Antibiotic Question

[aswient]

Well Patch does need the mgs. he was prescribed, he has a pretty good staph infection. I called the Vet and they said its best not to break the pill so he gets it spaced out. My problem is he is still evading the pill. No matter what I crush it up in. I guess its because the mg is so high that the pill is bigger and harder to hide. I'm at my wits end with this boy.

Thanks for all your advice everyone. My Patch is a tough case.

 

[blaise]

Originally Posted by CatNurse22

...no vet is going to 1/8 or 1/16 a tablet because it's a few tenths of a mg off (or even a mg or two) for the recommended dosage for a certain weight...

CatNurse, this is not a question of a milligram or two...the prescribed dosage is almost DOUBLE the MAXIMUM RECOMMENDED BY THE MANUFACTURER AND FDA. And...

Higher doses (>5 mg/kg/day) not recommended in cats; may cause blindness" -Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook Fifth edition.

Originally Posted by aswient

...Patch does need the mgs. he was prescribed, he has a pretty good staph infection. I called the Vet and they said its best not to break the pill so he gets it spaced out...

This "not breaking the pill part" is particularly difficult to understand. This is not a timed-release tablet. From Drugs.com:

Concentrations of drug equal to or greater than the MIC for many pathogens (See Tables I, II and III) are reached in most tissues by two hours after dosing at 2.5 mg/kg and are maintained for 8-12 hours after dosing.

Obviously then, dosing only once a day will mean an "uneven" concentration of the drug in the system with a peak early in the first 12 hours after dosing followed by an inefficient amount of available drug later in the following 12 hours. A more consistent level of drug availability over a 24 hour period would be achieved by an equal dosage every 12 hours.

That would be my "take" on this - I know I would seek a second opinion if Patch were mine.

aswient- Do you know whether/not the Vet did a culture to determine which bacteria is at play?

 

[yosemite]

aswient - as I said in my earlier post, if you are questioning your vet's recommendation, then please consult another vet for a second opinion. All we can do at this site is quote you information from the internet and that is not always reliable. It really is best to consult another vet if you doubt the first vet's opinion.

Vet's are good and bad but they still have more medical knowledge than we do here.