What RU-486 means for animals
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2000
WASHINGTON D.C.––The pharmacological
race to be first to market a safe,
affordable, easily administered contraceptive
drug for dogs, cats, and nuisance wildlife may
have heated up with the September 28, 2000
decision of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
to allow Danco Laboratories, of New
York City, to market the RU-486 abortion pill.
The Danco formulation, called
Mifeprex, includes five separate tablets, to be
taken in a two-step sequence. The first three
tablets, taken at once, contain mifepristone.
Better known by the chemical index number
RU-486, mifepristone is an androgen steroid
which blocks the production of progesterone, a
hormone required to sustain pregnancy. Two
days after taking the mifepristone tablets, the
user takes two more tablets containing misoprostol,
another hormonal drug which causes
her body to expell the aborted fetal tissue.