Dogs with idiopathic epilepsy can soon benefit from a newly approved medication for the control of seizures.
Phenobarbital tablets (Fidoquel-CA1, Genus Lifesciences, Inc.) have been grated conditional approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The medication is the first phenobarbital product to meet the agency’s “conditional approval for safety, quality manufacturing, and reasonable expectation of effectiveness” for use in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy. Previously, unapproved phenobarbital tablets from the human drug marketplace have been used in veterinary medicine to help control seizures in dogs.
Idiopathic epilepsy affects approximately five percent of dogs, the agency says. Fidoquel-CA1 is the second drug to receive approval for the control of seizures in dogs with the condition, following FDA approval for KBro Vet-CA1 (potassium bromide) in 2021.