Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: Mark on September 03, 2009, 16:41:32 PM
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I have been trying to find an alternative that is smaller and not "palatable" for mine and found out that the active ingredient is now available as a generic drug. When I took Willow to the vet last week, they had some and it is called Benazecare - exactly the same active ingredient as Fortekor. It only comes in 5mg (and larger) pills which are film coated. The 5mg is less than 1/2 the size of a 2.5mg Fortekor so 1/2 pill is easy to hide in a small piece of meat or a treat. Also it is less than 1/2 the price of Fortekor so worth asking your vet about ;D
What would be perfect is a 2.5mg (film coated, not "palatable" :sneaky: ) Benazecare as there would be no chance of the cat smelling it and dosing would be exact. I emailed someone at the makers (Animalcare Ltd) this morning to ask if they had plans to sell it as a 2.5mg and said that a lot of cat owners would be interested. I got a reply this afternoon saying that he appreciated my comments "Both as a vet and a tablet-phobic cat owner" :evillaugh: - He said he will pass my valuable comments onto the product development team. :crossed:
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I've not heard of it Mark but it sounds worth asking about, it makes you wonder why they they haven't done it in a smaller size though
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Interesting. I'll ask my vet about this. I currently give Truman half a 5mg tablet of Fortekor. There isn't any problem as he scoffs it in chicken without hesitation but it would be great if there were a cheaper alternative.
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I was only thinking today why hadn't I tried 1/2 5mg Fortekor before. Now there is no need I suppose. 7 x 5mg Benazecare cost me £5.76 so 14 would be £11.52 which is equal to 28 x 2.5mg Fortekor which my old vet charged me £23 (+ £3.50 admin >:( ) - my new vet charges me £25 for 56 but that was a deal after I asked for a prescription.
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Sam also only has half a 5mg Fortekor tablet every day, he has his in cheese, or wafer thin ham/chicken, depending on how he feels LOL!
So, it sounds like half of a 5mg Benazecare could be a bit fiddly to cut in half for Sam's dose then?
Edit: oops, of course I mean half a 2.5mg of fortekor, not half a 5mg! so half, of a half Benazecare would be even more fiddly to cut I'm thinking LOL!
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Pep has 1 x 2.5 mg tablet per day.
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Willow has 1/2 a 5mg Benazecare and I don't have any trouble with it although it is a lot smaller and therefore easier to hide. It may well have saved Willow'slife as there was no way of pilling her and she started to refuse to lick furball paste off her leg with fortekor in. A 2.5mg Benazecare would be perfect though as no open end for them to smell.
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Mark is the tablet 100% the same as fortekor or is the active ingredient (benazapril I think) the same, but perhaps different binding agents or additives, do you know? I'm not convinced fortekor's doing a lot for Swampy but am terrified of changing it for anything that's not exactly the same.
I know (for eg) that when generic penicillin fails, the NHS reluctantly dispenses the original amoxyl (or is it amoxycillin) as the binding agents are a little more stable and it works a little better. I'm ignorant about chemistry but a doc did once explain to me that there are generics and generics and some are much better than others.
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I know the active ingredient is the same. I don't think the fillers make any difference in this case as I don't think there is anything in such as an enteric coating. The important thing for me is the fillers are minimal making a much smaller pill :)
I looked on Noah to see if it said what the fillers are but it doesn't. I don't have a box as the vet just gave me a strip of 7 tablets. I have ordered 2 boxes (14 tablets per box) and will pick them up early next week so will see if there is any more info.
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Swampy doesn't mind taking fortekor, it's one of the easiest ones to give. So any change would be cost driven but I don't want to save money and hurt him if you know what I mean.
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I am sure it is the same and fine to use but can understand your reservations. I would have a word with the vet though as it is quite a saving - over £20 a month.
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I picked them up this morning - 28 x 5mg tablets (equiv 56 x 2.5mg Fortekor) were £23.40
Not sure what vets charge for Fortekor now but over 2 years ago, my old vet was charging me £48 for 56 Fortekor with the "admin fee" :tired: - I have been paying £25 with the new vet as they preferred to do that than give me a prescription.