How much penicillin G, can you give a puppy?

Got a question on how much of penicillin G I can give a 2 lb. puppy? They are healthy except their little tails are deformed and I think may possibly be falling off, they are mutts from a golden retriever and some sort of mixed cur. Anyway we have give them their shots already but the tails have us stumped (pun intended) and we are not sure if the mother cleaned them too much or if they are actually losing their tails. I know some people put rubber bands on their tails when they are puppies so they will fall off but we would never do that.

We have decided if it is being caused by some sort of infection to give them penicillin G, can I give this orally or injection, if injection subcutaneous or muscle?

I also have 500 mg. cephalexion tabs for humans, can I break a capsule and put one in their milk for four puppies?
Thanks I can't afford a vet, unless it is an emergency situation.

Hi goose/

I'm not so sure if it would be a good idea for animals taking human medicine.
Especially puppies, their immune system may not be fully up to it.
If you are worried about the infection, try and get some 'honey'..'manuka honey', has antibacterial qualities, and clears infections of all sorts.
I would also try 'Betadine', this is also an antiseptic that can easily be put on infections of all sorts.
Or, try crushed garlic with added veg'or olive oil.......but careful it isnt too much, because it burns.
Or, try washing it with salty water.....

try using 'google' to see alternative medicine for dogs?

anyway, good luck.

helen

to behonest i would ask the vet,

not being funny but you dont want to end up harming them on some possible bad advice,

Is there not some way you could ring up a dog place and see if they would help?

what about trying asking an online vet, im sur there our sites out there that could help, or a dog breed site,

I Hope all goes well, i understand how hard it can be with the cost, but in the long run leaving it may cost you far more if its gets worse,

Originally posted by asala
to behonest i would ask the vet,

I think that's the best advice. Although most medications are safe and effective for both pets & humans, several are not. For example, even a small amount of Tylenol (acetaminophen or paracetamol depending on what country you live in) can be deadly to a cat.

1st, it would be in the muscle...

Did you try to crop the tails?
Have you used neosporin? How old are the pups and how many days has this been going on? Is it a wet infection (oozing)? If you take a white paper towel and touch it, what color is left on the towel?

If the tails just seemed to start shrinking and waisting away (dry), then the problem is circulation and the tails will just fall off. But if this happened without reason, I'd be afraid there may be other problems as well.

See about getting some antibiotic powder and dabbing it on the tail where it is open.

The penicillin G we got from a vet order place so I know it is ok for animals, hubby of course lost the paper work that came with it so that's why I am clueless on how much to give.

The puppies are about 8 weeks old, tails look clean but does seem to have some brown deterioration on the ends, with loss of hair, and their tails seems smaller, it actually looks like someone put a rubber band on them to cut off the circulation since there is an area in the middle that is smaller than the ends which concerns me. We have not put anything on their tails to cause this. I don't like cropping an animals tails or their ears to get a look, if their born with tails I want to keep their tails intact.

So I am rather vexed as to why this is occurring, they have received their shots, been wormed and are very healthy looking and are eating well. Their mother is an animal that will constantly deflea anything and anyone, our cats line up for her to deflea them, which is funny and cute so I am thinking that in her care she may have been constantly defleaing and cleaning the puppies and may have bitten their tails near the end and cut the circulation off.

Their mother had been caring for them, but they are big enough to eat on their own so we put them in a small lot with plenty of clean wood chips, right now they are receiving dog food with baby formula, until we can get some puppy chow, (on the grocery list for tomorrow) but until two days they ago they were receiving mothers milk and dog food.

We are planning on bathing them to see if that will help, but they look clean (it was chilly here today, so I want to wait to bathe them on a warm day) they are beautiful and I want to find them a good home. I'm a little concerned no one is going to want these dogs with weird tails, so in the end I might actually have to have them cropped, which is something I am totally against doing but if they are falling off anyway it may be the only course I have left.

[edit on 15-9-2006 by goose]

Puppies still on mama?

Tell me how many grams/milligrams, it should say on the bottle.

It sounds like a nutritional problem to me and not a bug. What do their eyes look like, clear, tearing,etc.

Roper

Take them out of the wood chips asap. And I hope you read this befor ou give them a bath! No baths! Some dogs love the water... and plain water won't hurt them. But there are no 'special, sensative, conditioning, or any other typse of cleaning or soap products that are good for thier skin. You may end up with a batch of itchy pups with dry skin or worse. Especialy if their immune system is trying to fight off infection - it don't need anything more to deal with right now.

If the tails are falling off due to lack of circulation, then they will simply fall off and all will be fine, although tailless. lol

But if that's the case you'll see that happen in a matter of several days, and it will leave a small rounded spot - Oh - I can explain it this way... like when a baby's belly button falls off. Kind of like that. Only the tip of the tail (now rounded like) will/should be more white than red.

Is there any pain? And if you hold your hand gentely near the area, is there any heat radiating from it? If you put you finger inside their ears (not deep), is it warm, very warm? Or just like moms? Noses cool or warm?

If you really love your puppies.....take them to the vet!

Infection is not something to mess around with and infection in the young -- animal or human -- is definitely not something to mess with.

My advice is simple and straight forward....take your puppies to the vet

If it's a matter of money, talk to your vet. I am certain that your vet will make arrangements that would help you pay for the visit, the advice and the treatment on some sort of treatment plan.

Unless you actually "know" what you are doing, giving your dogs, or any animal, antibiotics to treat some nebulous infection is tantamount to animal cruelty.

Update, Thanks everyone for the advice. They are doing fine, after removing them from their Mom they are now doing better, I think it was a case of their mom being a bit too much of a fussy cleaner and was actually doing more damage than good.

Their tails look much better and I am thinking their hair will probably grow back. I have not given them a bath since I have been sick myself and it has been chilly here at times & hubby said they were looking better everyday. They are eating well and healthy. In a couple of weeks I am hoping to start finding them homes.

BH I do have some medical background and hubby grew up on a farm he has been caring for animals his whole life, the pups were really not showing signs of infection, but I wanted to start antibiotics just in case since I could not figure out what was causing this problem with their tails., but you are right if I had thought it was something we trully could not handle on our own I would have taken them to a vet.

Originally posted by goose BH

First, I am happy that your puppies are doing well. It's my firm belief that having animals is a responsibility akin to having children. We adopt the animals, we accept the responsibility of caring for them to our utmost ability. I am pleased that you have subscribed to this belief of my own.

The issue at hand here is that it is obvious that -- once again -- someone has taken the name benevolent tyrant as being the same as Benevolent Heretic. They are not the same. The only commonality is the use of one word, benevolent. I would like to point out the I, the benevolent tyrant, use the world benevolent without the use of capitalization. You will also note that tyrant is also not capitalized. As an aside, I would like to mention that I do not capitalize my own name as an expression of the humility that I, the benevolent tyrant, which to demonstrate to all (thus lulling the unsuspecting into a false state of acceptance).

Getting back to the matter at hand, the Benevolent Heretic does not believe in expressing a sense of humility. Instead she flaunts her inflated ego with a haughitness heretofore unknown amongst those who accept the personal adjective, benevolent, to describe their, well, benevolence. She clearly is not shy of capitalization. Harumph.

I only bring this up as there has always been a sort of confusion surrounding my name and the use of benevolent. Of course, I did not have any problems at all until Benevolent Heretic make an ATS member and chose her name. Thus said, I would like to point out that I, the benevolent tyrant, was the "first" benevolent anything on ATS.

Please do not misconstrue this tirade, this rant, as being in any way indicative of any personal malice toward BH, as you called her. I have nothing but the utmost respect for, 'er', BH. I simply wish to point out that I have been at the receiving end of too many "wrong numbers".....as an expression of speech.....meant for BH. Could our "numbers", 'er', names be too close? Or is it too hard, too difficult, to read the entire name? After benevolence their is either Tyranny or Heracy.....take your pick....but please know who you are referring to.

Thank you for your attention and I hope that I have not upset you with the ferocity of my rant. It has only come about because of my benevolent effort to make everyone more aware of the Heracy in your midst.

Gosh I am so sorry BT, I should have been paying more attention. So sorry you are having this problem, in the future I will definitely notice the second part of the name, when I see the name.
No problem with the rant, I have days and nights like that too.