My cocker spaniel was put on Noroclav last week (duration 1 week) and developed a couple of symptons whilst on these.  Firstly she drank more water and consequently urinated more frequently and also we suspect had two bouts of vomiting (we have another dog but we suspect it was the cocker)  She was on these tablets to fight a mouth infection before having a general anaesthetic to clean her teeth.  When she went to the vets to have the teeth cleaning they did some preliminary blood tests.  The liver test results were startling.  Apparently her liver count should be 150.  Hers came back as 2000 (two thousand).  The vet said she did not understand this and double checked the reading and it is correct.  They didn't go ahead with the generak anaesthetic and sent her home telling us to wait for the additional blood test results and said they would not put her on anymore antibiotics in the meantime, and we were to treat her exactly as we normally do with the same food and excercise regime, which we are doing.

With this count as 2000 she should have had the following sysmptons:
Balding of the hair on her stomach - she doesn't
Lethargy - she doesn't
Loss of appetite - slightly whilst on the tablets
Additional urination - yes, whilst on the tablets
Sickness - possibly, we think so, whilst on the tablets

and basically she should be very, very, poorly, which she isn't.

It has been almost a week since she has come off the tablets and at the moment she is back to her old self. 

Has anyone else had any symptons with using Noroclav?  She was on 2 x 250mg tablets a day.  Now on the Novoclav website it is recommended that a dog weighing 20kg (the lightest weight they quote) 1/2 (a half) a tablet at 12.5mg should be adminstered twice daily.  She weighs 14kg and was on 2 tablets a day at 250mg a tablet.  Is it me or does this sound like a complete overdose?

I have tried talking to the vet but am told by the nursing staff that the vet can't discuss the dosage with me unti they get the other blood test results that were taken on Tuesday and we are still waiting for these.

If anyone has any suggestions, advice or experience regarding any the above I would be really grateful to hear of it.  I feel really guilty that her teeth need cleaning, that is completely my fault and I except full responsibility.  I have learnt a lot since owning her (my first dog) and I'm afraid I got her without researching dogs in general and I am learning the hard way.  Unfortunately it has been at her expense but this site has been a god send and I won't be making the same mistakes again.

Many thanks fir any advice.

Certainly sounds like she was overdosed.

Thank you - I think so too.  Going back to the Noroclav website it says 12.4mg/kg so it seems that she should have been on 175mg which is still a lot less that 250, if I'm reading it correctly.  If this is the cause of this high jump in her liver count I'm praying that it will flush out of her system and not permanantly damage her liver.  Certainly she is back to her eating/urination pattern since coming off the tablets.  It seems too much of a conincidence to me.  I don't see that she could have had this 2000 count for any great amount of time as she had the mild symptons only when she was on the tablets. The lack of communication from my vet is also worrying me.  I'll post updates when I get them.

My boy has just been on these and had no problems.

I have checked the dosage rates on the 250 mg tablet box and for a bodyweight of 19-20 kg it is 1 250mg tablet twice daily.  I know yours only weighs 14kg but that was the starting dose on the box.

I hope you hear from your vet soon.  I would be very annoyed at the poor response.

I have tried talking to the vet but am told by the nursing staff that the vet can't discuss the dosage with me unti they get the other blood test results that were taken on Tuesday and we are still waiting for these.


Is this for real!  Of course you can talk to your vet anytime, thats what they are paid for.  Tell the nursing staff to take a hike and put you through to the vet.   You think your dog has been overdosed the vet MUST be made aware of that asap and you have every right to find out why this dosage was given.

I got the calculator out. At the recommended standard dose of 12.5mg per kg, a 14 kg dog would require 175 mg twice a day. That makes a total daily dose of 350mg. Your dog got a daily dose of 500mg. BUT the norbrook pharmaceuticals website states
"Because of the low toxicity profile of Noroclav, the dose can be doubled if desired at the discretion of the veterinary surgeon for severe infection. ". So the max safe dose for your dog per day could be  up to 700mg. Technically therefore the vet would not have expected this 500mg daily dose to be harmful to your dog according to manufacturers advice.  It is true though that if there were an underlying unidentified condition affecting the liver, that the dose given could be toxic. Also, just as in humans, an individual dog can have an unexpected reaction.
In summary, your dog has not been given more than the recommended safe dose, which means that you do not need to stress about the competence of your vet. the new tests will show if your dog has some condition that is affecting the liver to cause the abnormal blood results, or will identify if there was just a technical error with the sample.

hi
my siberian has been on noroclav tablets for the last 31/2 years
he has never had any problems being on the tablets + knowing he was gonna be on them prob for the rest of his life myself + vet looked into any sideaffects + in general found it is generally a very safe drug
i share the others concern about the lack of communication with your vet
i would try + arrange an appt with your vet to discuss all your concerns
is the vet suspicious that it is related to the noroclav or a seperate issue??
try not to feel guilty about the whole teeth cleaning issue - most dogs require dental tx at some stage in their lifes reguardless of how much the owners do for them
hope of some help
:)

Thanks all.  I'm hoping to speak to the vet this afternoon (still haven't had blood results back yet)
Hmmm, sounds like it may not be the tablets then!  What else on earth could cause this kind of jump in count?  I can't make head nor tail of it.  As she is now not on any form of antibiotic she has a virluent case of lipfold excemia which is stinking and causing her some distress.  We are bathing her mouth 6 times a day with salted water but it is really aggressive.  I'll post with more info when I get it.
Many thanks

Ok, husband has spoken to the vet and she has said that the count has gone down and the liver results are completely healthy.  He didn't ask what the count was down to, only that the vet said she has a perfectly healthy liver.  I'm going to ask exactly what the count is tomorrow when I go back.

Vet has suggested the increase in count could have been hormonal.  Soooo, they want to put her back on the Noroclav tablets for a week and run another blood test...Here we go again by the looks of things.  I feel a bit happier with your feedback about these tablets but I'll be keeping a very close eye on her!  Thanks for all your replies and I'll keep posting.

Hello all
A little update!  Maud (Cocker) had her teeth cleaned with no problems thank goodness.  She is still on Noroclav to get rid of the last bit of infection.  Her liver count is down slightly but still very high.  It has been suggested that she may have cushings syndrome so she will be having some blood tests next week.  It's just one of the things they are looking at.  Interestingly, when I did a search on cushings on this site, a post from Kizzistaff in Feb of this year is exactly the same as mine.  Her old dog of 15 years needed teeth cleaning and suffered with really stinky teeth, and after blood tests before the anaesthetic found an abnormally high liver count with the suggeston of cushings!  I might PM her and see what the results were.  Other than that, Maud seems absolutely fine. 
Thank you to everyone for your previous posts.

my american bulldog had the same symptoms so i took him back to the vets and they gave me the same noroclav saying he had a water infection i,m suddenly worried

I'm just looking at the dosage your dog was given, my dog weighs 25kg and was on 1 and a 1/4 tablets twice a day for 5days.