My dog needs cephalexin for 30 days. Is this treatment duration normal?

Cephalexin is a safe antibiotic and I am not aware of any side effects of long term usage. Using an antibiotic for a long period of time can however result in antibiotic resistance which is a major problem for animals and people. It is difficult to say how long is too long when you're talking about risk for antibiotic resistance. There are general guidelines regarding safe and prudent antibiotic usage - talk to your vet if you have concerns.

Cephalexin should always be given every 12 hrs due to the half-life of the medication, and sometimes even every 6-8 hrs depending on the severity of the infection. There can be a build up of resistance to frequent use of antibiotics, so I would try to have a more in depth conversation with your vet about long term treatment options that can keep Bruno's skin barrier at optimal levels, such as daily fish oils, prescription diets, and medicated shampoo's. Bruno getting Cephalexin at the frequency that he has been getting it should no affect his liver in a negative way or reduce his lifespan, the main concern here is resistance to the antibiotics over time. Best of luck with your furry friend Bruno moving forward and managing his apparent skin allergies and skin infections. Take care!

It is a high dose (22 mg/kg is average although there is a range because of capsule sizes) and in some cases we would dose reduce this drug with kidney failure (but if your pet has early changes this may not be necessary, is case dependent). I would call your vet to check the dose, he or she may have a reason for this high dose. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi there and thank you for using Pet Coach to address your concern. At the high end of the dose of 60mg/kg for systemic infections, it would be approximately 436mg every 8 hours for that dose for a 16lb dog. A 500mg capsule will not likely cause any life threatening problems. You may see vomiting and diarrhea but this should resolve on its own. If you start to see neurological symptoms such as seizures or a wobbly gait, I would have a veterinarian examine KC. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be happy to help further.

Yes, you can definitely give the oral antibiotics and apply the dermalone ointment at the same time. I would apply the ointment 2-3 times a day for at least the next 7 days and finish the entire course of antibiotic (give with food). Something else that can help is bathing every 2-3 days for 2 weeks with a medicated antibacterial shampoo such as Malaseb (available on chewy.com and petco.com), although your vet probably has a similar medicated shampoo that you can pick up from their office today leave the suds on for 5-10 min prior to rinse to allow the medicated shampoo bto have the greatest effect. Purchasing a probiotic from your vet as well can help prevent diarrhea from the cephalexin. Good luck!

The cephalexin dose is 10 to 15mg per LB. So this means your dog is getting 1000mg divided by 75 lbs: 13.33 mg/lb, which is a perfectly proper dosage.

My biggest concern is that he could also have a bladder infection that is causing him to lick a lot and therefore also causing an infection on his penis. Without seeing him to determine exactly what is infected and whether or not the bladder is also infected, I cannot say that the cephalexin will work. I would strongly recommend to have him seen by your vet. If there is a urinary tract infection and it is left untreated, it could get much worse and even start to affect the kidneys. Your vet will be able to determine if the cephalexin you have will work or if you need something stronger. I would also put a cone collar on him to prevent him from licking it any more and causing more irritation. I hope this helps and he starts to feel better really soon!