I'm probably going to get my butt chewed for this...

Yes, small, frequesnt meals are needed for heavy duty meds. My dog was on heart meds and if I gave her usual 1 cup of food, she would vomit the food and the meds.  After I cut her food way down plus the meds, she held it down. 
 
She went from 3 meals a day to 5 small meals with meds 3x a day...
 
You never told us what kind of dog and how many pounds?   You have to worry about bloat feeding 1 large meal.  I feed my setter 2 meals a day. due to his running and to prevent bloat.

Ella is a 60 lb. pit mix.
She held her meds down and hasn't vomitted YET this morning!
I feed her anywhere from 2 1/2 - 3 cups of NV's Raw Instincts. I fed her a cup and a 1/2 last night, then a pepcid and then half an hour later we gave her one dose of her meds.

I'm new to this site but have a cocker spaniel who has been on and off antibiotics for about a year and a half (which is how old he is). Mine always gets sick when on meds. It got to the point where I would set an alarm during the night and just give him a little canned food just to be sure food was in his stomach at all times. Helps a little. I have just received nzymes for my dog who keeps getting bacterial infections but not one vet can tell me the strain, what it's from, etc. They just keep prescribing antibiotics for stuff he doesn't even have. It's very hard to figure all this out. Just keep at it and don't give up. I'm glad I came across this site.
 
kmarie
Wisconsin

have just received nzymes for my dog who keeps getting bacterial infections but not one vet can tell me the strain, what it's from, etc.

 
While it can be really difficult to determine the cause of the infections, it isn't difficult to find out what type of bacteria it is.  If your vet can't/won't do that for you, I'd find another one.  Without knowing what you're treating, it's not possible to know for certain what antibiotic to use for it.  That could explain why the meds haven't worked.  Have they even tried doing a culture and sensitivity?  If not, I'd ask for one before any more antibiotics are prescribed.

This is our third vet. They did a urine culture and a fecal culture on Monty (my cocker spaniel). All have come up negative. At first they thought he had salmonella so they gave him antibiotics for that. The culture came back negative so I stopped giving those to him since they were making him sick anyway. This all just happened within the last week and I stopped the antibiotics on Monday night. He tested negative for Addison's. All x-rays and blood work are also negative. Very frustrating. I got Monty when he was 8 weeks old in April 2005. Since then he has had six "bacterial" infections. No one can tell me where, how, what, why or how to prevent them so that's why I"m going the nzymes route. Can't hurt him and maybe it will help him. Better than all these antibiotic cocktails he keeps taking.

ORIGINAL: angelwynd7

Hi
1500 mg of an antibiotic is major dose, even for a human! 

 
Actually it's not. Cephalexin is usually prescribed to be taken 3 to 4 times a day and depending on the weight, 1500mg is not an uncommon dose. Antibiotics can cause vomiting, diarrhea and the like so it's best to give them with food. If the dog is constantly vomiting, having diarrhea even when given with food that can be a sign of an allergic reaction to the antibiotic.

I just gave her her antibiotic AFTER she ate and she was given half of the required amount of food for the day. If she holds this down AND eats again tonight allowing us to give her another dose of antibiotic tonight, then we'll know what's going to work.
She has not vomitted yet, but I only gave them to her 20 minutes ago.

She hasn't had any diarrhea at all, yet. So, that's a plus!

Glad to hear this may be working for Ella. Only a few more days!
 
How is her skin looking now since being on the antibiotics?
 
I know this may seem a bit weird, but a rinse of Apple Cider Vinegar and water is a great way to soothe skin irritations and kill bacteria. Maybe it may help Ella with her skin issues.

We use a prescription shampoo that our vet gave us. Well, she didn't GIVE it to us, we bought it, but you know what I mean. I'm going to toss in there, too, that my fiancee is totally convinced that my vet is out to just make a buck. I keep telling him that if he doesn't trust our vet to have Ella's best interests in mind and not just her pocket, then we shouldn't being taking Ella to her anymore.
He says this because of the fact that he saw some lady walking out with the same prescription shampoo when he went to pick up Ella's Sentinel. He seems to think that it's some money-making scheme.
I asked him if it mattered. I told him that once this thing is done with her skin, we don't have to use the shampoo anymore once it's gone and that'll be that.



Her skin looks FABULOUS. But, really, what is it? Is it that the condition is healing due to the antibiotics, or the fish oil/vitamin e, the high quality food she eats, the shampoo, or the benedryl? hahaha. She should have NOTHING going on with her skin at this point!


Thanks for asking[]

Pitty's can be prone to skin issues, so finding the right balance can be hard to do. At least Ella has a good "momma" to look after her []

ORIGINAL: kennel_keeper

Pitty's can be prone to skin issues, so finding the right balance can be hard to do. At least Ella has a good "momma" to look after her []

Aw! Well, schucks, I try.
Where the skin condition was, her hair is growing back. Even where her elbows and ankles had the hair rubbed off (probably from lying on the concrete to sleep) the skin is softer and the hair is starting to grow back.
Too bad they don't make a rogain for dogs! []

Too bad they don't make a rogain for dogs!

 
 
Ha Ha Ha.  That is a good one!  My 11 1/2 year old golden has rubbed hair off elbows laying on the patio and it does look ugly. 

It IS very unattractive looking, but at least it's soft []

Ella is holding down her antibiotic and the eating is going well.
But, MAN! She sure does have some STINKY gas.
It smells like rancid medicine and clings to the air in the room.