The abbreviations that show up constantly
| Shorthand | What it means |
|---|---|
| PO | By mouth |
| SID | Once daily |
| BID | Twice daily |
| TID | Three times daily |
| q12h / q8h | Every 12 hours / every 8 hours |
| PRN | As needed, not on a fixed schedule |
Why "twice daily" and "every 12 hours" aren't quite the same
BID technically means twice a day, and in practice most people space it out to roughly 12 hours, morning and evening. q12h is more strict about it, actually every 12 hours rather than "morning and evening whenever that happens to be." For most medications the difference is minor, but for some it matters more, which is exactly the kind of thing worth confirming with your vet rather than assuming.
What PRN actually changes
A PRN medication doesn't get a fixed reminder time because it isn't supposed to be given on a schedule, it's given when a specific situation calls for it. Logging it still matters, just without the same countdown-to-next-dose treatment as a scheduled medication.
Once it's decoded, it doesn't need decoding again
The shorthand only needs translating once per medication. Halo stores the actual schedule in plain terms, morning and evening, or every 8 hours, so nobody has to re-remember what BID meant three months later.