Any vets (OR EVEN OVERSEAS DOCTORS!!) around? Please help with medicine dilemna...

[winestein]

Hi, my dog has been on dibenyline for around a year - it has had manufacturing problems, but thanks to the pharmacist we have managed to keep a supply going for the last 3-4 months.

Now it is all gone. My dog has been put on a different tablet which is no where near as good as dibenyline. He's in the garden right now trying to have a wee, and has been for about an hour.

I read on the internet that the generic drug can still be obtained from overseas/overseas doctors as it is just the UK manufacturer that is having problems. I had a look on those websites which specialise in prescription drugs by post from overseas and they were asking nearly $500 dollars, which is madness. A months supply used to cost me £36.

Does anyone know of an overseas doctor/vet to help me try to get hold of the stuff?

Thank you!

You can buy it online here, but you need a prescription.

Would a letter (private prescription) from your vet do? (They accept a private prescription, which is apparently ususally just a letter from the doc.)

Thanks Oldlady - I have prescriptions for the stuff coming out of my ears - just no medicine!

Unfortunately, the site is a UK one so it's unlikely they will have any... but I will email them to check.

Thank you

Have you rung around other pharmacies local to you? Some may possibly have some stock you could obtain from them instead. Have you asked your vet to check with their supplier too as also there is a small chance that they may just have some.
Have you spoken to your vet about the fact then new drug is not working as well as it was?
Importing drugs from overseas is a really difficult thing to do - it requires a special import licence usually so I would be incredibly wary of a site that offers to send you the drugs for a fee without making sure all the proper paperwork is in place. You could find yourself in a lot of trouble, not to mention the con artists who send things that appear to be the drug in the correct packaging but actually send you sugar pills instead. It is a minefield.
Hope you can find a source soon.

Uk based Online pharmacy here claims to have stock...
www.chemistdirect.co.uk/dibenyline-capsule--10mg_4_13833.html
They should accept it as a private prescription.

Thanks BG. We've been going for this length of time on everyone else's stocks and now the cupboards are bare. The vets wholesaler has none.

He's only just started the new drug, and things are just as he suggested, so it will come as no surprise to him when I tell him. There is no alternative for him either. He has bladder problems as a result of lumbosacral stenosis, so the outlook is really not good .

Your link was the one Oldlady provided and I have emailed them - as you have noticed they do say "in stock" so I think, in desperation, I might go through with the transaction tonight without waiting for a reply.

As my vet says "it always happens to the lovely ones". Bugger.

Has your vet tried calling up
a) the manufacturers?
b) one of the veterinary schools or another specialist to see if there are any other alternatives apart from the new drug you are trying?
c) all the other local vet surgeries to see if they might have stock.

It is a drug many surgeries will stock, but in reality not many will use regularly. It is more commonly used short term for cats in my experience.

Hope someone can help - I feel your frustration.

Hi again

I have the manufacturer's number which I intend to call tomorrow - I know they have no stock but I want to know when they will overcome the manufacturing difficulties to see if there are any short term options - such as learning catheterisation. I don't know. I'm getting desperate.

I know he has tried all the avenues for alternatives as he, at first, said he knew of no alternative - but then rang with something we could try. Having been with him for a few years (I switched as he is one of the few vets who is licensed to do accupuncture which I have been told reduces the march of the neurological damage) I know he is one for doing his research rather than tried and tested. I can feel his bladder is a little distended tonight, so whilst he is able to pass a bit of urine, it's not enough. I'll take him in tomorrow first thing to be catheterised if nothing changes.

I will personally ring all the vets in the yellow pages tomorrow I think.

My poor Bear. Thanks for your sympathy. It does help to know someone cares.

Catheterisation is a technique you could learn to do for him and your vet or nurses at the clinic should be able to show you how to do it. There will be an increased risk of infection with repeated catheterisation, but there are things you can do to help reduce this in the way you do it, and overall it may still be a better option for the dog than doing nothing. Definately ask your vet about getting them to teach you and supplying some urinary catheters. I'm sure if you clean and then boil them up between uses you could make a catheter last a while rather than needing to buy and use a new one each time. For obvious reasons in the clinic they would probably use a new one every time.
Let us know if you get any sucess.

Had a look in Switzerland, there is this website that might help you out.

If you want to have the medicine sent to me then I am happy to send it on to you.

Thank you MmeLindt - that is a very kind offer .

I rang Chemist Direct - whilst they say "in stock" it's wasn't true unfortunately.

However, I am pleased to report (I would say ecstatic but I'd like them in my hand first!) that I have found a 2 week supply that an alternative vet had in stock (thank you BG!) which should cover the length of time it will take to get the generic medicine... I do have these in my mitts now, but whilst googling last night I came across a newsletter for pharmacists in which I found the manufacturer's customer services helpline number for Dibenyline. I rang them this morning and they said they were able to supply the same drug under the name licensed overseas, so long as the prescription reflected that. The ball is rolling and the wheels are in motion

I will certainly ask my vet about teaching me catheterisation techniques, should I need it in the future.

Thank you, lovely Mumsnetters

really pleased to hear that you have been able to track down the medicine.

saw your doggy pics on your profile - he is a handsome boy!

Thank you Ceres. He is such a lovely, quirky and funny old boy too. I'm determined he will go out in style

Glad you managed to track some medicine down. Peeked at your pics too, what soulful eyes your doggy has.

Thanks MmeLindt. I had a peek at your profile photos too and you have one of the breeds that mine professes a true love for - anything white and fluffy and he turns into an absolute puppy. Doe eyes and the whole caboodle. He sides slightly with Westies, but has a couple of Bichon friends and warms to anything else in the same hue

That sounds like brilliant news in a very difficult situation - I am very pleased for you and him. Glad we could be of help