Are prescriptions generally more effective than over-the-counter medicines?
In general, yes. Even for our human population and dog population, prescription medications are much more effective than over-the-counter medications. Medicines are prescription for a purpose. They're prescription because the person using it and dispensing it, they're used for a specific cause and if used inappropriately they may harm the pet or the human that they're trying to use them on. So they're generally more effective because they're made for that specific condition and they have to be monitored by a medical professional because, if used inappropriately, they could hurt the pet.
Can my cat get what they need from diet alone?
No, they can't. There are a lot of medical conditions that require medication, chronic, maybe blood monitoring, things outside of a diet that can't be put in a diet and need to be given on a daily basis. Like if your pet has an infection, we don't need antibiotics every day in our diet. If your pet, your cat develops hyperthyroidism, there's a medication for that that we don't need to be putting in the diet. It needs to be monitored with blood work.
The different types of medications, so there's antibiotics to treat infections, there's anti-nausea medicines for cats, there's appetite stimulants for cats, there's anti-inflammatories, there's various types of pain relief, there's steroids that we use, and a lot of times cats are very difficult to medicate. So a lot of times we use injectables or liquids because cats don't like pills very well. When giving a pill, we have to make sure that the cat swallows the pill. Many times clients will find out later they'll pull out the couch cushions and they find the cat's medications there. So frequently we will use what we call a compounding pharmacy for cat medications.
So if it only comes in a pill form or if it comes in a form that's too high of a dose, we will send it to a special pharmacy where they will take the medication and either make it into a liquid form or reduce the strength of the medication so we can use it in the cats. For example, one medication that comes in a pill form, methimazole, for hyperthyroidism cats don't like and they've got to take it twice a day and it's a decent little sized pill. A lot of times we'll send it to a compounding pharmacy and they'll make it into a cream that you rub on the ear. The cat absorbs it through the skin and it treats the condition. That way the cat is not being forced to take a pill, people aren't getting scratched up, the cat's not hiding from the owner. By putting the cream on the ear, the cat has no idea what's going on and they get their medication.
Why is it important to avoid self-diagnosing my cat's need for pain medication?
Animal dogs and cats in general cannot take human forms of medication. They lack the enzymes in their liver to break them down so they can easily get to toxic levels and it can affect their liver and it can put them into kidney failure which can eventually possibly kill your pets. There are no over-the-counter pain medicines that your pet can safely take at home that you can go purchase at a pharmacy. All pet medications are dispensed through a pharmacy or a veterinarian and they are labeled and made for dogs and cats. Cats are very sensitive to medications and there's a lot of medications we use in dogs that we cannot use in cats. We have limited medications to use simply because the cat body metabolizes things differently. So there's very little over-the-counter that you can give and by giving things like Tylenol, children's Motrin, Naproxen or say maybe human heart blood pressure medicines, a lot of times those medications are toxic to cats and can cause significant damage or even death.
Why is early detection so crucial for getting a good result from my cat's medication?
It's easier to treat things in early stages than late stages. Cats are the great pretender. They hide disease very well. They lay around. We don't notice they're not eating as much, not moving around as much. That's why we recommend annual blood work on all cats no matter the age because they can hide things very well and we won't pick up on it. It's easier to treat a diabetic that is not in complication of diabetes than it is to treat a cat that's complicated diabetic. It's easier to treat autoimmune or infections before they become systemic or spread throughout the body, become septic. So that's why we recommend again blood work once a year on your cat and if at any point in time you think your cat is off, most likely they are and they need to see a veterinarian.
Why should I purchase my cat medications from a veterinarian instead of through an online pharmacy?
A lot of medications through an online pharmacy are potentially sourced through non-trustworthy vendors. Sometimes they are not legit medications. They might come from China, other countries where they're basically a fake medication to look like a real medication and we don't know what's in them so they could harm your pet. It's not worth the risk to save a couple of dollars on a medication from an online pharmacy that is not sourced directly from the manufacturer versus getting it from the veterinarian knowing that it's the correct medication, it's from the manufacturer and it will help your pet.
If you still have other questions and you'd like to reach out to us, you can call us directly at (704) 827-0616, or you can email us at [email protected]. But please do reach out, and we'll get back to you as fast as we can. Don't forget to follow us on social media Facebook, Instagram