Our little felines daily face parasitic threats, both external and internal. Even if they live in the home, they can be infested by internal parasites such as tapeworms or roundworms, since we can carry their eggs in our clothes and shoes. Panacur is the name of a medicine that contains a antiparasitic principle useful for gastrointestinal parasites in various animals, including cats, so it is a treatment used to deworm kittens and adult cats. We find it in oral paste format or in tablets.
Continue reading this article on our site to learn more about panacur for cats, its dosage, uses and side effects.
What is panacur?
Panacur is the name of a drug marketed as antiparasitic for several domestic species, including cats. There are two formats marketed for the feline species, a paste format for oral ingestion and another format in oral tablets.
The active ingredient of panacur is fenbendazol, a antiparasitic belonging to the group of benzimidazoles, considered a broad-spectrum anthelmintic. The action of fenbendazole is to alter the activity of the enzyme fumaratoreductase, which is involved in the parasite's metabolism of glycogen, an essential nutrient for its survival. Therefore, fenbendazole produces a reduction in the glycogen available to the parasite, ending its death. In addition, it has action against adult parasites, larvae and eggs, being a very complete dewormer.
Where to buy panacur?
You can buy panacur for cats and other animals in pharmacies and veterinary clinics.
What is panacur good for in cats?
Panacur in cats, therefore, serves as an anthelmintic for internal deworming of cats Panacur is useful for treating infestations by gastrointestinal nematodes, both in kittens and in adult cats. The internal parasites that fenbendazole can kill in cats are the following:
- Toxocara cati
- Toxascaris leonina
- Ancylostoma tubaeforme
- Aelurostrongylus abstrusus
- Taenia spp.
Learn about all the intestinal parasites that affect these animals and the symptoms they produce in this other article: "Intestinal parasites in cats - Symptoms and treatment".
Panacur dosage for cats
As we have mentioned, there are two formulations of panacur for cats, in paste format and in tablet format. Next, we will discuss the dosage of each medication for these animals.
Dose of panacur oral paste 187, 5 mg/g
Each syringe can contain up to 4.8 g of paste, which is equivalent to 900 mg of fenbendazole, and has 18 graduations, each containing 50 mg of fenbendazole. The use of panacur oral paste is suitable for cats weighing up to 6 kg, if they weigh more a single syringe is not enough, since the dose of this oral paste for adult cats is 75 mg fenbendazole/kg/24 h for two consecutive days. Therefore, taking into account the mg of fenbendazole per graduation, depending on the cat's weight, the daily dose in adult cats will be as follows:
- Daily dose for 2 kg cats: 3 graduations for 2 days.
- Daily dose for cats from 2, 1 to 4 kg: 6 graduations for 2 days.
- Daily dose for cats from 4, 1 to 6 kg: 9 graduations for 2 days.
In kittens, the dose of fenbendazole is 50 mg fenbendazole/kg/24h for three consecutive days, therefore, the daily dose of panacur in kittenswould be the following:
- Daily dose for kittens from 1 to 2 kg: 2 graduations for 3 days.
- Daily dose for kittens from 2, 1 to 3 kg: 3 graduations for 3 days.
- Daily dose for kittens from 3, 1 to 4 kg: 4 graduations for 3 days.
- Daily dose for kittens from 4, 1 to 5 kg: 5 graduations for 3 days.
- Daily dose for kittens from 5, 1 to 6 kg: 6 graduations for 3 days.
Dose of panacur tablets 250
Panacur tablets can be administered with a small amount of your usual food, especially wet, or directly chopped into a syringe with a little water. The dose of panacur tablets can be given in one or for three or five consecutive days, so the dose of panacur tablets in cats is as follows, depending on its frequency of administration:
- Single dose: 1 tablet for every 2.5 kg of cat weight.
- Dose for three consecutive days: 1 tablet per 5 kg.
- Dose for five consecutive days: 1 tablet for every 12.5 kg.
Don't miss this other article to learn about our Tips for giving a cat a pill.
Contraindications and side effects of panacur in cats
Panacur is a safe drug with no contraindications in cats, not even in pregnant or lactating cats or very young cats, and it is possible use effectively and safely at any time of the cat's life.
On the other hand, certain side effects may appear. Both panacur oral paste and panacur tablets can cause digestive disturbances such as abdominal discomfort, vomiting and mild diarrhoea, the latter being more moderate in the case of administration of oral paste than tablets. Some allergic reaction related to panacur tablets has ever been seen in dogs, but this has not been the case in the feline species.
Now that you know how this antiparasitic works and against which parasites, keep learning and discover how to deworm a cat externally as well.
