Efficacy of famotidine doses for dogs with ulcerative gastritis and improvement of clinical signs

Abstract

Famotidine is a histamine-2 blocker that decreases acid produced by the stomach. Famotidine is especially effective for treating bleeding stomach ulcers. When used in small doses Famotidine has worked in a preventative way with regard to stomach ulcer occurrences [1]. Experimental studies with dogs have shown that doses of 0.1 – 0.2 mg/kg inhibit stomach secretion, but other clinical studies have shown that doses of 1.0 mg/kg supress stomach acid for 24 hours [2]. If the stomach ulcers are the most acute cases, when the dogs are vomiting regularly, oral administration may be difficult or even impossible. In these cases, Famotidine is given intravenously. The doses vary from 0.5 mg/kg to 1.0 mg/kg every 12 or 24 hours [3]. In our research study the aim was to find out the most effective intravenous dose of Famotidine to treat ulcerative gastritis. We did observations, registrations and administrations in two small animal clinics and one animal shelter in Kaunas, Lithuania. All the animals were showing clinical signs of gastritis: epigastralgia, where vomiting occurred either with or without blood, acid reflux and melena. For the patients who exhibited these symptoms blood samples were taken (morphology and biochemistry) along with x-ray and ultrasound examinations. Any abnormalities in these tests showed renal or liver dysfunction as well as stomach neoplasia, foreign bodies or other parallel causes. The blood tests checked the levels of creatinine, urea, GOT, GPT, albumins, haematocrit, erythrocytes and leukocytes. Express stool samples were also taken to check for bleeding in the digestive tract. Nine dogs were examined, and the results were independent in terms of both breed and gender. The ages ranged from one to ten years. For treatment “Quamatel” was given intravenously every 24 hours. The animals were separated into three groups where every group contained three dogs each. The first group got 0.5 mg/kg, the second group 1.0 mg/kg and the third gr