FDA approves a drug for dogs afraid of loud sounds
We have experienced the trauma our pooches go through on days around Diwali, how stray dogs lose their temper when fireworks are burst around them.
Most animals don’t like loud noise, but dogs particularly get irritated and scared when they hear firecrackers or even loud traffic noise.
The overall score for the dogs that had taken Pexion was lower (ie, better) than the score for those that received the placebo
Now vets can prescribe a drug to help keep them calm.
The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine announced that it has approved the Boehringer Ingelheim product Pexion (imepitoin tablets) as an effective treatment for noise aversion in dogs.
Pexion will be available in US by prescription only and is administered to the dog twice daily starting 2 days before an expected noise event. It is continued through the day of the event. The medication is available in 100- or 400-mg scored tablets and given to dogs according to their weight.
According to the FDA, the efficacy of Pexion was evaluated in a study of client-owned dogs with a history of noise aversion behaviors. As part of the study, the dogs received either Pexion or a placebo twice daily for the 2 days preceding and on New Year’s Eve, when fireworks events were scheduled.
The owners evaluated their dogs’ responses to the fireworks at 4 predetermined intervals and scored the level of 16 different behaviors. The overall score for the dogs that had taken Pexion was lower (ie, better) than the score for those that received the placebo.
The owners also evaluated the overall effect of treatment compared with previous New Year’s Eve fireworks experiences with the dogs. The owners of 66% of dogs given Pexion scored the overall treatment effect as excellent or good, compared with just 25% of dogs that received the placebo.
Pexion was approved in Europe in 2013 as an alternative therapy to reduce seizure frequency in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy. An application for expanding the Pexion label in Europe for “the reduction of anxiety and fear associated with noise phobia in dogs” has been submitted.
