15 lb pup just came home from 36 hours in the hospital after NSAID exposure. Vet prescribed 15mg omeprazole OTC (specificed OTC). Everything at the pharmacy is 20mg. Anyone have experience with this? they’re all extended release so i’m hesitant to just cut a tablet.
My pug receives 10 mg of this on a daily basis and has for nearly a year. I Just cut the tablets in half.
Anything that’s coated cannot be cut–the coating protects the drug through the stomach and if the coating is damaged, the drug is toast as soon as it hits the stomach acid.
There may be some buffered omeprazole preps out there? Those can be split, but a quick look at amazon indicates those might be capsules, which would be tricky.
I’d just give the 20mg tabs and call it a day, but if you’re not comfortable with that, a call to the vet is in order. But don’t let him tell you that you can break the coated tabs, because you really cannot. If you’re not sure if something is buffered vs coated, read the package insert–if the instructions say SWALLOW WHOLE then it’s coated and can’t be split. Examples: Zegrid is buffered. This generic is coated.
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