My dog has antibiotic side effects. Should I stop her medication?

I'm very sorry you are dealing with this. At this point, you should discuss quality of life issues with your veterinarian. Friday may be able to get an antibiotic injection that, hopefully, would not cause stomach upset. If your veterinarian is unavailable due to the holiday, consider a visit to the local veterinary ER. After an exam, the vet on staff could recommend a different antibiotic or an injection.

Antibiotics ideally must be continued and usually appropriate antibiotic would not give these side effects (please write to us again to give us details about the antibiotic). Considering the signs you reported, another check up seems necessary to check the lethargy/weakness. Antibiotics may have a strange taste for Potato and that may be the reason why he is not taking them easily.

Please contact your vet clinic to discuss changing or altering your prescription - the course should always be completed unless directed otherwise by the prescribing vet and we are not in a position to authorise this. Antibiotics are often used in bloodied diarrhoea in young pups to prevent bacterial infection spreading to the blood stream and are continued until the bowel has a chance to repair (5-7days). Antibiotic resistance is a higher risk if short or low doses are used

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sometimes antibiotics can cause a deceased appetite and anorexia. If that was the cause then she should start getting better in the next day or so. If no improvement, have her evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Good luck! I hope she does well!

I would not stop the antibiotics until the full course is given, however if she will take a treat, giving it with that, or even a little boiled chicken may help entice her to eat some without upsetting her stomach. If she is refusing any and all food at all, it is best to let the vet know as they may want to start other treatments such as an IV/injectable antibiotic or IV fluids to help get her feeling better.

I would call your vet to see if it could be a side effect of the medications prescribed. Remember, if no food goes in, there won’t be stool to come out, so I think the biggest problem is not wanting to eat/nausea. Some medications can cause this to happen. Or there could be a second issue causing the poor appetite. You can try bland human foods like boiled chicken breast and cooked white rice to entice Lucky to eat.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I recommend contacting Annie’s veterinarian to discuss the appropriate antibiotic for her. Medication choice depends on what type of infection they found and if culture/sensitively was performed. Be sure to feed her before medication. In some cases smaller can be given more frequently, or different antibiotic or possibly a long lasting injection may be given if she can not tolerate oral medications Good luck I hope she’s better soon.