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My dog ate my meloxicam. Could this cause coughing blood and bile?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Cocker Spaniel | Male | 39 lbs

I have a 9 year old cocker spaniel. He started coughing up bile with blood in 19 days ago. We didn't know what was wrong so he went to the vet who said it may be a bug. He had injection, antibiotics etc Been back to vets they are doing blood and stool tests again.But I wondered if my dog may have taken one of my meloxicam tablets if it was on the floor. Tablets are 7.5mg my dog weighs approx 17-18kg. Would he be ok? I'm just wracking my brains trying to think what could have happened to him.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

Published on March 1st, 2017

Poor pup! Yes, it's certainly possible that the meloxicam could have caused these symptoms if J ate one of your tablets off the floor - this drug can be used safely in dogs, but 7.5 mg in a 17-18 kg dog is far too much. Overdoses of meloxicam can cause severe stomach ulcers, internal bleeding, and even perforation of the stomach or intestines as well as kidney damage in some cases.

If J is still having problems, I would definitely recommend letting your vet know that this is a possibility - he should have blood work to check his kidney function, as well as fluids, anti-nausea medication, and stomach protectants. Most dogs can recover from a one-time meloxicam overdose like this with supportive care, so it's not necessarily a reason to panic - just let you vet know that this might be the problem, to make sure that J is being treated appropriately.
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