Safety of oral robenacoxib in the cat

The safety of robenacoxib, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug with high selectivity for inhibition of the cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 isoform of COX, was investigated in the cat in two randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel-group studies. Robenacoxib was administered orally to healthy young domestic short-hair cats at dosages of 0 (placebo), 5 and 10 mg/kg once daily for 28 days (study 1) and at 0 (placebo), 2, 6 and 10 mg/kg twice daily for 42 days (study 2). The recommended minimum dosage for robenacoxib tablets in cats is 1 mg/kg once daily (range 1-2.4 mg/kg). Relative to placebo treatment, no toxicologically significant effects of robenacoxib were recorded in either study, based on general observations of health, haematological and clinical chemistry variables and urinalyses in life, and by post mortem organ weight, gross pathology and histopathology assessments. Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic simulations indicated that all dosages of robenacoxib were associated with marked inhibition of COX-2 at peak effect (median I(max) 97.8-99.4% inhibition) with lesser inhibition of COX-1 (median I(max) 26.8-58.3% inhibition). Inhibition of the COXs was short lasting, with >10% median inhibition persisting for 4.0 h for COX-2 and 1.5 h for COX-1. These levels of inhibition of COX-1 and COX-2 twice daily with robenacoxib were not associated with any detectable toxicity, suggesting that, as previously described in dogs, the high safety index of robenacoxib in cats may be related to a combination of its high COX-2 selectivity and short residence time in the central compartment.