As most owners of competitive sport horses know, prescription drug therapies, in conjunction with a quality diet and supplements, are a major factor in keeping our horses feeling and performing their best. At FarmVet, we know that providing your horse with the best products is crucial to their well-being. That’s why we have in-house compounding services and pharmacies located in our Franklin, TN, and Wellington, FL locations. This week, we sat down with our Pharmacist-In-Charge, Kurt Kosek, to gain some insider information about compounded Isoxsuprine.
What is Isoxsuprine?
Isoxsuprine causes direct vascular smooth muscle relaxation, which in turn causes vasodilation or enlargement of the vessels. This product supplies more blood to the hooves and therefore is useful in treating navicular disease. At FarmVet, Isoxsuprine is available as a powder with a calibrated scoop or as a liquid suspension with an oral dosing syringe to meet your individual needs.
Q&A with the Pharmacist-In-Charge
Q1. What are the benefits of Isoxsuprine?
Answer: Some benefits of Isoxsuprine are that it can theoretically assist in treating navicular disease and laminitis by dilating blood vessels and increasing blood flow to the foot.
Q2. Why is my vet suggesting a compounded version of this medication?
Answer: Ease of administration. Compounded versions can help with the administration to difficult horses through customized flavoring or dosage forms. Also, if you have multiple people in different locations giving medications, sometimes making the dosing as easy as possible can cut down on mistakes. You might run into a situation where someone has only been working at a barn for a short amount of time and is in charge of counting out 30 isoxsuprine 20mg tabs for this one horse. You and the vet can have more peace of mind knowing that they only need to do 1 scoop in the feed and get the right amount of the medication.
Q3. What are the different types of compounded Isoxsuprine available at FarmVet?
Answer: Isoxsuprine is available in oral flavored powder and liquid. The powder comes strengths of 280mg/scp, 400mg/scp, and 600mg/scp, and comes in different sizes. The liquid comes in a strength of 50mg/mL and is available in 240mL and 960mL sizes. All of these compounds can be flavored with Apple, Molasses, or Peppermint to help with administration.
Q4. What makes Isoxsuprine differ from other navicular syndrome treatments?
Answer: Isoxsuprine differs from other medications used in treating navicular syndrome because of how it works. It is one of the few medications that potentially alters the rate of blood flow to the horse’s foot. The other is another medication – Pentoxifylline.
Q5. Any tips for picky eaters?
Answer: Ask us about our flavoring options! We can add in a flavor of your choosing that will most likely cause a picky eater to not mind the medication being administered. We also will add in a natural sweetener that will not affect blood sugar levels to help with administration.
Ready to Order?
Browse our selection of prescription pharmaceuticals online here or email us at [email protected].
Learn More
To read more about compounding options available at FarmVet, check out our blog on Sucralfate.
As is true for all compounded medications, information, and statements about products and health conditions have not been evaluated by the FDA, nor has the FDA approved the products to diagnose, cure or prevent disease.