Hypoglycemic Episode: could it because of Drontal medication???

[y0rkieL0ver]

Hey Everyone-
Just had a horrible scare with Siri. I took him to the emergency vet because he had been listless and vomitting all day. It was sooo scary. I tried to give him nutrical and he wouldnt even touch it, whereas normally he comes galloping to lick it off my finger. the only thing i could get him to take was some honey, but that was almost useless because he vomitted 1 minute later. I held him in my arms and he was so lifeless i knew i had to get to the vet. I took him to the only vet i could find that was on call today. I was soo happy with this vet- she has a mini snauzer, so she assured me she has lots of experience with small dogs, although not as teeny as Sirius is right now. She thinks he had a hypoglycemic episode. He is now eating rice and is still a little sluggish. i feel so bad for him. i just enrolled him some pet insurance because the past few visits have been kinda pricey, but so beit. whatever it takes to get him hback to his puppy self. The vet gave him a shot of pepcid and suggested i feed him some white rice (which is merely picking at) i tried giving some nutrical again and hes just not taking it willingly so i smeared some on the roof of his mouth. it so sad to see him so sluggish.


OK so onto my question for the day...
my original vet had given Siri a medication for coccidia- DRONTAL and told me to give him half that day and half 2 weeks later. 2 weeks later was yesterday, and i gave it to him. Since then he hasnt been himself. i had asked the emergency vet if she thought he could be getting sick from the meds, but she said she doubted it and said it must've been hypoglycemia from not eating regularly and drinking. I think the meds is the reason he didnt eat. I know im not a vet, but i was just wondering if anyone ever used this medication. He had originally been treated with albon for the coccidia as a preventative by his breeder and i had figured my orignal vet wouldve given him the same, but come to find out today DRONTAL is completely different. he is sitting at my feet sleeping- this is normally the time he is running around chasing his kong like a mad man. if anyone has any advice or has had a puppy with hypo, or on that medication please let me know. thanks so much.
so much for a Happy New Year...

[txshopper73]

WHOA!!!! Drontal is used to treat worms!!! I used that to worm my pups last litter and the wee one got very sick off of it!

http://petscriptions.com/index.php?l...1&item_id=1709

[txshopper73]

Also, I had 1 pill that was cut into fourths to give 1/4 to each of the pups. It's VERY strong and I'll never give it again. I almost lost my little one because of it.

[txshopper73]

http://www.animalhealth.bayerhealthc...tal.337.0.html

Drontal Plus / Vomiting ?
It has been observed that vomiting can very occasionally occur after treatment with Drontal Plus. Following facts have been established:

These cases are rare
Vomiting depends on individual sensitivity of the dog:

Trials have been performed in Australia (Hopkins) with a large number of dogs of various sizes, breeds and ages. It statistically appeared that there is no correlation between vomiting and specific dog races, sizes or even the moment of the treatment compared to the moment of the ration intake.
Furthermore, it has to be said that the occasional dog will vomit or react to nearly anything. A few cases have been reported of animals for which later information reveals that they have also reacted to other medicaments like antibiotics or other wormers.
In case of later readministration, it has been noticed that the intensity of side effects (vomiting) often sensibly decreased.

How to react in front of a vet complaining about vomiting in dogs after treatment with Drontal Plus?
Try to know more about the dog, in order to evaluate if other factors are involved:

is it the first time that the dog vomit after administration of a medicament? (individual sensitivity)

was the correct dose administered?

have other dogs been treated at the same time? With reactions? Etc.
In case Drontal Plus treatment reasonably appears to be the cause of vomiting; recognize that this side effect can occur but minimize it. In order to minimize this undesired effect;
mention the arguments from part 1

Rarity

Individual sensitivity

frequent improvement in case of later administration
remention all the admitted advantages of Drontal Plus
High efficacy

Broadest spectrum of activity

Single dose treatment

Easy administration

Compare positively with other competitor products (e.g. Nitroscanate)

No other competitor product brings so many advantages with so little side effects

Try to evaluate the real importance of this problem in order to minimize it. Petowners often dramatize the situation. Therefore, when vets are visited by representatives, they sometimes subjectively exaggerate some side effects;

You must evaluate the real and objective importance of the problem
"Doctor, how many similar cases did you notice this year? How many Drontal Plus boxes (or treatments) did you sell this year?"
Then, if the vet has sold for example 200 boxes while only 4 cases whereobserved, it is easy to let the veterinarian admit that 2% side effect is negligible.

[y0rkieL0ver]

thanks for your quick reply...
maybe i am just dumb, but i didnt know that coccidia=worms? i knew it wasnt good, but i guess i had thouht it was a virus- kinda like parvo. what should i do from here? do you think i should o should bring it up to my original vet? it was the scareist thing- holding him so lifeless. i thought he was going to die. what kind of sypmtoms did your puppies have after taking the drontal? sorry if im spelling everything wrong. im running on no sleep and i have the worst headaxhe.

[txshopper73]

Originally Posted by y0rkieL0ver

thanks for your quick reply...
maybe i am just dumb, but i didnt know that coccidia=worms? i knew it wasnt good, but i guess i had thouht it was a virus- kinda like parvo. what should i do from here? do you think i should o should bring it up to my original vet? it was the scareist thing- holding him so lifeless. i thought he was going to die. what kind of sypmtoms did your puppies have after taking the drontal? sorry if im spelling everything wrong. im running on no sleep and i have the worst headaxhe.

No, you are NOT dumb! I didn't know either but had a friend tell me that it's dangerous for these tiny pups.

My tiny had not been doing the greatest as it was. Taken her into the vet one morning and he just said she had a bacterial infection and to treat the whole litter. He gave me Clavamox. Since I had not yet wormed the litter...I guess they were 5 weeks, he gave me the Drontal. Everyone took theirs and I took the tiny to work with me and had her in a box under my desk. Next thing I know, she was vomitting out one end and had the runs out the other. Her head was bobbing, she was very weak and then fell over. I left work immediately and rushed to the nearest vet. She made it and I had to give her pedialyte every 2 hours and science diet A&D mixed with nutrical and water every 4 hours. It was a close call and I had to force feed her but she pulled through and lives in California now.

[txshopper73]

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_coccidia.html

Coccidia are single celled organisms that infect the intestine. They are microscopic parasites detectable on routine fecal tests in the same way that worms are but coccidia are not worms and they are not visible to the naked eye. Coccidia infection causes a watery diarrhea which is sometimes bloody and can even be a life-threatening problem to an especially young or small pet.

[SoCalyorkiLvr]

Oh my...you poor thing and poor little sirius....you have been through so much.

Coccidia is not worms, they are microscopic parasites that live in the intestine and is usually treated with albon which is a sulfa based med. Read this thread for a lot of info. Post #21 I think of that thread describes what it is exactly.http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sho...light=coccidia

When Buddha got a tummy ache from being fed ham at 11 weeks, he refused to eat and got hypoglycemic and developed coccidiosis from the stress. The breeder knew he was allergic to albon because she had given it as a preventative and he had become sick so she told me to tell the vet he was allergic. WELL< the vet was still going to give him Albon and i said no way....the vet "wrote him off" and basically said he was going to die, but my breeder treated him with chorid instead which is not sulfa based and we syringe fed him around the clock for two weeks and he is healthy and happy and thriving today!

Unfortunately vets don't know everything and sometimes we have to do our own research and even take the advice of well seasoned and experienced breeders who know from experience what is best for this breed. I have never heard of Drontal but if Kimberley found on the interent the info about vomiting and your vet didn't know about it, that is concerning.

If he is not eating and you need to syringe feed him make a mixture of bay rice cereal, pedialyte and cornstarch or karo syrup until it is the consistency of runny oatmeal and feed him about two 15 cc syringe size feedings every three hours or so. Give him pedialyte by syringe as well to keep him hydrated. Sometimes they will eat the puppy colostrum you can get at the pet food store too.

Good luck.

[Patti]

I would ask your vet why he gave him that meds instead of the Albon. Cali had 2 episodes of hypoglycemia the first 2 weeks I had her and she was on the Albon, but I think it was a combination of coccidia, kennel cough and not eating any of the foods I tried until I put her on cesars, which isn't that good but she loved it. Good luck the main thing is to make sure he is eating.

[feminvstr]

coccidia is treated with Albon, whats perplexing is your vet didnt correct you or explain what your kid was being treated for.

Make sure you keep him hydrated, put honey in his water and keep trying to get him to eat.

I would take him to the vet again tomorrow if he isnt better.

good luck

[SoCalyorkiLvr]

I didn't see Kimberley's post before I submitted mine but she said the same thing basically so it's good...lol.

Let us know if you need any other info.

Typo~ Thta was supposed to say "Baby" rice cereal (the dried kind in a box).

Did Sirius test positive for coccidia? They would have had to do a fecal exam.

[y0rkieL0ver]

o goodness im glad she pulled through. i am trying to get him to eat and drink, but i dont really know how to "force" him- i dont want to hurt him, but obviously i want him to eat and drink. i can force the nutrical on him by putting it on the roof of his mouth, but as for the pedialyte or water, how should i go about it?? thanks so much for clearing things up for me. i had thought i knew coccidia wasnt worms, but i didnt realize that drontal wasnt for coccidia. i dont even think he HAS the coccidia anymore- its just the fact that the meds made him sick and screwed up his tummy that caused him the hypo episode. i wish i never gave it to him now. any suggestion how to make him drink?

[feminvstr]

find an eye dropper if you dont have a syringe...

mix honey and water or karo syrup and water once filled stick the dropper in the side of his mouth if he wont lick it. Give him several droppers full every couple hours, if he pees you know he is hydrated.

[SoCalyorkiLvr]

If you want to try force feeding with a syringe buy two sizes or use the one that came with the albon if you still have it. It should be a 3 CC syringe probably. I use a smaller one, a 1 mml for the pedialyte. I would make the baby food mixture i described above and feed three of the 3 CC syringes every three to four hours.

It won't hurt him and it is the same as putting the nutrical on the roof of his mouth. You just have someone help you and gently open his mouth and squeeze some into the back of his throat and he will have no choice but to swallow it.

I would also buy the puppy colostrom and see if he will drink that on his own as it tastes really good and they usually gobble it up even if they don't feel well.

[txshopper73]

I used a syringe to force mine. Even when supplementing this litter, they did NOT want the bottle. DO NOT hold a pup like a baby...on their backs, they can drown. You can hold them firmly and gently pry open their mouths and slowly inject the syringe.

I hope that he'll be okay. It is NOT good for them to vomit so much...they can get dehydrated fast!