What is the dosage of doxycycline for a cat URI? My vet gave 25mg every 12 hours. That seems too high for her weight.

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I can see your replies in my browser, I think. I'm sorry to hear that you're concerned about Blueberry's doxycycline dose! You said she weighs 7.2 lb, and was prescribed 25 mg twice daily?

Great! I think the addition of lysine is a great idea - URI in cats are commonly viral, and that should help if so.

Cats metabolize medications quite differently than humans, so often the doses they need seem surprisingly large to us, given how relatively small they are themselves. The typical dose for doxycycline in a cat is 5-10 mg/kg 1-2 times daily, so 25 mg twice daily is a reasonable dose for her. Doxycyline can cause some irritation of the esophagus in cats, so your veterinarian probably already told you this, but please make sure you're "chasing" each dose with a syringe full of water to make sure that it all gets washed down.

You can use pill pockets, yes - I don't think I would halve the tablets, though. Giving a sub-therapeutic dose is more likely to lead to antibiotic resistance than to be effective against a bacterial infection. I would give her the whole tablet as prescribed, and just monitor for GI upset. That's a relatively common side effect of doxycycline and I would let Blueberry's veterinarian know if you see that.

Oh, we were typing at the same time! Yes, I would give the whole 25 mg tablet twice daily. 7 days is a reasonable length of time for a respiratory infection, too.

Sure, I'd see how she's doing in 7 days. If there's no change, it's probably not bacterial and there may be no reason to continue it. If she's improving but not 100%, it might be best to give the full 14 day course. If she's completely back to normal, 7 days may be all she needed!

You’re very welcome! If you have any other questions or concerns, please let me know - I’m happy to help! I'm not always online, but I do get a notification when I have a new reply, and will check back in as soon as I'm available. I hope Blueberry feels better soon!

You're welcome!