Any tips for cutting Prascend pills into quarters? I have a 28yo gelding that was just diagnosed and my vet is recommending that we start with a quarter pill 2X/day.
I already have one senior on Prascend, but we started him at a half pill, so I’ve never had to figure this out before 
Pill cutter? Utility knife?
Thanks for any tips and tricks!
I use a pill cutter. First cut the tablet in half along the incised middle line, then take one half, put it back in the pill cutter, and do my best to line it up to cut in half again.
Never cuts exactly in quarters, more like one piece is 20 and the other is 30, for example. Can’t worry about it, figure it all evens out in the end.
My pill cutter is one of the ones with a short of triangular area (at the hinge end) to hold the pill for cutting. To cut more or less quarters, I take a square half of the Prascend pill, and turn it to place one corner into the top point of the triangle (now looks like a diamond instead of a square) before cutting down on it to make the quarters.
Definitely a pill cutter, you can get more precise than with a knife.
Just get as close as you can. It’s not going to be that big a deal to have some variance for what you’re doing since it’s pretty easy to get 1/2, and that’s what you’ll feed in a day
If it seems like you’ll be doing 1/4mg twice a day for long enough, it’ll be worth a compound for that period of time
Thank you both!
He’s just over the edge to be diagnosed (we’ve been testing annually for several years given his age) so the vet wants to start low and re-test in a few months. It’s quite likely he’ll move up to a half pill at a time, but I don’t know yet.
@JB - Good tip on compounding if they keep him on the lower dose.
I’m off to Amazon to buy a pill cutter…
They’re the worst to cut up (I have a mini). Even using a pill cutter I end up crushing some of them beyond usability. If you come up with a brilliant solution, please share.
When I had to give my mare previcox I had to cut them also. When they would break apart into bits I would add that crushed amount to a very small portion of her feed, then when that was eaten give the rest of the feed.
I bought this pill cutter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFCWBGCR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I have to cut the prascend in quarters for my old guy. I break them in half and then do the pill cutter. As mentioned, they don’t always exactly cut in half. But, I’ve had pretty good luck with not crushing any and having all usable pieces.
I have to split Prozac into quarters for one of my cats. The best luck I’ve had (they are a tad smaller than Prascend and oval) has been with a pair of little cat nail trimmers. I got the idea here if I recall. The standard pill cutters couldn’t accurately cut a half pill in half.
I quarter the Prascend for my mini with a pill cutter. I never worry too much about it being absolutely precise. You may have to try several pill cutters, I had a fancy one with a rubberized bottom part that was suppose to keep the pill from moving and that seemed to not cut as cleanly as the Dollar Store ones.
Thanks all! I’ve got the two recommended above coming from Amazon and will report back.
the other thing to play with in cutting is how fast or slow you go. Softer pills tend to do better with a quick hard cut, but sometimes slower is better. The 2 we have don’t have any rubber, and some of the pills are a little slippery, so I’ll tip the cutter up to help keep it down in the channel
The farm I work at switched to the liquid from Chewy. I assume it is compounded. It is really easy to give. 2 ponies we give orally directly in the mouth. 2 horses we squirt it on their food. It is RX but the farm vet authorized it. It is on autoship.
With the funny doses (ie only part of a tab) of Prascend, is there a benefit to doing 1 tab one day, and 2 tabs the next, versus 1.5 tabs every day? I worry about the stability of the partial dose not fed immediately… We do alternate day dosing with some meds, so I was hoping it might be a viable option for Prascend.
This won’t help with quarter tabs, but might with the half tab doses…
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