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Updated: Apr 19, 2026
Intravascular Delivery of Biologics to the Rat Kidney
Published on: September 1, 2016
Pharmacokinetics of intravenous ketorolac in cats undergoing gonadectomy
R Villa1, G Ravasio, C Ferraresi
1a Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie per la Salute, la Produzione Animale e la Sicurezza Alimentare , Università degli Studi di Milano , Milano 20133 , Italy.
Aim:
To determine the pharmacokinetics of ketorolac tromethamine (0.5 mg/kg) when administered I/V to cats undergoing gonadectomy.
Methods:
Ketorolac was administered to nine female and three male shorthair domestic cats as an I/V bolus of 0.5 mg/kg after intubation, and 20 minutes prior to ovariectomy or orchiectomy. Intra-operative cardiorespiratory variables were monitored and blood samples were collected over 24 hours. Concentrations of ketorolac in serum were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography to establish pharmacokinetic parameters.
Results:
During surgery, mean end tidal isoflurane concentration was 1.63 (SD 0.24)% and normocapnia and spontaneous ventilation were maintained in all animals. The kinetics of ketorolac was described by a two-compartment model. The distribution and elimination half-lives were 0.09 (SD 0.06) and 4.14 (SD 1.18) hours, respectively. The body clearance was 56.8 (SD 33.1) mL/h/kg. The volume of distribution at steady-state and the mean residence time were 323.9 (SD 115.7) mL/kg and 6.47 (SD 2.86) hours, respectively.
Conclusion And Clinical Relevance:
On the basis of the results, concentrations of ketorolac in serum in cats were above the human effective concentrations for 5-6 hours postoperatively. However, other studies including a control group are advocated to further investigate the ketorolac kinetics and the analgesic efficacy in this species.
