Let your vet know if your pet has recently started antibiotics and develops any symptoms such as:. It's particularly important to watch out for side effects if your pet is pregnant, very young, very old, or if they have any other illnesses such as liver or kidney damage.
Superbugs are groups of bacteria that have become resistant to all known antibiotics, making them extremely difficult sometimes impossible to treat. The more antibiotics we use, the more bacteria get used to them and find ways to resist them.
If we don't take measures to prevent antibiotic resistance, people and animals may struggle to fight even the simplest of infections in the future. Contact your vet if your pet has been prescribed antibiotics and their problem does not seem to be improving or if they have developed side effects.
You know your pet best. Always speak to your vet if you are worried - they will be happy to explain further. No, always finish the course of antibiotics your vet has prescribed. If you fail to finish the course the infection may return, and the second time round, the infection could be much worse.
Contact your vet for advice; your pet may need a longer course of antibiotics or further investigations. No, any antibiotic you give to your pet should be prescribed by your vet. Never give your pet a medication without instruction by your vet, even if they have had it in the past. Using an antibiotic in the wrong way can be harmful, create antibiotic resistance more severe problems for your pet in the future.
All instructions should be on the packet but always contact your vet if you are unsure. Watch our videos on how to give your pet antibiotic tablets or eye drops. Please note, our vets and nurses are unable to respond to questions via this form. All of our work helping the UK's pets — including this article — is funded entirely by public support.
If you've found our information useful please donate today. This will ensure we can continue to help pet owners and their sick pets for many years to come. Donate Menu. Get help. Find us. They also vary in how effective they are against particular bacteria. Not all antibiotics work by killing the bacteria. Some, such as the sulfa antibiotics Albon, Primor, Tribrissen, SMZ-TMP , only suppress the bacteria, allowing the body's own disease fighting mechanisms to do the rest.
Different infections will be affected by different antibiotics. For instance, penicillin works by destroying the bacteria's ability to make a cell wall.
Hence penicillin works only on those bacteria that have a cell wall. We must choose an appropriate antibiotic for the disease problem your pet has. Bacterial cultures and other laboratory tests allow us to determine the type of bacteria involved in a particular infection, and also the most effective remedies.
The goal with most medications is to keep a fairly constant level of the drug in the body at all times. This level must be high enough to ensure that the drug is effective, but not so high as to cause toxicity. Label directions should always be followed. Bacteria that are exposed to a level of antibiotic that is not high enough to kill them can develop mechanisms to resist the antibiotic, so that it is no longer effective, even at a higher dosage. This antibiotic resistance is the primary reason for the ongoing need to produce newer, stronger and usually more expensive antibiotics.
It is also the reason that an amount of penicillin that was effective 40 years ago would not be enough today. On the other hand, if too much medication is given, the excess will be wasted, and is potentially harmful. For instance, overdosing gentamicin can cause kidney failure. All medications are metabolized broken down by the body and excreted.
The rate at which this occurs varies from drug to drug and animal to animal. Again, the goal is to keep a constant amount of the antibiotic in the body. Protozoa are micro-organisms that feed on nutrients in your dog's body by either totally engulfing the food produced by your dog's digestive system, or sweeping it into their "mouth pores. These parasites cause major gastrointestinal tract disorders like Coccidiosis and Giardiasis, and the blood disease Haemobartonellosis, which can be fatal.
Some anti-protozoal antibiotics for dogs work to kill the microorganisms in your dog's body by damaging its DNA, and by inhibiting cell growth and reproduction so that the infection resolves as the protozoa die off.
Other dog medications kill the protozoa directly. Toll Free Number Call or Text :. Sign In. Ask the Vet Ask the Vet. Ask the Vet. Do these answer your question? Showing of See All. Category Hide All Show All. B Behavior Bladder Stones. G Glaucoma. I Inflammatory Bowel Disease. J Joints. N Neutering Nutrition. R Rabies.
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