Expired filaribitsQ: A behavior client of mine on a very limited income gave her dog filaribits (diethylcarbamazine citrate) last year at half the recommended dosage. she asked me if the remaining bottle (she'd started out w/two) with an exp. date of 02/04 would still be okay to give this year - the bottle is sealed and she told me she'd kept it away from heat and light. i told her i'd ask around for her. i feel it likely that she'll give it no matter what i say, but i'm concerned esp. that it might actually "go bad" and become hazardous, rather than merely losing potency. the dog is 13 years old. thank you. A: I cannot recommend using any prescription medication past the manufacturer's expiration date. that is the date after which the medicine begins to lose potency. the concern is if the medicine loses potency and the dog develops heartworm then this particular medication can be deadly if given to a dog with heartworm disease.
Stomach achesQ: I think my 2 year old dog may have an allergy to her food (natural choice for skin and coat). i have had her on this food over a year for her skin allergies. now however, she seems to get a stomach ache about once or twice a week. she will wake me up in the middle of the night crying and when i take her out, she will just eat grass. i can also hear her tummy making all kinds of noises....eventually she will end up with diarrhea. i have since placed her on a rice and plain yogurt diet with a dietary supplement. she has not had any problems since except that her stool is very runny (no stomach aches or grass eating). is there any food that i might be able to feed her? i don't know what else to do. thank you. A: She she should really have vet visit for full gi workup as she might have intestinal condition that needs chronic meds. you can try low allergy diet like california natural lamb and rice diet by natura as well as wellness fish and potato diet. also consider pepcid ac for vomiting at dose of 1/2 mg per pound once to twice daily and try slippery elm from health food store for diarrhea in meantime
Cushings disease/shakingQ: My vet just told us that our eight year chow could have a form of cushings disease. she was tested for everything, xrays, blood, etc and she has tremors, not all the time, usually in the mornings. we thought she was just cold as we had her shaved. the doc. told us she needed to lose weight. he did a test on friday and now he says she has a form of cushings and that the medicine will be $17.00 dollars a day. first of all, we can't afford that and secondly how serious is this for my dog. can she die from this disease? what is the cause? it just started about 2 weeks ago. thanks for your information. A: First i would make sure your dog truly has cushings disease which is an overactive adrenal gland. many times under stress or because of other stress induced disorders, dogs can have false positive test results for this disease. i always like to combine blood tests with ultrasound of adrenal glands looking at their size in making diagnosis as well. most dogs with cushings have big increased thirst/urination and /or appetite as well as sometimes pot bellied appearance. if your dog has none of these i would question diagnosis. if truly cushings then should have treatment due to secondary infections, hypertension and diabetes which can occur if untreated
Treatment of allegiesQ: My recent rescue dog has severe allergies, we of course are buying food without soy, wheat or corn in it. he is on benadryl 75 mgs. 3 x a day. he weights 70 pounds. but i have noticed loose bowels. is there anything else besides i am doing advantage, cephelexin 500 mg. per the vet his hot spots are better. how long do i keep this up.? he almost has stopped chewing his body completely! i am also using quadriderm nf creme on his many sores. help A: Diarrhea could be from antibiotic. i would purchase probiotic from health food store to help wtih healthy intestinal bacteria as well as prozyme from 1800petmeds. i also use slippery elm from health food store in acute diarrhea cases. finish prescriptions as directed by your vet. if recurs, i would consider allergy testing or different low allergy diet
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