Our Dog, coughing and Torbutrol. Help!

esc4p3

Hi there, first post here

We have a 13 year old Tibetan Spaniel who has a partly collapsed Brochi. As a result he coughs. The Vet prescribed a cocktail of drugs that keeps him pretty cough-free. He is on two types of inhaler, Corvental, Prednisolone and Torbutrol.

On a daily basis he is in otherwise very good health, in fact had a great walk with him and his bro' yesterday. The trouble is that the manufacturer of Torbutrol, Pfizer, has stopped making it and won't start again until somewhen in 2012. We have had trouble getting the drug and he ran out about 2 months back, he was in a right state struggling to breathe. In the end we sourced some more Torb' and he was fine again.

The only other medicine that the Vet suggested we try in place of Torb' was Codine, it didn't work.

So we face the prospect of having to put our dog down if we can't get the drug, because he goes downhill so fast without the drug its frightening. But he is otherwise so fit and healthy its just a crying shame. We have phoned loads of Internet vets who are all out of stock....

So has anyone got any experience of something else that may help. All the other drugs he is on, help is lungs to breathe, but he needs the cough suppressing or else he just can't breathe properly.

Any help or advice greatly received. Cheers, Carl

Halo

Have you tried online pet pharmacies? maybe someone has it in stock. If not, start calling every vet within however far you are willing to drive for the medication.

esc4p3

Yes we have tried quite a few, but as you say, we will just keep ringing and ringing. I was hoping someone else may have had experience of another drug that may have worked for them...

BOHICA Bay

Have you tried straight up pharmacies vs. veterinary sources? Many meds have a human/animal cross over and are available via a regular pharmacy. The Exec. Dir. here, for example, has a couple of Rx's that she picks up from her regular pharmacy that are for her dog.
How about getting in touch with the larger university veterinary schools? They may be able to turn you onto a resource you haven't tried yet.

Holly

If this was not the other drug he was on that didn't work, you may want to try Tussigon- it's hydrocodone. See what your vet thinks of that...

spikesmama

my yorkie is in the same boat as yours, he's on a combo of Hycodan and apo-theo, it's working great, barely ever hear any coughing, I would go as far as saying that he's 98% cough free. I know he's so much more comfortable...
Also the torbutrol is much more expensive than the hycodan...

esc4p3

Thanks Holly and spikesmama, I will ABSOLUTELY have a chat to our vet about those drugs

Bohica Bay - University Vet schools good idea. Torbutrol is available as a human medicine (by another name) but it is a nasal spray and the vet said this wouldnt work for him.

Thanks SO much for your thoughts so far. Carl

Halo

Well, maybe you can get it in human form. Generic is: Butorphanol Tartrate Branded as: Stadol, Torbugesic, Torbutrol.

spikesmama

Our vet had a tiny bit left, we took what he had ands he said he would order more but couldn't.
We tried getting human form also. Nobody was able to find it, not to mention it was really expensive. Hycodan is very inexpensive and works really well.

esc4p3

Just doing some googling and found out that Hydrocodone (another name for Hycodan) is a Class A drug over here in the UK! Therefore I have no (legal) chance of getting it. However, I will be getting in touch with the vet anyway about this and the Tussigon.

All donations gratefully received in the post