targeted meds
Precision Medicine for Dogs
We received the meds from the FidoCure-related pharmacy following Cat’s DNA sequencing and our resultant decision to put her on two of the targeted drugs: Rapamycin & Vorinostat. Of course, our biggest concern, now, was side effects. If she can’t tolerate these meds, we’d discontinue them — that would surely dash my hopes for this innovative way of battling her cancer.
The doctor said both drugs are generally well-tolerated, with the most common side effect being gastrointestinal upset and, to a lesser extent, lowered white blood count. In anticipation of tummy issues, we immediately began giving her a probiotic, Proviable, daily (it’s a small capsule that she doesn’t seem to mind). It certainly couldn’t hurt giving her a probiotic, anyway.
There are some safety measures we have to take: We need to wear vinyl gloves when giving (both meds are in capsule form). She also needs to be let out to potty regularly, just so the meds are cycling out of her system. We try to scoop her poop, too, not that dogs ever eat poop or anything (😂 we busted Wolfy doing it once right after we adopted him 🤢. …Which reminds me of this Saturday Night Live “Dog Park” skit, 👉 specifically, the Kenan Thompson part about half-way through).
I like that these are both low-dose and precisely attacking the mutated genes that led to this cancer — unlike systemic chemo poison that wreaks havoc on everything. Also, because they are low-dose, the doc said it’d take a few weeks for side effects to manifest, if any.
UPDATE: As I’m writing this retrospectively, I’m happy to report that Cat has been on the meds for 3 months, and she’s shown no side effects (whew 😓, but still🤞). We’ve had her blood tested twice with normal results.
Insurance Issues
I’ve since updated a prior post on pet insurance to reflect this fact: The primary drawback to this drug regimen is that Cat’s insurance, Healthy Paws, denied the claim for both meds. The reason cited was that the drugs are not FDA-approved for veterinary use.
What is truly baffling is that Healthy Paws covered the cost of the FidoCure test. Why would they reimburse me $1250 for a test that recommends meds they won’t cover?? Anyhow, it’s an unpleasant development since the two drugs cost over $300 a month. (Our receipt for a 2-month supply 👉).
Because this protocol is Cat’s only option for medical intervention, Dr Miller at Partner Vet in Richmond wrote a (very thorough and thoughtful) letter disputing their rejection and essentially requesting compassionate use approval (i.e. a therapy for a patient who has a serious or life-threatening illness for which other treatments are not available).
I submitted the appeal to Healthy Paws over a month ago, but I’ve received no response to date.
They did, however, just send me notice of a 33% premium hike.
I should’ve seen that coming: After 6 years of coverage with no claims for a dog on a policy since she was 4 mos old, I’m wondering if this is the start of their nit-picking new claims since they’ve been paying out so much. That’s really unfortunate and exceedingly disappointing.
