Hello everyone! I’m new here and I would really appreciate your help.
I’m trying to buy Rapamune (Pfizer) and I urgently need it for my cat, but I can’t find it anywhere — even with a prescription. Before anyone wonders why I need it for a cat, I can explain.
My boy has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and this medication can help slow down the progression of the disease. I live in Portugal, and here Rapamune is only available in hospitals under strict doctor supervision. It isn’t possible to buy it in regular pharmacies.
I’ve done a lot of research and I’ve seen that some people buy it in Turkey, but unfortunately I won’t be able to travel there anytime soon, not even for vacation.
Could you please recommend a reliable supplier?
I don’t need a large quantity — his dose is one pill per week.
Thank you so much in advance for any help you can give.
Why, specifically, do you want Pfizer rapamune? Any version of rapamycin / sirolimus is fine for the cat. Rapamune is only sold in Europe, I believe, now - so it’s hard to get. The only group selling rapamune that someone can order is BG Pharma: Rapamune Sirolimus 1 mg * 10 Pfizer – BG pharmaceuticals
There are vets in the US that sell rapamycin - see the thread on dogs and cats:
I need Rapamune from Pfizer because their tablets are enteric-coated and designed for extended release. With that product, I know exactly what I’m getting. I’m not sure how this works with other brands, which is why I’m specifically trying to find the Pfizer version.
I know that in the U.S. the generic version is available, but I live in Portugal, and they don’t deliver here or accept a Portuguese prescription — I’ve already tried that. And honestly, here in Portugal the vets don’t want to prescribe it at all.
I’ll check the threads you suggested — thank you so much for all the work you put into gathering that information.
All the tablet sirolimus product by the major US, European and Indian pharma companies are specially protected to get through the stomach acid (otherwise they wouldn’t work at all) - so thats actually less a brand issue. You want to generally avoid the compounded pharmacy versions of rapamcyin because they frequently do not get through the stomach acid.
But the bigger issue is, as you’ve suggested, that you are in Spain. It’s hard (from what people report) to get rapamycin in European countries. BG pharma seems to be the best option right now, though perhaps the Indian product might get to you. I don’t know much about the Spanish postal system and how tight they are about letting medications in from outside the EU.
Like others have said, there’s no real reason to look specifically for Rapamune. My cat gets the Eris brand from India (the same I take), and it cured his skin cancer that the vet could do nothing about. I give him a maintenance dose of 2mg once a week (he weighs about 12 pounds). I got several blood tests showing sirolimus in my serum, so I know it’s the real thing,
The dose used in the HALT trial for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats is 0.3mg per kilogram of body weight once a week*.
Once it gets final FDA approval, Felicyn-CA1 will be indicated for subclinical HCM, so if your boy has full blown HCM, you’d be using it off label.
Felicyn-CA1 has a special delayed-release formulation, but people have had success with just using regular sirolimus in 1mg increments* (so as to not crush or cut the pill). It might be important not to cut the pill, but we don’t know 100%. Good luck .
*Important note: the RAPACAT trial used a high dose and a low dose and apparently the cats on the low dose did better. So it’s important not to overdose - I would stick to no more than the 0.3mg/kg once a week used in the HALT trial.
Hi there,
Yes, I’ve heard about this medication, but it’s very expensive for now and it’s only available in the U.S. I already spoke with my cardiologist vet about it, and he had never heard of it and was very skeptical about this type of treatment. I mentioned that many people are using Rapamycin for animals with this condition and he actually laughed at me, saying he doesn’t take medical advice from the internet.
Honestly, I don’t care about his opinion — I just need him to do the blood tests and then the echo. This is a general problem here in Europe: vets are very conservative and they want to see results “black on white” before they even consider prescribing any medication like this.
I’ve spoken with people who are using it, and they’ve seen improvements in their cats’ heart health, but I never imagined it would be this hard to buy the medication. I’ll need to look more into Indian suppliers and try ordering from them. I’m just not sure if the package will make it through customs.
There are many incompetent docs out there, and it’s disheartening. It’s conditionally approved by the FDA for cats for crying out loud… just know most US docs would give the same answer. Misery loves company and all.
It will be fairly inexpensive to get it from India, so I’d place a small test order and just see what happens. And if it doesn’t make it through, I might try it one more time?
FWIW, I’m giving it to my cats and they will not have blood work or a follow up echo. (They get labs for other things, just not their rapa). One has no heart problem and for the other two, it’s either working or it isn’t, and there is nothing for me to personally learn by putting them through another echo (if they were young, I might feel differently, but at this age, I don’t put them through that kind of stress).
Hi Beth, thank you for your advice. Maybe I’ll try what you suggested and order a small quantity first, just to see if it will get through customs.
About the echo — unfortunately, we have to do it. He is very young, only 5 years old, and already in stage B2, which is subclinical but progressing quickly. I lost my other one this June at only 6 years old from the same heart problem. Sadly, we didn’t know he had HCM until it was too late, and at that time I didn’t know anything about Rapamycin. That’s why now I will do everything in my power to get the medication.
Normally, when I take him for the echo, I give him Seditife so he can relax more.
You sound like an outstanding cat mom!! I’m so so sorry about the loss of your cat who was way way too young!!!
If my cats were that age, I would also do follow up echos etc. Mine have all had two, but they are now 16, 17, and 18, which is why the stress/reward calculation for me has changed.
I wish you luck and let us know if your rapa makes it to you!
If it is really urgent, I am willing to buy a box of Rapamune here in Belgium and ship it to you. The only problem is they only sell the 1mg tabs in a box of 100;
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your offer
Yesterday I managed to find a website that works as a reseller here in Europe for different types of medication, and they will buy the medicine for me and deliver it. The good thing is that the payment is only made when the parcel arrives. They said the delivery usually takes about 10 days.
Can I keep your offer open and get back to you in about 10 days? I want to give this option a chance and see if they actually deliver what they promise. Who knows — if it works, it might be helpful for everyone here
Of course, I had a half British shorthair up untill 2 years ago. I treated his HCM from when I was told about it when he was 16 years old en he lived another 2 years, while the vet told me he would only live for a couple of months. I also give him clopidigrel as an antiplatelet.
Curing was 1mg once a week, and it was done after about 2 months. Very extensive cancer too. I wrote a whole post about it in the cat thread a few months ago.
Hello Daisy,
This is probably too late for you, but info about a free HCM webinar just hit my inbox… he will most likely be discussing rapa
COME ONE, COME ALL!!
Just a reminder that I will be hosting a FREE Zoom call discussing HCM in cats this morning. I am absolutely open to other questions about cats, dogs, and veterinary medicine in general so come on down!!.
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This is a general problem here in Europe: vets are very conservative and they want to see results “black on white” before they even consider prescribing any medication like this.
