Pet Medication Side Effects for Metronidazole

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Ayre (Wi) on 05/17/2016:
0 out of 5 stars

Metronidazole -Warning- We feel our dog was hyper sensitive to this drug. Became suddenly blind-

Investigate side effects before allowing your dog to have any drugs- We wonder why the vet doesn't provide a warning sheet.? Why doesn't the FDA require this with pet meds? Our loving 7 yr old welsh terrier- we believe had a toxic reaction to this drug- our vet had prescribed this- and gave her another dose of this as she was being released from an overnight stay-when we arrived home and placed her in the house- she immediately was having a bad reaction, going in circles under the table, along the wall-we picked her up-and held her she seemed to calm down, she then rested-So we thought she was o.k.- the next morning took her out to relieve herself-she acted like she was blind!!! . Now totally confused, wobbly, -took her for a 2nd opinion they confirmed that she was now blind- due to optic neuritis inflammation- and that we should see a specialist at the emergency clinic-Went to the ER clinic- they briefly looked at her-and the tech decided she wasn't serious enough-and that the earliest appt was the next day- by the time the specialists were able to see her-it was now 2 days later. This new clinic ran lots of blood work- for $1200.00- We found out she tested positive for Lymes Disease. As we began to investigate her conditions and symptoms on line- Under METRO we saw the warnings- which she had now developed-sudden blindness, Neurologic symptoms, head tilt, confusion. 1)Our first vet administered this on a empty stomach-suppose to be given with food- we now learned 2)Not to be given when Lymes disease is present-which we later found she had 3) she now also had new liver damage due to the steroids she was given too. We feel our dog was poisoned, and mis- diagnosed, in error. Looking back (too late)We wondered why she wasn't put on emergency iv's to flush this out of her system?

To make a long story short- we had to put our sweetheart to sleep.

After looking online-We also brought these printouts of warnings in to the emergency clinic-neuro Dr's attn-at our first appt- she dismissed all of our concerns- and said "Not Likely"

As a final note- We never had to take a pet for advanced care before-(and hope we never do again)-for we have lost faith in professional vet medicine. They instead insisted we restart this drug- and they wanted a liver biopsy, MRI and spinal tap-(that next night when our dog was crying out in pain (it was suggested she was actually not in pain??? perhaps instead- out of her mind- and not coherent?)We weren't going to allow her to be a lab rat-anymore- we knew we must take her back to our new local vet and put her down- For Ayre- No more sorrow no more pain- but we feel this was really botched up.

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Planetheart (Los Angeles, Ca) on 04/10/2012:
1 out of 5 stars

Warning

Holy crap I was just reading that your dog was put on 1500 mg of metranidazole. No wonder your dog was having seizures. That's way tooooo much of a dosage. Even if your dog was 100 pounds, the dosage should have not been more than 500 mgs twice a day. Someone really screwed up big time. We rescue special needs dogs and many of them are actually on metranidazole, never had an issue and if a dog needs to stay on it long term, after a week or so they usually keep them on it once a day, not twice a day. A 5 pound dog, only gets 25mgs twice a day. I'm so sorry this happened to your dog.....

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Lblibris (Slc, Utah) on 03/05/2011:
1 out of 5 stars

Warning

My 15 year old cocker developed nuerotoxicity to this drug and unfornately passed away within one of week of taking it. Please view this website that tells about our experience and more information, including where to report adverse reactions to medications. sites.google.com/site/bewareofmetronidazole

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Casperc (Casper, Wy) on 03/01/2011:
1 out of 5 stars

Warning

My 5 yr. Old OES dog was prescribed 1500mg of metronidazole 2 times a day for 10 days initially because of vomiting and diarrhea. With the first vet visit a blood workup was done with good results, just a little dehydration. The second vet visit was 7 days later because the vomiting was still happening (stools were a bit better). They did x-rays on the second vet visit that revealed thickened intestines (maybe a foreign body present also???) and he was prescribed an additional 10 days of 1500 mg 2 times a day of metronidazole.

I came home last night (17 days into taking meds) to a dog having a seisure and not being able to get up afterwards. When I tried to move him he had another seisure and again was unable to stand afterwards. The vet came to the house and as they tried to move him he had another seisure. They administered valium to calm him. After some time he was able to get up and was wobbly. They kept him overnight and apparently he had more seisures this morning. They are trying to keep him sedated and hydrate him and will keep him for another day at least. We're suspecting the Metronidazole.

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Ingrid (Geneva, Ohio) on 06/06/2009:
0 out of 5 stars

My dog was on metronidazole last year for colitis. The vet put her on two meds. I don't remember the other off hand but another vet was surprised she was put on both at the same time. She also was given a higher dose than my other dog who is a bit bigger than her. She became incontinent. After searching the internet I found this was a side effect. It took a while but it finally passed. I believe it was the medicine and it had to completely leave her system for her to get back to normal.
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Christina (Ashburn, Va) on 11/29/2008:
0 out of 5 stars

our dog was was put on a long term dose of metronidazole for irritable bowel syndrome a few months ago. unfortunately the medicine caused severe neurological issues in our 12 year old lab/husky. shortly after taking his morning dose one day, he wasn't able to walk straight and lost all control of his limbs. he's mostly recovered, but i think he has had some side effects from this medicine. he was experiencing some arthritis issues prior to this but it's gone down hill rapidly since (the neurological episode occurred this past june, and now our pup can't nearly walk as far as before, despite herbal treatments and acupuncture). i think the use of a long term dose of metronidazole should really be studied further.
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