Remend

Dr. Marie replied:

You've asked an excellent question!

Virbac Remend is a product that is meant for treating corneal ulcers in cats and dogs. It uses something called hyaluronan which is meant to help speed up the healing of an ulcer. (An ulcer is a scratch on the eye).

There is definitely controversy over this drug. Here are a few reasons why it is controversial:

• The main thing that is marketed about this drug is that it can heal up a corneal ulcer in as little as 48 hours. However, most corneal ulcers are healed within 48 hours when treated with regular antibiotic drops.



• The studies that have been done on Remend have been done on rabbits, not on cats and dogs.



• There are no studies (that I am aware of) that show that this drug improves the speed of healing of corneal ulcers as compared to other treatments.

Most veterinary ophthalmologists are still undecided on whether or not Remend is a great drug or not. Some have found that it seems to help. And then others say that they are not convinced that it is any better than standard treatments we currently use.

My standard treatment for a corneal ulcer is to use an antibiotic drop such as gentamycin along with oral pain medication. If an ulcer is not healing well then there are other things that can be done such as applying a local anesthetic and making tiny scratches on the eye to encourage healing. There are many other things that can be done as well.

And finally, this all may be a moot point because Remend is a prescription product. This means that you could not purchase it from your vet without a prescription. And your vet could not prescribe it for an animal that they have never seen.

I hope this clears things up!

Dr. Marie.


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