Complete Care for Your Aging Cat - Amy Shojai [55]
Along with a better understanding of feline senility problems is the availability of new treatments that may reverse some of the symptoms. Drugs such as Anipryl have been used successfully in both dogs and cats with the problem.
Drug Research
New drugs become available all of the time, and those designed for treating old-pet health concerns are at the forefront of veterinary research. However, testing and approval of new medicines take a long time and great expense, and some never reach veterinary approval. Medications that might also be used for humans receive the most research funding. Therefore, veterinary medicine commonly “borrows” from the human pharmacy to offer a wider range of treatment options to aging cats. When a drug has not been officially approved for use in pets, it is referred to as “off-label” or “extra-label” use.
A drug does not necessarily need to be officially approved for veterinary use. For example, the drug deprenyl, also known as selegiline (brand name Anipryl) is approved for dogs suffering from cognitive disorders to help reverse the signs of canine senility. Although not approved for feline use, the drug has been used safely off-label and helped a percentage of cats with similar symptoms. Another example is heart medications used to treat common aging-heart conditions. ACE-inhibitors (angiotension-converting-enzyme) such as Atenolol block nerve receptors on the heart and blood vessels to correct the irregular heartbeat caused by disease. Cancer drugs for cats are almost always the same ones used in human chemotherapy treatments, as are most intravenous fluids, antibiotics, and many of the pain medications.
“In the veterinary market we can prescribe anything we want to,” says Dr. Myers. “Off-label use is very important for veterinarians. We have to be sensible about it,” he says, “It’s not something you should abuse, but we can prescribe all sorts of things that physicians cannot.” The FDA allows veterinarians to prescribe medication in circumstances that it’s needed, as long as they explain to the owner that the drug is being used off-label, what the side effects may be, and how it will help.
Clomicalm and Reconcile
Separation anxiety has long been recognized in dogs, and the drug clomipramine (Clomicalm®) has been FDA approved to treat this problem. It’s currently also used in humans to treat panic and anxiety disorders. It works by inhibiting the re-uptake of serotonin, one of the neurotransmitters in the brain associated with good moods. Separation anxiety has only recently been recognized in cats, and older pets tend to more often suffer from this condition. Clomicalm is already being used off-label in cats for feline anxiety disorders and aggression with some success.
The pet version of Prozac ™ was released by Eli Lilly under the brand name Reconcile™. The drug fluoxetine has been used in many animal behavior issues: inappropriate urine marking in dogs and cats; separation anxiety; compulsive chewing; circling; self-mutilation; and even aggression.
Herbal Options
Herbs have been used for centuries as medicines in both human and animal health. “Herbs are very good at helping to stabilize failing systems,” says Dr. Beebe. “Chinese herbal medicine is really good for geriatric animals because it has minimal side effects.” Old cats that already suffer from cancer or failing kidneys, for example, have greater difficulty handling the more powerful Western drugs because they must be processed through the kidneys and liver.
Herbs not only treat the problem, but also have the ability to tonify (strengthen) ailing systems. Very few herbs have been through safety or efficacy tests, though, and only a handful has any sort of FDA endorsement at all. In effect, one could say that all herbs are used off-label, and the best ones for feline health care have been proved by the test of time.
The majority of herbs have a very large margin of safety, but they are not benign. “If they were, they wouldn’t be causing an effect, and what good would they be?” says Dr. Beebe.