Semintra Oral Solution for Cats

This is only recommended for Cats. We would recommend speaking to your Vets.

Semintra helps reduce the loss of protein through your cats urine. If the kidneys are damaged enough to need the medication then unfortunately your cat will likely need it for the rest of their life. The kidneys do not have a capacity to repair and any current damage is managed using treatment/diet as suggested by your vet.

Hello Tarmina, thank you for your question,

I can confirm that Semintra is a prescription only medication, so we would need to obtain a prescription before dispensing this product.

The active substance in Semintra, telmisartan, is an ‘angiotensin II receptor antagonist’, which means that it blocks the action of a hormone in the body called angiotensin II. Angiotensin II is a powerful vasoconstrictor (a substance that constricts blood vessels). By blocking the receptor to which angiotensin II normally attaches, telmisartan stops the hormone having an effect, allowing the blood vessels to expand. This allows blood pressure to drop with a resulting decrease in protein in the urine which may slow down progression of kidney disease. If your cat is losing weight then Semintra may well help. Of course hyperthyroidism causes weight loss too but if your cat is losing any protein in her urine then this will contribute. It would be up to your vet to advise how beneficial Semintra would be to your cat at this stage.

I can see your confusion. The syringe is telling you that there are 4mg of semintra in 1ml of solution. This is not something you need to worry about though. To simplify things the scale on the syringe from 1-8 represents a kg-bodyweight scale. If your cat weighs 4kg you need to fill the syringe up to 4 on the scale.

I am sure that close contact with your cat will be completely safe as far as this medication is concerned. There is a theoretical risk if you have a litter tray and you handle that, because the compound is excreted unchanged in the faeces. However I am sure that normal hygiene measures will be fully adequate to protect you there. (A much more real danger to you from a litter tray would be Toxoplasmosis, so please ask your doctor about this if you are not aware of it.) I suppose if she had some residual medication in her mouth and then bit you, there would be a slight risk, but you can assess how likely that really is. Again if she has some in her mouth then grooms herself, some will be present on her coat. However we are getting into the realms of theoretical tiny risks here and there are many greater dangers out there than this. The amount that you could actually ingest through stroking her is ridiculously small and quite insignificant. The danger to pregnant women comes really from being prescribed the medication themselves, so the dose would be immensely higher. Basically as long as you do not have any direct contact with the medication, all will be well. Perhaps wash your hands before eating etc while pregnant, for lots of reasons. Otherwise I do not think this should be a concern of yours now.

I hope your pregnancy goes well in every way and that you enjoy motherhood in all its complexities!

I would certainly think that Semintra could replace the Fortekor. It might well reduce blood pressure too in time, but by a different mechanism than amlodipine.You could perhaps maintain the amlodipine initially and measure blood pressure periodically while then withdrawing the it. You could certainly find that amlodipine is not needed, depending perhaps on how high the blood pressure has been before. Your vet is best able to advise on this.

Prudence is so old, you must be very proud of her. Semintra is designed for cats just like her and it should help, but nothing will make her young again. It can help to reduce the weight loss by reducing the amount of protein which leaks out in the urine. We would recommend you continue with it.