Pills from Vet are Impossible to Cut

My Grandma has been giving her cat these very small, round, prescription pills that must be cut in half. She recently called the vet for a refill and was told they would need to order them and it would take a week to get in. When Grandma picked them up and got them home, she noticed that the refill was different. The directions were the same, but the pills were entirely different. She says the pills are impossible to cut in half and she keeps losing and crushing the pills. She says it isn't worth the $48 she's paying for a 30 day supply (1/2 pill twice daily).

Here's the question we have: How upset should we be at the veterinary clinic for giving her pills that are impossible to cut in half? I'm going to look at them tonight, and if I can't cut them with my super sharp blade, Grandma is considering taking them back and giving them (the clinic) hell about it. She's really upset. Does she have the right to be?

If I had been working there, I would have made a point to make sure the pills were able to be cut by the client. I would have looked into different types of pills and what type the client prefers (60 pills that don't need to be cut or 30 pills that do need to be cut).

Any suggestions on how to handle this?

First of all, you need to contact the vet to make sure that they are indeed the small pills as last time. (If they came from a compounding pharmacy where the pill actually has to be made, they may indeed look different. Or they may look different because they came from a different manufacturer.)

In regard to pill-splitting. Go to your local drug store and ask for a pill splitter. There is a mechanism that holds the pill in place and a sharp blade that comes down onto the pill. They are easy to use and with a bit of practice you can become fairly accurate with it. If you go to the drug store your grandmother uses and talk to the pharmacist, they might just give you one.

If the pills still do not split easily, then I would contact the vet and complain about the bad batch you received from the compounding pharmacy, and ask if a pill in the right strength exists.

If all this doesn't work, there are compounding pharmacies that can make the pills the right dosage.

I second the pill splitter. It is cheap and works well.

The pharmacy should have already cut the pills if they said '1/2 tablet twice daily' I would take them back and ask. Otherwise, our pharmacies give you a pill cutter, they don't charge, so maybe ask on that too.If they are that hard to cut, don't be embarrassed about going back, you need to give the correct dosage.Good luck!

Thanks. She already tried the pill splitter, she has several. I'm starting to think they (the vet clinic) gave her chewable tablet treats this time, from a different manufacturer. They would crumble when cut because they are designed to crumble when bitten into.

BTW, this is the same vet clinic that gave me liquid amoxicillin suspension without adding the water to it first. They just gave me a bottle of powder. Idiots.