press release

FAB Easy to Give awards

For so many years cat owners have struggled to persuade their cats to take the tablets and capsules which have been prescribed to make them better. Now, thanks to the FAB Easy to Give awards and the efforts of some pharmaceutical companies, giving medications to cats is getting easier.

Whether manufacturers provide drugs in a highly palatable form or introduce a new mode of administration, FAB welcomes their recognition of the problems of giving  medicines to cats and providing solutions for owners.  Proper compliance with the prescribed dose is vital for safe and effective use of drugs.  Without such help owners often fail to complete the course and leave cats inadequately treated.

The FAB Easy to Give awards are presented by the FAB feline expert panel, a group of veterinary surgeons who are, or have been, funded at vet schools to specialise in feline medicine by the Feline Advisory Bureau.

On this, the third year of the awards, the four winners of the FAB Easy to Give awards include a topically applied flea treatment, a palatable liquid for painful arthritis, a palatable antibiotic tablet and a long acting antibiotic injection.

The winners are:

Pfizer - Convenia
Having a long acting injectable antibiotic removes the need to give tablets at all for some conditions - this will be great news for owners unable to give tablets regularly for these specific problems.  A single injection may be all that is needed in some situations.

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica - Metacam for cats
For so long veterinary surgeons and cat owners have wanted an effective form of chronic pain control for cats.  Now that Boehringer has produced Metacam for cats in its palatable drop form, treating arthritic cats has become much easier and drawn attention to this widespread painful problem.  This is the first 'non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug' that has been licensed for long-term use in the cat.

Fort Dodge Animal Health - ProMeris
At a time when there is so much discussion about the limitations of flea treatments available in supermarkets, the panel was delighted to see the introduction of a new effective veterinary flea treatment applied by the spot-on method from Fort Dodge Animal Health.

Virbac - Rilexine
The potential problems of not completing a course of antibiotics are always a cause for concern. If tablets can be made palatable, this removes a cause for worry both for owners and in the wider context.  The expert panel was pleased with its palatability among cats which tried it out.

The awards were presented at the Electric Cinema in London on November 9.

For pictures of the winners, please click here...

Produced by Karen Bessant, FAB Press Officer, kbessant@aol.com