New Drug for Heart Disease

[alimel]

My vet has been waiting for this drug to become available to us, which he just received last week. I am hoping this will help my Mel with Cardiomopathy. He is taking Pimobendan along with Enalapril and Lasix. Here is what I found on the internet:

The study and use of Pimobendan in dogs is still relatively new but the results of small studies have been very positive. The limited literature is consistently favorable regarding improvement in exercise tolerance, quality of life and heart failure score. Increases in survival time appear to vary somewhat with breed. For some breeds including Doberman Pinschers, the increase in survival time is dramatic. Improvement in clinical status should occur within the first month of treatment. There is an excellent review of Pimobendan and other new cardiac drugs in the 2005 ACVIM Proceedings. There is a great deal of interest in this drug and larger studies should be being published in the near future.

Precautions

• At this time there are no specific precautions associated with the use of Pimobendan. Pimobendan appears to have fewer adverse outcome reports when compared to Ramipril.

We can only hope

[Deb's Tiny Dogs]

I have read several articles on this "new" drug. It's not new in Canada and Europe, It has it pluses and minuses, and side effects of its own, but less than alternatives.

It's rarely a stand alone, but typically combined with other drugs. We already have the approval for Miko to go on it since the drug is under study at the vet college we go to. Luckily, we haven't had to give it to him yet since he's been holding his own. I know the day is coming though.

I hope it helps your baby. Please keep us posted. I'm really interested in knowing if it helped.

[alimel]

Mel has been taking Pimobendan for 5 days now (one pill a day, very low dosage) and I am starting to see a slight improvement in his breathing when we go for a walk. He seems more alert, he keeps trying to steal toys away from his brother Buddy

He will visit the vet at the end of the month for a follow up, I am really hoping he does well, will let you know.

[SalemsMom]

I have a chow that is on Enalapril and Lasics,I'm going to check in on this,I hope mel does well on it,maybe I can get Deiogie on it to!!!!!

[~Astral~]

I have a minature poodle who has Heart disease (heart failure). He is on Enalpril, Furosemide and Corvental. I think I will ask my Vet about this to.

[Deb's Tiny Dogs]

Originally Posted by ~Astral~

I have a minature poodle who has Heart disease (heart failure). He is on Enalpril, Furosemide and Corvental. I think I will ask my Vet about this to.

Does your dog experience any side effects from these drugs?

[EmmaGirl]

It sounds very promising! There are always ups and down to any med but as long as there are no contraindications or severe adverse reactions, I would hope that it is studied furthered an found to help enhance the quality of life.

BTW...just wondering.... is there an FDA regulatorary body that approves meds for dogs as the FDA does with people meds? It may be a dumb question but I was just wondering.

[alimel]

From what I have read, there are no really bad side effects. Vomiting and Nausia was listed but Mel has not had any side effects yet and I really hope he does not.

This drug for dogs is new in the US, it was just passed, through who? I am not sure. Many people were buying this drug for their pets overseas and having it shipped here. It was only available to humans in the US. My vet was even going to help me get this drug overseas, until he found out it was to be sold here soon.

It is probably too soon to tell if it is working yet...it has not even been a full week, however, I am noticing small improvements in him, he is more alert and gets spunky more often!

The only thing that we have to get used to is the timing. The pill must be taken one hour before a meal. It takes some planning! If I get home from work late, I have to give him the pill then wait...the dogs keep looking at me...hey lady, it's late, where is my dinner!

[~Astral~]

Originally Posted by Deb's Tiny Dogs

Does your dog experience any side effects from these drugs?

No he doesn't.Why? He still has all of his symptoms of congestive heart failure and the medication isn't helping with his wheezing but the Vet said that is due to his weight (10kg) but apart from that he is stable.

[Deb's Tiny Dogs]

Originally Posted by ~Astral~

No he doesn't.Why? He still has all of his symptoms of congestive heart failure and the medication isn't helping with his wheezing but the Vet said that is due to his weight (10kg) but apart from that he is stable.

So, what is it helping?