Fortekor: start of therapy/creatinine question

[Desley (booktigger)]

My vet doesnt' use Fortekor, she read an article that said it worked better in dogs than cats.

[swampmaxmum]

Novartis rang my vet but he wasn't available so I hope they will shed some light on it next week. Tanya's CRF site says be careful if the levels are over 310. Max's are way higher than that. Then again, the company say it works best on advanced cases. Not sure what they mean either. I understand it, but it's annoying when they won't answer your questions but insist on always just talking to a vet. My vet thinks the question is not valid as he adores fortekor and says it helps 99% cats.  Yet they don't use it in America for some (good?) reason.

[lucky and jj mum]

My Lucky has been on Fortekor 2.5mg I think the dosage is one capsule;e a day for some time now for kidney disease. I wasn't ask at the start to monitor anything and she goes now once in every 3 months for a check up. She been on them for so long now can't remember if at the start of the meds if we were going more regular to the vets. Sorry i can't be of more help.

[clarenmax]

I'm not sure, I know with my boy's thryoid meds we had to monitor bloods about 3-4 weeks after they were started to check his levels, but not sure whether it would be any more frequent with kidneys?  It may depend on invididual cases, so I'd check with your vet 

[Daisymac]

I am sorry I cant help,  could you call your local vet ?,  mine are usually really good at explaining stuff over the phone to me.   

[swampmaxmum]

I've rung Novartis but they may not call back. I wanted to know what they meant by "start" of therapy. Do you have to monitor very carefully for a few days or is the 'start' of therapy longer like a few weeks? Also they say it works best on 'advanced' cases, not sure what that means either. Does anyone have any info from their own experience or research please? Many thanks.

package insert says: Cats:
Fortekor may increase plasma creatinine concentrations at the start of therapy. This effect is related to the therapeutic effect of the product in reducing blood pressure, and therefore is not necessarily a reason to stop therapy in the absence of other signs. As is routine in cases of chronic renal insufficiency, it is recommended to monitor plasma urea and creatinine concentrations and erythrocyte counts.