When is a bone injection unsafe for my dog or cat's health?

Oral antibiotics can not be injected so please don't inject an antibiotic that was prescribed orally. There is an injectable antibiotic called Convenia that you could ask your vet about administering.

Hello. It is true that FISS can be associated with other injections besides vaccinations. We have seen sarcomas develop in areas where long-acting antibiotic & steroids have been injected, where suture material might remain, & from microchips. So, there might be a genetic predisposition for a sarcoma to form in these situations. If this is the only way to get the antibiotic into your cat, then varying the injection sites & doing this for the shortest period possible is recommended. But it is never a foregone conclusion that this will lead to sarcoma formation in Camis. Most cats do very, very well & never develop any problems. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I would not recommend re-using it. Once the ampule is broken, the contents are no longer considered sterile, so using them in an infection the next day, with an unsealed container, increases risk for an abscess (bacterial infection ) at the injection site). If the injections aren't helping much, talk to your vet about whether or not its worth it to continue doing them. Your vet may recommend rechecking bloodwork to see where those kidney values are at; there may be improvement that you can't appreciate on the outside, but the values may be better which would indicate that continuing the injections is wise. You can feed the royal canin indefinitely. It is safe long term. However it is ok to give some other food occasionally as well, especially if he's not wanting to eat the renal diet. Some cats prefer canned food so you may try the canned version if you haven't tried that yet. Thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Convenia is extremely safe. I have been using it for MANY years with not one side effect. Of course side effects are possible with any medication and there is no way to know which animal may or may not react to a certain product. The chance of your dog having a severe reaction is extremely slim. Please be careful reading people's biased information on the internet. Their pet may have had underlying kidney or liver issues prior to the Convenia administration. Their pet may have had a severe underlying condition that caused the death and it had nothing to do with the Convenia. When something goes wrong people always look for something to blame even if there is no direct causation. Please discuss this more with your vet. If you do not trust your vet's recommendation maybe you should see a second opinion from another vet that has all your dog's medical history. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am sorry Sam is so sick. To answer your questions: 1) I would be cautious to allow a pet owner to travel 6 hours while the cat is attached to IV fluids. We use fluid pumps to administer the right volume of fluids. They would be unable to use a pump in the car due to the need to likely have to plug it in a some point. They do have a battery but in my experience the batteries never last long enough. They could set a drip from the IV fluid bag but cats are sensitive to fluid overload and I would worry that with out a properly trained person monitoring the drips that Sam could receive too much. Maybe the best option would to keep Sam on IV fluids as long as possible and give him some fluids under the skin before he leaves to go to the University hospital. And then may be teach you how to give a 2nd dose under the skin half way to the University. Also he might be fine without fluids for 6 hours, but I am not sure how sick he is 2) IV fluids are just used to provide hydration. There are electrolytes and sometimes sugar int he fluids that in some way can "feed" the pet but it is not appropriate nutrition for a long time. There is Total Parental Nutrition (TPN) which is a white milk substance that is formulated to your pets needs that is given thorough a CENTRAL LINE placed in the animals neck (jugular vein) under anesthesia or heavy sedation. It has to be done sterilally and be kept sterile. It is an expensive option to feed a sick pet. TPN doesn't help the intestinal track stay healthy. Eating and digestive food feeds the intestinal cell lining and prevents shrinking of the lining. It is always best, if possible to geed food through the mouth. TPN has it's place for sure in critical animals. An Esophagostomy tube is a large red rubber tube that is placed under anesthesia in the side of the neck. The animal is feed a blenderized watered down canned food. Feeding this way helps keep the intestines happy, it is easy to place, it is less expensive and pet owners can do it at home when the animal is discharged until eating on their own and it can stay in a long time. 3) There are many ways steroids can be give. They can be given intravenously (dexamethasone, Dex SP), subcutaneously as a long lasting injection (Depo medrol, Vetalog), subcutaneously short term (injectable prednisole), as a pill or it can be compounded in to a liquid. I wish you and Sam the best of luck!

Antibiotics are usually indicated if there is obvious signs of a skin infection, GI infection (if pet has loose stool and parasites are not the cause), upper airway infection, or a UTI. I am not sure of any vets that I know personally who would just give antibiotics if there isn't just cause. Bloodwork is not always needed to justify the use of antibiotics, unless we are suspicious of bacteremia (bacteria in the bloodstream). Besides bloodwork, there are some specialized tests available, which are usually cultures, however they are often not cost effective for most clients to afford, ranging anywhere from $100-$300. In those cases, we treat based on symptoms and the history of the pet, as we narrow down the possibilities of an infection vs something else. Also not to mention that some of these specialized tests (i.e. cultures) have an incubation period of anywhere from 7-14 days before results are available. If we don't treat for what we highly suspect, the pet will end up just getting sicker while awaiting results, if the owner can afford the test to begin with. The same thing is done in human medicine. If the doctor highly suspects an infection based on the physical exam and vitals, then antibiotics will be prescribed. On another note, we have to make sure we do our part and ask all the right questions about the pets history and rule out other causes before issuing antibiotics, so that we used them judiciously and not increase the risk of creating superbugs in the environment. I hope that this helps answer your question. It is a valid one and I am glad that you brought up the subject. Take care now.

Hi and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am sorry that Bastian has not been feeling well. I agree with your regular veterinarian that if his lymph nodes are swollen and his infection is spreading he should have them sampled. There is a lot of information that can be obtained from this sample from a simple infection with bacteria outside the cell, to bacteria inside the cell, hyperplasia (replication of cells), to even cancer. Anesthesia can be nerve wracking; however, your regular veterinarian would not recommend this unless they felt like it was necessary for the procedure. Often times we are able to use a reversible sedation to perform this procedure which you may be able to speak to your veterinarian about-without evaluating Bastian I would not be able to assess if he is a candidate for this sedation. Infection alone is not a reason to not pursue this procedure especially with the proper work up pre-anesthesia/sedation, ie blood work. I often tell clients that I would not recommend anything that I would not do on my own animal. This is something that I would do on my own because of the wealth of knowledge I would obtain from the samples from the lymph node and the ability to decide on a treatment plan that will hopefully stop the spread of this infection. Good luck with Bastian and please do not hesitate to contact me with any additional questions or concerns!