Pills for pets
Millie outperforms many shortstops when it comes to fielding her favorite ball.
The 9-year-old black Labrador retriever suffers from some of the same nagging health issues that dog humans — including an arthritic knee. After the Lab went through knee surgery several years ago, her owners Charlie and Karen Romberg of Spokane started giving her an over-the-counter canine anti-inflammatory and a glucosamine supplement to help her live a less painful life.
They spend more than $50 a month on the medications, including Proin, which was prescribed for the pooch’s leaky bladder.
“I bet you we have at least $10,000 into her. I don’t even know my doctor’s number, but I know the vet’s number,” said Karen Romberg.
Millie is among millions of American dogs and cats on medications and wellness supplements. Pet owners hoping to lengthen or improve their animal’s quality of life are fueling a multibillion-dollar industry with significant potential for growth.
According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, Americans purchased $9.3 billion of over-the-counter drugs and supplies for their pets last year. The category rolls together purchases that include eye drops for pets with cataracts, and supplies, such as leashes and litter boxes.
Veterinary care, combined with prescription drugs, accounted for another $9.2 billion in sales. And the APPMA estimates that both segments of the canine health and wellness market will grow by nearly 7 percent this year.
“The veterinary pharmaceutical industry is huge,” said Veterinarian Greg Benoit who owns SouthCare Animal Medical Center, a practice that’s preparing to move into a new clinic on the South Hill in September.
With billions of dollars to be made, a number of pharmaceutical companies that manufacture people drugs are producing vaccines and pills for livestock and pets.
Merck & Co. and Sanofi-Aventis have a joint venture called Merial Limited that sold nearly $2.2 billion of veterinary pharmaceuticals last year, its own Web site said. Bayer HealthCare LLC also makes pet products, as does Eli Lilly & Co.
Karen Benson, a senior sales representative for Merial Limited, said her client base includes about 800 veterinary clinics in Washington, Idaho and Montana. She sells more than $750,000 of Frontline Plus flea and tick products through those veterinary clinics.
“We’re just growing a lot,” said Benson, who lives in Spokane.
Although Benson declined to give specific sales percentages, she said, “Our business has increased every year in every market segment.”
Vaccines and tablets are now available to treat everything from kidney disease and leukemia in cats to heart disease in dogs.
New pet meds are regularly emerging — including some that treat maladies associated with overeating or old age.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a canine obesity drug called Slentrol that’s made by Pfizer Inc. The drug works by decreasing fat absorption, the company Web site said. The megabillion-dollar company also produces Anipryl, which treats doggie dementia.
Benoit said prescribing medications for pets isn’t new, but the options for treatment have improved dramatically.
“For 20 years we’ve been treating arthritis,” Benoit said. “There are new drugs, just like for people. It’s an ever-changing thing.”
Some drugs (that may seem unnecessary to the novice pet owner) serve a key role for some animals. For instance, Benoit said, anxiety medication can be a life-saver for pets in areas where people set off fireworks. However, the veterinarian is less enthusiastic about prescribing weight loss medications as a first resort for pets battling the bulge.
“In my opinion, we have ultimate control of how much we exercise our dogs and how much we put in their food dish,” Benoit said. “Just like people, it takes work and desire to keep weight off.”
Jim Meyer, pharmacy manager for the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University, said the pharmacy fills about 150 prescriptions a day that treat thyroid problems, cancer and other diseases.
New drugs are constantly emerging, he said, including medications that are used for people but also work on pets.
“I’ve been in the veterinary pharmacy business for 10 years,” Meyer said. “I don’t think there has been a period where there wasn’t something new.”
Drugs for house pets and livestock can cost $5 for a generic or as much as $800 a month for a specialty medication designed to treat a type of horse parasite, he said. Some animals tolerate one drug over another, so it’s beneficial to have multiple options for treatment.
“Just like humans, there’s a whole range of generic and brand names and there are specialty treatments that are expensive,” Meyer said.
Although Meyer has noticed a proliferation of companies selling pet prescriptions online, he cautions consumers that there’s no guarantee they’ll get the same quality medication as is available through a veterinarian or pharmacy.
Part of the problem, he said, is that there’s no governing board of pharmacies like there are for human medications.
People needing meds for Mitten or Fido usually get the drugs from their veterinarians, but Benoit said he sends some clients to traditional pharmacies because the pharmacists can tailor the delivery system to each specific pet. For instance, he explained, a pharmacist can transform a drug usually taken by pill into a cream that can be rubbed on a cat’s ear and absorbed through the animal’s skin.
“That’s a lot easier than poking a pill down their throats for most cats,” Benoit said.
With so many pet pharmaceuticals on the market, one might wonder if someday everyone’s pet will have a bottle of meds in the cabinet next to the kibbles. Benoit doesn’t think it will reach that point. Most of the prescriptions he writes are for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications — dog and cat specific drugs used to treat arthritis and pain.
Plus, most house pets are still medication-free, he said. “By far, the majority of dogs aren’t on anything.”