Sick Baby....... can I share meds? - YorkieTalk.com Forums

AmosMoses · 10-09-2010, 05:36 PM

Hi Everyone,

We have a two year old 90lb Lab and a 9 month old 6lb yorkie. Our lab got loose and was picked up by the dog catcher and taken to the county dog pound (which is awful). We found him and got him back home, and within in a week he was pretty sick (both our dogs are current on vaccines). We took our lab to the vet who said he had an upper respritory infection. His nose runs and I mean really runs and he coughs some along with a low grade fever and a ton of sneezing. The vet put our lab on 500mg of Amoxi tab 2x a day and some cough pills called Temaril-P. Our Lab now after a week of meds is slowly getting better. Now my 6lb Yorkie is sick. His nose is running and he coughs a little and is sneezing all the time. He has pretty much just layed around all day. The pills my lab is taking are in a capsule. I searched the dosing on Amoxi for dogs and about 5 diffirent sites recommended 10-15 mg per lb. Should I try and divie up one of my labs capsules to what I feel is close to 60mg for my Yorkie? He is feeling really bad and behaving the exact way my lab did. Most buisnesses here won't open till Tuesday (including our vet) due to the Monday holiday. I hate to wait that long with him sneezing, coughing and a crazy yukie snot nose , he just doesn't feel good. I welcome any advice. Thanks so much!

Rhetts_mama · 10-09-2010, 07:29 PM

Short answer- no, you should not share meds.

Now for the longer answer: Your lab needs to finish his entire course for it to be effective. Shorting his meds puts him at risk for developing a resistance to the antibiotic. You also need to find out exactly what is going on with your yorkie. Although it could quite likely be the same thing as the lab, if it's not you may be doing more harm than good by indiscriminately medicating him. It would also be nearly impossible for you to correctly divide a 500 mg tablet down to 60 mg.

If you don't have an ER vet available, call your vet's office and see if they have an answering service. If the vet thinks your baby should be on the antibiotics, ask if he can call in a prescription to a local pharmacy for you to pick up.

megansmomma · 10-09-2010, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhetts_mama

Short answer- no, you should not share meds.

Now for the longer answer: Your lab needs to finish his entire course for it to be effective. Shorting his meds puts him at risk for developing a resistance to the antibiotic. You also need to find out exactly what is going on with your yorkie. Although it could quite likely be the same thing as the lab, if it's not you may be doing more harm than good by indiscriminately medicating him. It would also be nearly impossible for you to correctly divide a 500 mg tablet down to 60 mg.

If you don't have an ER vet available, call your vet's office and see if they have an answering service. If the vet thinks your baby should be on the antibiotics, ask if he can call in a prescription to a local pharmacy for you to pick up.

Great post!

AmosMoses · 10-09-2010, 08:24 PM

Thank you Rhetts Mama, I thought that would be what most would reply. We have an Emergency vet 3 towns away, but they are so expensive. Last time I was in there I spent close to 420.00 dollars for a cat with allergies. Don't get me wrong I would bankrupt us if I had to, but if its just a cold I hate to. I have three kids as well and two have strep throat! When it rains it pours around here. Thank again for taking the time to answer.

kjc · 10-11-2010, 02:20 AM

'Just a cold' won't cause that much mucous. This could rapidly develop into pneumonia which is often times fatal in dogs. There are bugs going around especially in overcrowded environments that there are no vaccines for, so just because your dogs are up to date on vaccines, you can't assume that what they have caught isn't a serious illness. Also, most vaccines do not cover all the variable vectors of any given disease... only the most common at the time the vaccine was developed.

I apologize if I sound harsh... trust me I learned from experience when I almost lost my oldest Yorkie last spring. He started out with a clear runny nose, and within 2-3 days it turned cloudy and intensified so much that he could barely breathe, and no way could he eat. I didn't know a small dog could even produce that much mucous.

He was sleeping as I walked past him, but I turned around to check him, and Thank God I did.. his tongue and membranes were turning dark purple! He was giving up. So I held him and got him breathing again, and had the phone in my other hand calling any vet's office that would answer to get him seen ASAP. His temp soared to over 105.0 F.

Even after being seen by the vet, they didn't give me any hope that he would survive, and they sent him home with me. On the right antibiotic, I saw improvement by the next day... he tried to eat a little bit and drank some water. He did survive and I learned never to ignore cold like symptoms in a dog.

If the antibiotics don't seem to be working within 24-48 hours, call your vet for a change... they can only guess (an educated guess) at what will be successful in killing the bug unless they do a culture, but one really doesn't have the time to wait when treating these types of illnesses.

Hopefully if you explain the situation to the ER vet, and you just want to start him on the antibiotics then go to your regular vet, maybe they'll go easy on you. Either way, younger and older dogs are more at risk, so I would get him seen ASAP.

kjc · 10-14-2010, 06:43 AM

How is your little one doing? I hope he's feeling better... your Lab too.

kjc · 10-22-2010, 07:52 PM

How is your little one doing? I hope he's feeling better... your Lab too.

Just checking in for an update.... Hope all are doing well...

Donnainohio63 · 10-22-2010, 07:59 PM

This could also be Kennel cough. I know when the kids got me this puppy I took him to the vet the very next day and he was loaded with fleas and had kennel cough. He was very sick for about a week but he just went back last Monday for his second set of puppy shots and a checkup and the vet said he is just fine. I also had her check his stool for anything else that could be wrong. The name of the place where my kids got this puppy for me was Barking boutique it is located in Elyria Ohio. Never go there for a puppy. The vet told us that they get all kinds of sick puppies brought to them from that place, some even have had parvo so I was very lucky.

10-09-2010, 05:36 PM	#1
AmosMoses YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Bentonville, Ar USA Posts: 3	Sick Baby....... can I share meds? Hi Everyone, We have a two year old 90lb Lab and a 9 month old 6lb yorkie. Our lab got loose and was picked up by the dog catcher and taken to the county dog pound (which is awful). We found him and got him back home, and within in a week he was pretty sick (both our dogs are current on vaccines). We took our lab to the vet who said he had an upper respritory infection. His nose runs and I mean really runs and he coughs some along with a low grade fever and a ton of sneezing. The vet put our lab on 500mg of Amoxi tab 2x a day and some cough pills called Temaril-P. Our Lab now after a week of meds is slowly getting better. Now my 6lb Yorkie is sick. His nose is running and he coughs a little and is sneezing all the time. He has pretty much just layed around all day. The pills my lab is taking are in a capsule. I searched the dosing on Amoxi for dogs and about 5 diffirent sites recommended 10-15 mg per lb. Should I try and divie up one of my labs capsules to what I feel is close to 60mg for my Yorkie? He is feeling really bad and behaving the exact way my lab did. Most buisnesses here won't open till Tuesday (including our vet) due to the Monday holiday. I hate to wait that long with him sneezing, coughing and a crazy yukie snot nose , he just doesn't feel good. I welcome any advice. Thanks so much!

10-09-2010, 07:29 PM	#2
Rhetts_mama Donating YT 4000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Georgia Posts: 5,959 Blog Entries: 1	Short answer- no, you should not share meds. Now for the longer answer: Your lab needs to finish his entire course for it to be effective. Shorting his meds puts him at risk for developing a resistance to the antibiotic. You also need to find out exactly what is going on with your yorkie. Although it could quite likely be the same thing as the lab, if it's not you may be doing more harm than good by indiscriminately medicating him. It would also be nearly impossible for you to correctly divide a 500 mg tablet down to 60 mg. If you don't have an ER vet available, call your vet's office and see if they have an answering service. If the vet thinks your baby should be on the antibiotics, ask if he can call in a prescription to a local pharmacy for you to pick up. __________________ Don't get your knickers in a knot. Nothing is solved and it just makes you walk funny.

10-11-2010, 02:20 AM	#5
kjc I♥PeekTinkySaph&Finny Donating Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Baltimore, Maryland Posts: 18,872	'Just a cold' won't cause that much mucous. This could rapidly develop into pneumonia which is often times fatal in dogs. There are bugs going around especially in overcrowded environments that there are no vaccines for, so just because your dogs are up to date on vaccines, you can't assume that what they have caught isn't a serious illness. Also, most vaccines do not cover all the variable vectors of any given disease... only the most common at the time the vaccine was developed. I apologize if I sound harsh... trust me I learned from experience when I almost lost my oldest Yorkie last spring. He started out with a clear runny nose, and within 2-3 days it turned cloudy and intensified so much that he could barely breathe, and no way could he eat. I didn't know a small dog could even produce that much mucous. He was sleeping as I walked past him, but I turned around to check him, and Thank God I did.. his tongue and membranes were turning dark purple! He was giving up. So I held him and got him breathing again, and had the phone in my other hand calling any vet's office that would answer to get him seen ASAP. His temp soared to over 105.0 F. Even after being seen by the vet, they didn't give me any hope that he would survive, and they sent him home with me. On the right antibiotic, I saw improvement by the next day... he tried to eat a little bit and drank some water. He did survive and I learned never to ignore cold like symptoms in a dog. If the antibiotics don't seem to be working within 24-48 hours, call your vet for a change... they can only guess (an educated guess) at what will be successful in killing the bug unless they do a culture, but one really doesn't have the time to wait when treating these types of illnesses. Hopefully if you explain the situation to the ER vet, and you just want to start him on the antibiotics then go to your regular vet, maybe they'll go easy on you. Either way, younger and older dogs are more at risk, so I would get him seen ASAP. __________________ Kat Chloe Lizzy PeekABooTinkerbell SapphireInfinity

10-14-2010, 06:43 AM	#6
kjc I♥PeekTinkySaph&Finny Donating Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Baltimore, Maryland Posts: 18,872	How is your little one doing? I hope he's feeling better... your Lab too. __________________ Kat Chloe Lizzy PeekABooTinkerbell SapphireInfinity

10-22-2010, 07:52 PM	#7
kjc I♥PeekTinkySaph&Finny Donating Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Baltimore, Maryland Posts: 18,872	How is your little one doing? I hope he's feeling better... your Lab too. Just checking in for an update.... Hope all are doing well... __________________ Kat Chloe Lizzy PeekABooTinkerbell SapphireInfinity

10-09-2010, 08:24 PM	#4
AmosMoses YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Bentonville, Ar USA Posts: 3	Thank you Rhetts Mama, I thought that would be what most would reply. We have an Emergency vet 3 towns away, but they are so expensive. Last time I was in there I spent close to 420.00 dollars for a cat with allergies. Don't get me wrong I would bankrupt us if I had to, but if its just a cold I hate to. I have three kids as well and two have strep throat! When it rains it pours around here. Thank again for taking the time to answer.

10-22-2010, 07:59 PM	#8
Donnainohio63 Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Lorain Ohio Posts: 1,882	This could also be Kennel cough. I know when the kids got me this puppy I took him to the vet the very next day and he was loaded with fleas and had kennel cough. He was very sick for about a week but he just went back last Monday for his second set of puppy shots and a checkup and the vet said he is just fine. I also had her check his stool for anything else that could be wrong. The name of the place where my kids got this puppy for me was Barking boutique it is located in Elyria Ohio. Never go there for a puppy. The vet told us that they get all kinds of sick puppies brought to them from that place, some even have had parvo so I was very lucky.