Cephalexin side effects?

[Bonne Bouche]

Hi all, I've been away for awhile, but I needed some advice on Cephalexin and I did a quick search and saw a couple of the "regulars" have used it in the past. 

BB somehow got a small cut (thorn?) where his testicles used to be. We noticed him licking it a couple days ago, and saw a tiny cut but then thursday night it looked red and terribly swollen. It seemed mostly irritation from the licking (like a hot spot). We put boxers on him to dissuade him from licking overnight and called our vet first thing on Friday morning. Without licking the swelling went down a bit, but at the vet they shaved his underparts, found the initial cut which oozed a bit of fluid, then they made a small incision to drain the fluid build up. They tested the fluid which indicated the fluid contained some puss. They gave him an anti-inflammatory shot and 750 mg Cephalexin for us to give him 2x a day for 14 days.

Good news is that about 48 hours later the wound is looking good. And BB is not obsessively trying to lick it like he was on Friday. 

However, the antibiotics don't seem to be sitting well with him: he is incredibly lethargic, and overall seems somewhat "dazed and spacey." His expression clearly says, "I don't feel well, mommy, what is wrong with me?"

We have been giving him his pills in his meals, but we were wondering if it might be easier on him if we give them to him shortly AFTER meals instead of with his meals? Or if there was any other thing we can do that might make him tolerate the meds better?

He currently weights 64lbs. It seems like his dosage is a bit on the high end. I plan to call the vet on Monday morning to see if we can reduce the dosage. But any feedback on managing this would be helpful from the community.

Thanks!

(A couple of quick cellphone pics are attached for fun, because I always love seeing the doodles.)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm sorry to hear that BB isn't feeling well.

Chances are some of the side effects you're seeing are from that "anti-inflammatory shot", which was most likely a high dose of steroids. 

Cephalexin always nauseates JD, so we always give him an antacid (Pepcid or Zantac) about 30 minutes before he gets the meds; then you can give the meds with his food. 

Hope this helps.

[Bonne Bouche]

Thanks Karen -- I'll try the pepcid tonight. We have some on hand because he does get upset stomachs sometimes when we travel.

The shot was Dexamethasone. Any idea how long that might take to wear off?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Dexamethasone is a very,very powerful corticosteroid, 10 times stronger than prednisone,and is a "long-acting" steroid;  the effects of one shot can last more than 3 days. Lethargy is a common side effect. 

[Bonne Bouche]

Thank you. I'm almost glad its the shot--hopefully, then it will wear off in the next day or so. I was worried we'd have to deal with 10+ more days of this if it was the antibiotic… ;-/

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You may want to get a good probiotic like Proviable; antibiotics can cause loose stools, too. 

[Bonne Bouche]

Thanks, I'll try to pick some up. Can you get it OTC, or only through your vet?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You can order it from Chewy.com and other on-line sources. 

[Bonne Bouche]

Thanks the container says "by vets only" so I wasnt sure if they'd need to call for a rx.

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

I ordered mine from Amazon. No prescription needed.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I got mine from Amazon also.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

We did the same thing when Luna had Cephalexin - gave it with Pepcid AC.  It worked great.

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

i Hope BB feels better soon. Romeo (rescue) was actually given that same dose for that same amount of time. It was given to him "just in case" he had any kind of infection or anything wrong with him because he was living in the woods for so long. I thought it was kind of strange because he had two pills to take. One was 500 mg and the other 250mg. I guess one pill for 750mg is more expensive than the smaller ones. I also fed it to him in his food. He had soft stools while on it but now everything seems to be going well. 

Oddly, cephalexin is the one antibiotic that I am allergic to. Gave me itchy red hives..Lol!