My sick dog won't eat. Should I give antibiotics on an empty stomach?

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.

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!

Antibiotics can sometimes cause upset stomach, and the underlying illness may also cause Appu to lose his appetite. You can try offering bland foods, such as boiled rice and chicken, his regular diet moistened to make it easier to eat, or even canned dog food watered down into a sort of paste to make it a bit easier to digest. If he continues to refuse all food, or can't keep any food down, it is also a good idea to let your veterinarian know in case they need to switch medications, or have Appu come in for IV fluids and other treatment.

It depends what type of pain killers she is taking, as it is every 8 hours i assume it is an opioid which is fine to give even on an empty stomach. antibiotics can also be given on an empty stomach, although not ideal as this can cause nausea. try giving her some boiled chicken, treats or a canned food called a/d from Hills.

First make sure she is eating her food without vomiting, give her only half of the food amount. if after an hour she seems to be ok and she is not vomiting, give her the second half of her food and the antibiotics. if she continues vomiting you will have to take her to your vet.

If she is still not eating then you should take her back to the vet for IV fluid therapy. And more diagnostics. Make sure they did bloodwork to check her kidneys. An abdominal X-Ray or ultrasound may help to diagnose the issue as well. If her kidney enzymes are elevated, that can make her nauseous and not want to eat. IV fluids will help to flush the kidneys. There are also special foods that can help with kidney issues like hills K/D food. If the kidney issue is for sure due to an infection, then hopefully the antibiotics will kick in soon. Sometimes it’s good to give cephalexin with another antibiotic like Baytril if it is a severe infection.

I'm sorry to hear that Nicco hasn't been feeling well, but I'm glad to hear that you've already sought veterinary care. It is most commonly recommended to give antibiotics with food since this will lessen the chance of developing an upset stomach with vomiting and diarrhea as a side effect of the antibiotics. In this case, however, Nicco is already having diarrhea and experiencing a loss of appetite. It should be just fine to give him the antibiotics (metronidazole or Flagyl, I assume, given the bloody diarrhea) without food until he is eating normally again. You can also ask your vet about offering Nicco a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken and white rice since he is refusing to eat the Royal Canin gastrointestinal low fat diet. If your veterinarian approves this plan, a typical rule of thumb is to feed 1 cup of a 50:50 chicken/rice mixture for every 10 pounds of body weight per day, divided into 3-4 smaller meals. If Nicco is still refusing to eat, experiencing bloody diarrhea, or begins to vomit by tomorrow, I recommend calling your vet since he may need to be reevaluated with additional diagnostic testing or supportive treatments. I hope this helps and that Nicco feels better soon!