Dear Dr. John,
My previous German Shepherd is getting near the tip of his life. Our veterinarian has completed a fantastic job of protecting him going as his hind legs have continued to weaken during the last two years. We have put him on Rimadyl twice a day and now we have used slings to get him up and laid down mats to assist him get a grip on varied ground surfaces.
He has additionally had occasional unfastened bowels for which now we have given him metronidazole now and again. It works very effectively. Is there any cause why we will’t preserve him on it to stop the unfastened bowels? Lately, he has had a couple of bouts of somewhat blood on his stool. Our vet he urged the identical medicine which I had leftover and it labored. What may now be inflicting the bleeding, and may now we have it checked out? W.W.
Dear W.W.,
It’s reassuring to know that your canine has continued to do moderately effectively. The NSAID that you’ve got been giving him, Rimadyl, is comparatively secure to make use of long run with common assessments of liver operate by the use of blood checks since that class of medication can probably trigger liver points. Metronidazole is a generally used and efficient drug for gastrointestinal points because it fights micro organism and is anti-inflammatory. Its particular use is to deal with giardia and some different protozoal infections. It is often given for a course of 5-7 days and shouldn’t be used long run as doing so may result in critical adversarial results. These embrace liver failure with jaundice and neurological points equivalent to ataxia, weak point, disorientation, nystagmus of the eyes, and even seizures. Abnormal coronary heart points can even happen if used at too excessive a dose or for too lengthy.
Speak together with your veterinarian about choices to deal with the unfastened bowels equivalent to bland diets, probiotics, and so forth. The current blood seen within the stool might be attributable to many issues. It might be an indication of some irritation or colitis, your canine could have eaten one thing that prompted somewhat bleeding, or there might be one thing equivalent to a polyp within the colon or rectum. If it continues, I’d have it assessed by your veterinarian.
Dr. John de Jong owns and operates the Boston Mobile Veterinary Clinic. He may be reached at 781-899-9994.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”