Stella's finally home! Now my new question: Am I crazy or is this an excessive amount of medication?
Hello everyone,
For those who have been following, Stella is home from the vet...finally! I thought she was coming back this morning, but when I called they wanted to keep observing her and I had to wait until the end of the work day. Of course it was the day I taught my late class, so I didn't get her back until after 7:00pm!
So far, she seems fine, and they told me she's doing well. Right now she's playing with a toy and has both of her beds on her back :) When I took her out, she even pooed normally, so that's a really good sign.
Now, to my question/concern. They've been giving her meds to help her stomach and to get her GI system back on track (they just determined she had gastroenteritis, not sure of the cause). So, I was expecting maybe a pepto-type med that I'd give her a couple of times a day. Well, when the vet tech showed me the meds and read me the instructions, I was totally shocked! She just kept pulling med after med out of the bag! Here's the list of what she has:
1. Proviable- this one has a capsule AND a paste--I give the capsul once a day, the paste 2-3 times.
2. Carafate Liquid- 5 mls every 8 hrs (3 times/day)
3. Pepcid- 20 mg tablets- 1/2 tablet every morning for 8 days
4. Metronidazole- 250 mg- 1/2 tablet every 24 hours
Ok, now I have to confess that I personally am very critical of our overly medicated society and unnecessary push from pharmaceutical companies, and if my doctor were to prescribe this to me, the prescription slips wouldn't even make it past the office trash can. So, my initial reaction was of the horror that this trend has made it to the pet world! I also am concerned because her stomach upset may have been CAUSED by medication. On the other hand, I don't want to hurt her in any way because of my critical stance on meds, and I have had very positive experiences with this vet so far (and so have many people I know). But it just seems like A LOT for a little puppy. I also have the dilemma of WHAT to not give her. I wouldn't stop all of it, but I just can't help feeling like some is not necessary. Honestly, the antibiotic worries me the most for possible stomach reactions.
Anyway, I would really appreciate some honest, direct feedback on this. If you think I'm overreacting, please be blunt, I won't get offended. I just want to to what's best for little Stella.
Thanks so much!
Nicole
For those who have been following, Stella is home from the vet...finally! I thought she was coming back this morning, but when I called they wanted to keep observing her and I had to wait until the end of the work day. Of course it was the day I taught my late class, so I didn't get her back until after 7:00pm!
So far, she seems fine, and they told me she's doing well. Right now she's playing with a toy and has both of her beds on her back :) When I took her out, she even pooed normally, so that's a really good sign.
Now, to my question/concern. They've been giving her meds to help her stomach and to get her GI system back on track (they just determined she had gastroenteritis, not sure of the cause). So, I was expecting maybe a pepto-type med that I'd give her a couple of times a day. Well, when the vet tech showed me the meds and read me the instructions, I was totally shocked! She just kept pulling med after med out of the bag! Here's the list of what she has:
1. Proviable- this one has a capsule AND a paste--I give the capsul once a day, the paste 2-3 times.
2. Carafate Liquid- 5 mls every 8 hrs (3 times/day)
3. Pepcid- 20 mg tablets- 1/2 tablet every morning for 8 days
4. Metronidazole- 250 mg- 1/2 tablet every 24 hours
Ok, now I have to confess that I personally am very critical of our overly medicated society and unnecessary push from pharmaceutical companies, and if my doctor were to prescribe this to me, the prescription slips wouldn't even make it past the office trash can. So, my initial reaction was of the horror that this trend has made it to the pet world! I also am concerned because her stomach upset may have been CAUSED by medication. On the other hand, I don't want to hurt her in any way because of my critical stance on meds, and I have had very positive experiences with this vet so far (and so have many people I know). But it just seems like A LOT for a little puppy. I also have the dilemma of WHAT to not give her. I wouldn't stop all of it, but I just can't help feeling like some is not necessary. Honestly, the antibiotic worries me the most for possible stomach reactions.
Anyway, I would really appreciate some honest, direct feedback on this. If you think I'm overreacting, please be blunt, I won't get offended. I just want to to what's best for little Stella.
Thanks so much!
Nicole
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Google to the rescue!
Carafate:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucralfate
used as a stomach buffer.
Pepcid, that we know.
Proviable: it's just a probiotic, not a drug.
http://www.petstruly.com/3609.html
Used to restore healthy gut bacteria.
Metronidazone:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metronidazole
Similar to an antibiotic, but it's an anti-protozoal and anti-anaerobic bacteria.
So, one anti-protozoal, one stomach buffer, one antacid, and one probiotic.
I totally understand your concerns about our over-medicated world, but honestly these sound like they are designed to sooth her tummy, kill any nasties, and restore healthy gut bacteria.
If it were me, I'd give them all. :-) And I don't like too much medication either.
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Permalink Reply by Nicole, Stanley and STELLA! on
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Thanks so much, Beth! I asked the vet tech about each one, and she was very helpful and forthcoming about what each contained and what it was for, and even addressed my question about drug interactions and said they were all fine together. I guess my surprise was just at the quantity! I should probably just think of the proviable like her eating an Activia yogurt instead of it being "medicine." Maybe she can get on an ad with Jaime Lee Curtis!
I really appreciate the input. Because of my personal experiences with the human medication world, I had that initial "I wonder if they'd have prescribed this had I not had insurance?" reaction.
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Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on
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I'm actually very impressed that the vet prescribed a probiotic to go along with the antibiotic! That is a good vet right there! I too would be a little hesitant of all those meds, but it seems like this vet is on top of stuff. My biggest concern is always the antibiotics (it seems like doctors and vets over-prescribe those which can be very dangerous), but as long as she's taking a good probiotic with it, I think it will be fine. Good luck and give Stella a hug for me!
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I dug a little deeper and that particular anti-protozoal is used to treat giardiasis. My understanding from reading other's posts is that it is very difficult to pick up giardia in normal stool samples, as it goes through phases where it is not passed, so they are being proactive in treating.
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2102&aid=739
"Giardiasis is very difficult to diagnose because the protozoa are so small and are not passed with every stool. Tests on serial stool samples (one stool sample every day for three days) are often required to find the organism..."
"If we highly suspect infection with Giardia, but can not find the organism, should we treat anyway? This is often done. Because it is often difficult to detect Giardia in the feces of dogs with diarrhea, if there are no other obvious causes of diarrhea (e.g.; the dog did not get into the garbage several nights ago) we often treat the animal for giardiasis."
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Permalink Reply by Alice on
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They treated Finn for this too when they couldn't figure out what was causing his tummy troubles. He was on Metronidazole, FortiFlora which is a probiotic and Pepcid. He was fine with it. No negative effects from the meds.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Hi Nicole,
Sounds like Beth has lots of helpful info and that's good because I don't really have a clue BUT I do think that vets are getting to be more like people doctors in prescribing more and more things...I think it is our "duty" as pet owners to question things we don't understand!
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Permalink Reply by DR, Nala & Simon on
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Beth, you are amazing. Thanks!
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I second that! :)
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Permalink Reply by Judi, Dawn, Soffie & Griffyn on
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Yup! I concur with Beth! She does her research for sure!! ( Thanks Beth! )
I agree with you too Nicole about prescriptions meds. And as we all know many of the vets out there have no problem pushing low quality food, touting it as "prescription diet". So, that alone would give reason for pause.
But in this case I'd keep with the med schedule as prescribed. And I suggest you keep a close watch for any adverse reactions.
Get well quick little Stella!! We're all wishing you well!
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Permalink Reply by Edward and Gemima on
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Nicole, I'm glad that Stella seems to be doing a bit better!! I guess I am on board with most of the others in that your vet is most likely trying to cover all bases. I can tell you that I have experience in giving all these drugs to people except for the Proviable which we already determined to be a non medication. The Carafate and Pepcid are really quite gentle with few side effects and the Flagyl(the other name I think for Metronidazole) would be the only thing I could really think of that might cause a problem... but it really is used a lot without many problems in people. Sorry, I don't have specifics for dogs, but I think these will be pretty gentle on her. I would definitely just be observing her with these for now and hopefully this will all just be a bad memory soon!!!
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Hi Everyone,
Thanks so much for your advice and well-wishes for little Stella! Sorry I haven't given an update earlier. I had to present at a conference at the other end of the state today, and I took Stella to my parents' house in PA on Friday after work and stayed with her. My parents are low-tech, and by that I mean "no tech"! Not even a DVD player or cell phone, let alone a computer/internet!
Anyway, Stella is doing better :) She had a great time at my parents' house while I was gone. They have a lot of land and live in the country in southwest PA, so they walked her a lot. She gets a little skittish sometimes around traffic sounds when I walk her, but they live in a remote area and she really enjoys it there. My parents also have two dogs-both 10 years old- a male Bichon and a female Shi Tzu. They all get along, but Stella especially loves Suit, the Bichon. When they went for walks he would wait for her to escort her in the house. My mom also walked around the house with her on the leash (since she's still healing from her spay and can't jump) and played with her and gave her non-stop attention and showered her with unending toys.
They continued her med schedule. I've been giving her everything so far. She's not only fine with it, but it seems to really be helping her. Her system is returning to normal. She even feels a little heavier today than on Thursday. Yay!
At the end of the upcoming week she gets her stitches out. Hopefully by next weekend at this time she'll be 100% recovered from everything. Thanks again everyone! I really appreciate your help and support.
Nicole
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