A new vet at the surgery,don’t have any faith in him.I phoned for advice,my wee Bichon had wound oozing pus and blood,I cleaned it up,it stopped,and she wasn’t ill attall,but he said to bring her to surgery next day.He shaved around wound,didn’t really look at it.He injected her with antibiotics,she screamed for about 5 minutes after,and gave her Noroclav,to take 125mg twice a day.I don’t even know if she needs antibiotics,but surely this is too much for a 5.2 KG dog.  Angela

We arnt vets so shouldn't comment on amounts given for u .if u google the drug suggested dosage is available and if arnt happy either see someone else or query directly with that vet. If there is pus present it suggest infection so can understand why abs were prescribed and dogs are all different some totally disregard an injection for others it's a major hurt
If u have no faith in them I would suggest changing vets for the future

>my wee Bichon had wound oozing pus and blood

If there was pus there was obviously infection (pus is caused by infection) and so antibiotics are clearly needed. As for dosage, 2 x 50mg tablets twice daily would be ideal, but if they have no 50mg tablets then half of a 250mg tablet (ie 125mg) twice daily is perfectly acceptable, and a lot better than underdosing. Make sure you complete the whole course.

Did he bother to weigh her ?

Noroclav doseage should really be calculated accurately per kg & not just to the tablets available especially with small dogs. From memory it's 12.5 mg per kilo so he has prescribed about twice as much as required.

Overdosing can cause problems such as diarrhoea & sickness and should be avoided at all costs. Antibiotics kill the natural flora in the gut & must be treated & prescribed with care.

I would contact the surgery & ask to speak to the Practice manager with your concerns.

So many vets(& doctors)overprescribe antibiotics, causing resistance to their effects to develop.

Novoclav

Hi Ann
Thank you so much for your response,I definitely agree with you.Lana is 10,has a liver shunt,has had swollen pancreas,and has had colitis,I don’t want to cause her any further harm.I had decided to give her half the dose,which would be 62mg- twice a day,but was worried that wouldn’t kill the infection,I:think I,ll stick with that.The only alternative would three quarters of the tablet split,which would be about 94mg twice a day.What do you think?
   Angela

I would think thst would be fine. I would still raise concerns with the practice manager.

A friend gets prescriptions for her dog that includes fortekor+. Her vet prescribed in error the wrong size which he noticed fortunately before they left the surgery & reissued the prescription for the right size tablets so mistakes do happen.

>From memory it's 12.5 mg per kilo

12.5mg/kg twice daily. It's usually better to slightly overdose than underdose, to make sure that you don't cause antibiotic resistance and find that you can't clear up the infection.

Jeangenie so overdosing with antibiotics prevents bacteria developing resistance ? Interesting & how do you know this ? Have you been involved in research into how & why bacteria become resistant to antibiotics ?

I am really interested in learning about this as I was involved in research into this myself before I retired

Ann R Smith, it's known that under-dosing (either by not giving a high enough dose, or by the patient not completing the course) is similar to 'vaccinating' the bacteria against the medication, therefore furthering resistance.

Jeangenie you haven't really answered my question.

Just saying it's well known....... Isn't scientific research. And TBH overdosing has been researched & the opposite to your statement of it stopping/preventing bacterial resistance was found in some studies.

Are you aware that because ABs destroy good bacteria as well as bad in the gut & that overdosing can trigger D&V in an already ill animal(including humans) ?

So can you point me in the direction of scientific studies that prove underdosing causes resistance & overdosing prevent reisitance developing. I really am interested as I obviously need to update my knowledge from the research I was involved in.

Ann, I suggest you discuss it with all the vets at your practice.
This article will give you some tips about what to ask them about.

Jeangenie

So I should ask a fellow vet with no specialist knowledge of AB resistance why & how bacteria develop resistance when my research immediately prior to my retirement was into exactly that area ? Are they likely to have more indepth knowledge ?

You have totally lost me, obviously you have greater faith in the GP vet than I do on very specialised subjects.