Doses - INTERFERON ALFA-2A, HUMAN RECOMBINANT

Dogs:

As an appetite stimulant:
a) 1 IU per 10 pounds of body weight PO every other week. Efficacy is not proven.(Kemp 1992)

Cats:

For treatment of non-neoplastic FeLV-associated disease:
a) 30 IU/cat (1 ml) given PO once daily for 7 days on a one-week-on, one-week-off schedule until clinically normal. Most cats remain FeLV positive. If clinical signs resume, may reinstitute therapy.
b) 0.5 - 5 U/kg/day PO (Barta 1992)
For treatment of ocular herpes lesions (see indications above):
a) 10 units orally once daily for seven days, discontinue treatment for seven days, and then treat for seven days. Needs more research to determine efficacy. (Olivero 1994)
Preparation of solution: Using the 3 million IU vial (see below), dilute the entire contents into a 1 L bag of sterile normal saline; mix well. Resulting solution contains approximately 3, 000 IU/ml. Divide into aliquots of either 1 or 10 ml and freeze. By diluting further 100 fold (1 ml of 3000 IU/ml solution with 100 ml of sterile saline, or 10 ml with 1000 ml of sterile saline) a 30 IU/ml solution will result. Authors state that the frozen solution will remain stable for "years" and the final diluted solution 30 IU/ml will remain stable for several months when refrigerated. Refreezing unused portions of 30 IU/ml solution is not recommended.
Client Information - Oral use in cats: Owners should be made aware of the "investigational" nature of this compound and understand that efficacy and safety have not necessarily been established.
Dosage Forms/Preparations/FDA Approval Status/Withholding Times - Veterinary-Approved Products: None

Human-Approved Products:

Interferon Alfa-2a (recombinant DNA origin) for Parenteral Injection, 3 million I.U./ml (1 mlvial), 6 million I.U./ml (3 ml vial), 36 million I.U./ml (1 ml vial); Powder for Injection 6 million
I.U./ml when reconstituted (3 ml vial); Roferon-A® (Roche); (Rx)