A study of the use of a transdermal fentanyl patch in cats.

A transdermal therapeutic system (TTS) has been developed for the continuous delivery of fentanyl citrate to provide ongoing analgesia in human patients with chronic pain. Several researchers believe that fentanyl transdermal patches have a place in postoperative pain control. The purpose of this study was to determine whether transdermal technology is an effective way of administering fentanyl to feline patients. Fentanyl patches were applied to the skin of six cats, and blood samples for fentanyl analysis were collected over 104 hours. This study establishes that the transdermal patch technology is an effective, long-lasting, cost-effective, noninvasive, and well-tolerated mode of deliverying fentanyl to cats.