), or 0.3 mL of sterile saline (0.9% NaCI) solution SC (control group; 11). Sedation scores and visual analog scale and interactive visual analog scale (IVAS) pain-associated behavior scores were assigned to each cat 2 hours before and at intervals until 20 hours after surgery. RESULTS Cats receiving meloxicam PO or SC had significantly lower IVAS scores (2.91 and 2.02, respectively), compared with IVAS scores for cats receiving buprenorphine PO (755). Pain-associated behavior scores for cats administered buprenorphine or meloxicam PO or SC preoperatively did not differ significantly from control group scores. Rescue analgesia was not required by any of the cats receiving meloxicam, whereas 3 of 10 cats receiving buprenorphine PO, 2 of 10 cats receiving buprenorphine SC, and 1 of 11 cats receiving the control treatment required rescue analgesia. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE On the basis of pain-associated behavior scores, cats receiving meloxicam PO or SC before ovariohysterectomy appeared to have less pain after surgery than those receiving buprenorphine PO preoperatively.