It is a human medicine. A vet may still prescribe it for a dog or cat, which is legal and common, but it means no company has proved to the FDA that it works or is safe in that animal, and there is no approved animal dose to look up. Ask your vet what they expect it to do and what to watch for.
The label says, word for word:
Human label (Lotensin): "Lotensin is indicated for the treatment of hypertension, to lower blood pressure." There is no US animal label for benazepril alone; Fortekor is not FDA-approved. Benazepril is FDA-approved for dogs only in a fixed combination with spironolactone (Cardalis).
Lotensin is contraindicated in patients: who are hypersensitive to benazepril or to any other ACE inhibitor; with a history of angioedema with or without previous ACE inhibitor treatment.
WARNING: FETAL TOXICITY. When pregnancy is detected, discontinue Lotensin as soon as possible. Drugs that act directly on the renin-angiotensin system can cause injury and death to the developing fetus.
Angioedema of the face, extremities, lips, tongue, glottis, and/or larynx including some fatal reactions, have occurred.
Lotensin can cause symptomatic hypotension, sometimes complicated by oliguria, progressive azotemia, acute renal failure, or death.
Monitor renal function periodically in patients treated with Lotensin.
Serum potassium should be monitored periodically in patients receiving Lotensin.
Every approved medicine has a field study behind it, and the label prints what happened:
Human label: "Adverse reactions seen in at least 1% greater frequency in patients treated with Lotensin than placebo were headache (6% vs. 4%), dizziness (4% vs. 2%), somnolence (2% vs. 0%) and postural dizziness (2% vs. 0%)."
No US veterinary approval for benazepril alone: a DailyMed search for "fortekor" returns "No Drug Package Labels found." and no FDA approval of a benazepril-only animal drug was found on fda.gov or animaldrugsatfda.fda.gov. Veterinarians may prescribe the human drug extra-label under AMDUCA (https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/resources-you/ins-and-outs-extra-label-drug-use-animals-resource-veterinarians).
The emergency page sorts the signs by how long you have, and the symptom checker asks what you are seeing. Reactions to a medicine can also be reported to the FDA yourself: how to report a problem.
These answers come from the approved label on DailyMed, read on 2 October 2026. Where the label does not say, the answer says so, and the vet or the pharmacist is the one to ask.
The approved use is quoted at the top of this page. The label read for these answers is the one for Lotensin, the benazepril tablet made for people, and its approved use is high blood pressure in people. It gives no instructions for a dog or a cat, so for a pet every answer below comes back to the vet who prescribed it. If your pet's tablets are not Lotensin, go by the leaflet and the pharmacy label that came with them. Cardalis, a chewable tablet for dogs that contains benazepril together with spironolactone, has a label of its own.
The label gives no time for a pet. In people, it says a single dose lowered blood pressure within one hour, with the largest drop between two and four hours after the tablet. Ask the vet what to expect and by when.
It is a tablet given by mouth. The label gives doses for people only, so the amount and the timing for your pet come from the vet. Its dosing section does not say whether to take the tablet with food. Elsewhere the label says food does not change how much of the drug is absorbed, only how soon it peaks.
The label does not say what to do about a missed dose. Call the clinic or the pharmacy before you give the next one.
The studies and the warnings are quoted above. The warning signs on this label are written for people. It tells patients to report swelling of the face, eyes, lips or tongue, or trouble breathing, at once and to take no more until they have spoken to the doctor. The label has nothing on dogs or cats, so ask the vet what to watch for and when to call.
The label says not to store the tablets above 86°F and to protect them from moisture. It tells the pharmacist to dispense them in a tight container, so keep them in it with the cap on.
The FDA says the best way to get rid of most unused or expired medicines is a take-back option: a drug take-back location, which can be at a pharmacy or a police station, or a prepaid mail-back envelope. If you cannot use one and the medicine is not on the FDA's flush list, the FDA says to mix it, uncrushed, with something unappealing such as dirt, cat litter or used coffee grounds and to seal the mixture in a plastic bag before throwing it away. Flushing is only for medicines on that list, such as opioids. Do not give leftovers to another pet.
Write the dose, the times and the stop date here, then print this page for the fridge.
Dose and times: _____________________________________________
Stop date: _____________________________________________