Yes, the shortage for this insanely expensive Vetmedin is deplorable. It has been going on for some time and the latest update from a pharmacy I’ve used is that they were recently told not to expect any updates any time in the near future as to when it would be readily available. I own a working Labrador retriever that was diagnosed with DCM this past November, and the difficulty I’ve had in obtaining this med threw me into a complete panic.
Saw this thread and signed on to post the following info that I hope will be helpful for some of you in the same boat:
Because of the shortage many vets (including my own) have turned to compounding pharmacies to have Pimobendin compounded for their clients. Vetmedin is the chewable form of Pimobendan. There is an online compounding pharmacy which makes Pimobendan (see link at the end of my post) in a Flex-Dose tablet (not a chewable, btw) which is scored in such a way as to offer an amazing dosing flexibility. The tablets are scored twice on one side to allow for easy dosing of 1/3 of a tablet and once on the other side to allow for easy dosing of 1/2 of a tablet. The pills are designed so that they are easily snapped into with your fingers and they offer 4 strengths which will provide dosing options for most prescribing needs (3.75mg, 7.5mg, 15mg, and 20mg). The cost savings is SIGNIFICANT. My 62-pound lab requires 10mg twice a day; so, for me, the 20mg tablet snapped in half is perfect. AND, you can order either a 30, 60, 90 or 120-day supply at one time, which is also SIGNIFICANT.
To give you a cost comparison – for my dog, a bottle of 50 (10mg) Vetmedin tablets costs $89.99 through KVSupply.com, which was the best online price I could find; and it lasts only 25 days. That makes the cost of Vetmedin for me $3.60/day for a 25-day supply.
I can get a 120-day (4 months) supply of Pimobendan through this compounding pharmacy for $199.95 which works out to be $1.67/day – less than half the cost of Vetmedin through the least expensive supplier I’ve found. The cost per pill depends on how many pills you choose to order, and the 120-day supply works out to be the least expensive per day, but even the 30-day supply @ $69.95 is way cheaper than Vetmedin. And shipping is free, as well.
I have thoroughly vetted the company, which carries a voluntary PCAB accreditation through ACHC. They compound medications for both humans and pets. Understand that compounding pharmacies are different from those that offer commercial medications. The only difference between the Vetmedin chewable and the Pimobendan tablet is that the Vetmedin chewable has fillers to make it appealing to dogs and the plain Pimobendan is just that – no fillers.
The only other thing I should tell you is that they are currently licensed in only certain states, so depending on where you live you may not be able to order from them. Thankfully that is not an issue for me. They are licensed in over 30 states, however. My own state of TN was recently added to their list a couple of months ago; so if your state isn’t on their list yet and you are interested I would continue to check with them, even call (they are extremely helpful and are very much aware of the issues the Vetmedin shortage is causing).
Following are some links I would encourage you to check out: the compounding pharmacy, (CareFirst Rx), the states where they are licensed and the accrediting organization that provides their PCAB (Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board) accreditation. I have spoken at length with ACHC as well and they were also very helpful. Not sure if these will post as actual links but you should be able to copy and paste the URLs if not.
CareFirst Rx – https://www.cfspharmacy.pharmacy/veterinary-medicine/veterinary-cardiology/pimobendan-tablets-compounded
Map of states where they are licensed – https://www.cfspharmacy.pharmacy/shipping-info
ACHC – https://www.achc.org/accreditation-locations.html
Hope this will help some of you, at least.
