Chapter three of four
The question list for the vet
Read it on your phone in the exam room, or print it. Pick the questions that fit your cat. The vet has heard all of them before.
About a five-minute read
In this chapter: questions about the product, the plan, pharmacy-mixed medicines, video visits and cost. A line under some explains why it is worth asking.
About the product you saw or bought
What is actually in this, and how would we know?
Is it approved for cats, and what is its approval number?
The FDA encourages owners to ask this. The answer will be one of three: an approved brand-name drug, an approved generic copy, or a pharmacy-mixed drug with no approval.
Is there an approved medicine for the problem I am worried about?
Could it clash with anything my cat already takes?
Approved medicines list known clashes on the label. For the online peptides, no study of clashes in any animal was found.
About the plan
Why this medicine, and for how long?
How will we know it is working, and what tests come first?
Before a new medicine, vets often run blood and urine tests, then book rechecks to see how it is going.
Which side effects do I watch for, and when do I call you?
What happens if a dose is missed, or my cat throws it up?
Does my cat's other health problem change anything?
The FDA lists this among the questions to raise, because a new medicine can make an existing illness worse.
Are there other options?
If the vet suggests a pharmacy-mixed medicine
Compounding is when a pharmacist or vet makes a custom medicine for one animal, such as a flavored liquid in place of a tablet for a cat who spits pills out.
Even when it is made from an approved drug, the finished mix has no FDA approval of its own.
Could an approved medicine for cats or for people, with the same active ingredient, do the job instead?
The FDA suggests asking this. For BPC-157 and TB-500, no approved medicine for animals or people contains that ingredient, so there is no approved version to switch to.
Which pharmacy will make it, and what will its label say?
FDA guidance says the label ought to carry your cat's name and a use-by date, plus a plain statement that this compounded drug has no FDA approval.
A pharmacy-mixed drug is not a generic: generics are FDA-approved, and mixed drugs are not checked by the FDA before sale.
If the visit is by video
Does this video visit set up a proper vet relationship for my cat where I live?
Under the federal rule, a video call or photos alone cannot start that relationship for using a drug beyond its label.
Can you prescribe this without seeing my cat in person?
About cost
What will the exam, any tests and the rechecks involve?
Is there a generic version?
Generic animal medicines are FDA-approved too, and the FDA says a generic acts in the body the same way the brand does.
Is there a lower-cost approved option?
The FDA notes that vets have thousands of approved medicines to pick from, and some are low-cost generics.
Under FDA policy, saving money is not a good enough reason for a pharmacy to make a cheaper copy of a medicine that already has approval.
In California, the vet must offer a written prescription that can be filled at any pharmacy the owner picks.
No government or maker's price for any of these peptides for pets was found, so there is no fair price to quote.
Read it at the source