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If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Stomach ulcers and loxicom?

5 replies

Stickystickystick · 21/02/2021 13:25

Our 9 month old Labrador had not been himself over the last few days. Over a week ago he had kennel cough and was prescribed loxicom (an anti inflammatory). He recovered well from the kennel cough and finished the loxicom after a week as directed. He then started to behave strangely. It was almost like anxiety symptoms and not his usual bouncy self. He started vomiting and not wanting to lie down. He went down hill very quickly with lethargy, dribbling and vomiting and we saw a vet Friday who thought he had developed a secondary infection from the kennel cough so prescribed pain killers and antibiotics. Bloods taken were normal. She sent us home. As directed i had to force these tablets in to him. I feel so guilty about this now knowing what followed. That night he struggled to lie down and vomited even after having an anti sickness injection at the vet. he would go and just stand in the garden staring straight ahead. The next morning he was worse so took him back to vet. Different one this time who saw he was very unwell by this stage. He had bloods again and an ultrasound. Vet though he had a foreign object in his tummy so they did an operation to remove it. This was not the case. They found a huge ulcerated stomach and digestive tract and massive internal bleeding. No perforation thank goodness. It is now watch and wait to see if he recovers. We are devastated. I checked the dosage of the anti inflammatory and all correct and given with food. The vet can’t say for certain if these caused the ulcerations. She also wondered if he had some how ingested a toxin but nothing we can think of. Has anyone had any similar experiences. He’s such a lovely, young dog and I can’t bare to think he won’t make it.

OP posts:
moosemama · 22/02/2021 10:05

I am so sorry about your poor boy. I hope he makes a fully recovery.

Being an NSAID, there is always a risk of gastric irritation and/or ulcers developing, just as NSAIDs can cause them in humans. Unfortunately, again just like humans, some dogs seem to be more prone to the gastro side effects, including ulcers. I am surprised it wasn’t the first thing the vet checked for, as it is a known side effect, although rare for it to be as bad as in your dog’s case. Some dogs are fine on them, my old boy has been on one for years, for his arthritis, with no negative affects.

I don’t know about treatment for a severe case like your poor boy, but do know dogs can be given PPI’s like Omeprazole as a stomach protectant and also that, when I had an NSAID induced ulcer myself, high dose PPI for a prolonged period alongside digestive rest, then bland food only was the treatment and it did work, so hopefully your boy will make a full recovery. (My Lurcher was on daily Omeprazole to protect his stomach against a different drug.)

tabulahrasa · 22/02/2021 10:47

Yep NSAIDs can cause ulcers - my last dog had one that perforated, had to have an emergency partial duodenectomy and bowel resection, it was all very touch and go and pretty terrifying.

He did recover fine though - just meant no more NSAIDs.

It is a known side effect, but it’s rare enough that they’re still used commonly.

Loubylou79 · 22/02/2021 13:28

Thanks for these replies. The vet says it is very rare to have such extensive damage from short term use but ultimately think she saved his life as his stomach was full of blood. He’s just got home and in obvious pain but improving . We hope he will recover.

tabulahrasa · 22/02/2021 16:56

If he’s home then they’re very confident he’s on the mend btw Smile

They don’t send them home if it’s still risky. Honestly, you’ll be fairly surprised how quickly they recover from major things, mine had stitches the entire length of his body, had half his digestive system gone and had 10 days in hospital, the day after he got home he thought he should be allowed to play fetch, rofl.

Once he was properly recovered he was completely his normal self, other than having to rejig all his longterm painkillers.

Loubylou79 · 22/02/2021 18:18

Thanks for your reply and so glad your dogs was ok. That makes me feel loads better. He’s feeling very sorry for himself! We are just so happy he’s back home

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