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Cat medications — Brooklynian

Cat medications

lilbangladesh
lilbangladesh
edited November -1 in Brooklyn Pets
I went through a bit of a trial with my cat's medication. Phoslo is a phosphorus binder to keep phosphorus levels low for kidney patients. The generic name is Calcium Acetate. This can be a pretty dangerous drug, and my cat went from 1/4 tab a day to 1/4 tab three times a week because his phosphorus levels dropped to low, which apparently is a subclinical dose. Apparently, it's working because his phosphorus levels have been fine for several years, though the medication does tend to make him puke.

When I moved to Brooklyn, my vet didn't have Phoslo. He only had an equivalent medication that only comes in a powder that you put on his food. Penny will NOT take medication that way, no matter how tasty, and I was worried that the other cat would get into it. He won't take liquids either, only pills. So I ordered Phoslo from drugstore.com and freaked out when I got gelcaps instead of the tablets I ordered. How was I to chop this stuff up?

Anyway, long story short, instead of having NO options, it turns out I have many options. The drug manufacterer got back to me and told me that the gelcaps were merely caplets that were covered with gel, so they could be chopped up. The equivalent medication that my vet offers is actually Calcium Carbonate, which means I could go to a health food store and get several years' supply for twenty bucks. I think I might do this since I just spent over $100 on his other medications, a cheaper alternative is good, and it will definitely have fewer side effects than the Phoslo. I just have to check with my vet about dosages because I really doubt that the efficacy ratio for Calcium Acetate to Calcium Carbonate is 1:1.

Comments

  • carnivore
    carnivore
    If calcium carbonate will work, you can also get over-the-counter Tums or its generic equivalent. Or some regular white chalk. :wink:
  • sweet tea
    sweet tea
    now here's a post with lots of general interest.

    was there a question in there that i missed?

    here's a site you might want to check out, lilb.
  • shishkab
    shishkab
    Carnivore wrote: If calcium carbonate will work, you can also get over-the-counter Tums or its generic equivalent. Or some regular white chalk. :wink:
    not to split hairs, but calcium acetate binds about three times as much phosphorus than calcium carbonate, no? i also think there is come concern in feline med that the use of c. carbonate can cause hypercalcemia (though i bet that's for humans, too).
  • carnivore
    carnivore
    shishkab wrote: [quote=Carnivore]If calcium carbonate will work, you can also get over-the-counter Tums or its generic equivalent. Or some regular white chalk. :wink:
    not to split hairs, but calcium acetate binds about three times as much phosphorus than calcium carbonate, no? i also think there is come concern in feline med that the use of c. carbonate can cause hypercalcemia (though i bet that's for humans, too).
    I'm not sure about the binding....
    The calcium is the part that binds the phosphate, and that part is the same for both compounds. And although the molecular weight of acetate and carbonate is almost the same, the acetate is only -1, whereas the carbonate is -2, so calcium carbonate is CaCO3, while calcium acetate is Ca(CH3COO-)2. So the amount of elemental calcium per gram is much more for calcium carbonate than for calcium acetate (because more of the weight is acetate). Any calcium supplement can potentially cause hypercalcemia, and it may be more of a problem for calcium carbonate simply because it has more calcium. But calcium is the part that you're actually taking it for. So in an equivalent dose, the clinical effect and extent of hypercalcemia should be the same.
  • shishkab
    shishkab
    thank you!!!
  • lilbangladesh
    lilbangladesh
    Well, that's why I assumed that the efficacy ratio wasn't 1:1. Also, in trying to get me to buy the powder, they said that it was supersafe for the other cat to eat, and while *some* supplemental calcium wouldn't be a bad thing for a healthy cat, I was concerned that she would get too much because Penny does NOT eat adulterated food at all.

    Anyway, after talking to Dr. Gibson and my old vet for a second opinion, it was decided that maybe Penny doesn't need a phosphate binder after all. So we're taking him off the stuff altogether and testing him in a few weeks to see how he does. He was on a subclinical dose for many years, so maybe he never really needed it except when he was initially diagnosed.
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