Comparative Pharmacotherapy of Thyroid Diseases in Dogs and Cats--- What Should the Retail Pharmacist Filling Pet Prescriptions Understand?

Abstract

Community pharmacies are increasingly receiving prescriptions from veterinarians for dogs and cats to receive human medications. However, retail pharmacists are not routinely trained in relevant aspects of veterinary-specific pharmacotherapy, such as, signs of improvement, time to improvement, drug administration techniques and potential adverse effects. Thyroid diseases in dogs and cats are treated with human-approved drugs that may be referred to pharmacies. Hypothyroidism is far more frequent in dogs, while hyperthyroidism is far more frequent in cats.