View article

Opioids are considered the gold standard to manage acute or chronic or mild to severe pain. Tramadol is a widely prescribed analgesic drug for dogs and cats; it has a synthetic partial agonism on μ-opioid receptors and inhibits the reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin. However, the biotransformation and resultant metabolites differ between species and depend on cytochrome P450 interactions. Dogs mainly produce the inactive N-desmethyl tramadol metabolite, whereas cats exhibit an improved antinociceptive effect owing to rapid active O-desmethyltramadol metabolite production and a longer elimination half-life. Tapentadol, a novel opioid with dual action on μ-receptors and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitory activity, is a promising option in dogs, as it is less reliant on metabolic activation and is unaffected by cytochrome polymorphisms. Although scientific evidence on the analgesic activity of tapentadol in …