Please be very careful about giving your dog the antibiotic Keflex (cephalexin). The vet prescribed it for our dog to treat an infected hotspot. One week later he’s lame in the hindquarters, weak and in pain.
This is, apparently, a common reaction to Keflex and a known side-effect of the medication in dogs.
Keflex, though widely-prescribed for dogs, is an Off label medication. It hasn’t been FDA approved for use in dogs, and therefore has never been fully-tested for use in dogs. The vet who prescribed this drug for our Bernese Mt. Dog had never heard of the lameness as a side-effect, in part because the side effect is rare, but also because the medication is canine-tested only in the field. The information on Psuedo HOD Polyneuropathy (the official name for this condition) is coming from breeders and other pure-bred owners who have seen this reaction in their pure breeds.
I just wanted everyone else out there to be aware.
—
Update: For those who find this page while searching for terms like such as weak hindquarters, lame hindlegs, paralysis and all the other terms I used when doing research I decided to add a progress diary.
Day 1: Wednesday
Dog was anorectic and non responsive, with a lot of roaching (pronounced curvature of the spine). Discontinued antibiotic, continued previously prescribed Prednisone 20mg 1/day.
Day 2: Thursday
Dog weaker, still anorectic. Responsive to normal trigger words and phrases (“go for ride”; “guys”; “would you like a treat?”). Roaching still pronounced, with abdomen slighly distended. A visit to the veternarian ruled out bloat. The vet examined the dog manually and diagnosed possible Spondolyitis–arthritis and bony growth of the lower spine. I told the vet the roaching had been seen previously in the dog when he was dealing with gastric issues and that I suspected Keflex side-effects of gastric upset. The vet advised 24 hours NPO followed with a continued course of cortisone. While at the vet’s office the dog eagerly ate hand-fed treats, leading me to suspect either the positioning or type of food he had at home was unappetising.
Day 3: Friday
Dog making whimpering noises while he breathes, drooling excessively. Having a hard time without food and water. At 22 hours NPO decided to give the dog coritsone, food and drink. Dog eagerly took 1 dose of cortisone camoflaged in cream cheese, followed by limited water. Three hours after dosing the dog eagerly ate scrambled eggs. Still very lame in hindquarters and demanding constant attention.
Day 4: Saturday
Internet research confirms that pseudo HOD is a known reaction to Keflex, seen mostly in large breeds with more esoteric breedlines. (In short, this happens mostly to pedigreed dogs with tightly controlled breedlines like Bernese Mt. Dogs and Great Danes. It doesn’t happen all that often at all in mixed-breeds.) Internet advice confirms the best treatment is corticosterioids and bed rest. I can find no set length of recovery times, ranging from 3 days to 16 weeks. Titrated up the cortisone to 2x daily. Higher dose seems to have better effect. The dog’s aspect is clear and bright, but hind legs are still lame.
The dog doesn’t seem to be in any pain; the issue seems to be more neuropathic–as if his back end were “asleep”. Since he is not in pain, but more discouraged from the lack of limb function, I’ve decided to give him periodic exercise to prevent atrophy and bedsores. I walk him short distances every 3 hours.
Day 5: Sunday
The dog is much improved, moves around better and has fully regained his appetite. He still has some lameness in the hindquarters–I think we’re looking at a longer recovery time than the earliest estimate of “three to five days”.
Day 6: Monday
I had reduced the cortisone dosage on the advice of the vet to one pill every 24 hours. This seems to cause the dog some discomfort. Stepping the cortisone back up to 2 pills every 24 hours and handfeeding the dog to make sure of maximum nutrition. We are still taking brief walks in order to preserve long term limb function. He is drinking a lot of water–a side effect of the cortisone–and therefore he’s peeing a lot. Sadly, he has been having to pee in a modified squat. Monday, Day 6, was the first day he was able to pee while lifting his leg, in the traditional “boy dog” stance.
Day 7: Tuesday
Breakfast of scrambled eggs and oatmeal, followed by lots of water. The dog slept peacefully for 4 hours following his morning dose of cortisone–an improvement. His sleep over the last few days has been marred by much whining and yipping of discomfort. At noon he went outside for his usual evacuation, and was able to pee twice with his leg lifted, and defecated. (Moving his bowels presents more of a challenge given the problems with hind-end posture.) He is eating some kibble again and drinking liberally. His noon walking time had fewer stumbles and more upright time.
Will he improve after the drug gets out of his system??
Yikes. I hope your dog is okay once the meds are out.
Thanks for sharing that. I’ll remember should I have to take my Georgia to the vet.
I hope your doggie is OK.
I don’t know if he will get better or not. I’m hopeful. The treatment is 2-3 days of prednisone, which we’re doing faithfully. Theoretically at that point he should be better. If he’s not, I’ll be a basketcase anyway.
Oh I would be a basketcase too.. I am not a gun person but I think there would be guns involved if my dog did not get better.
Lol had to laugh at the comment about the guns being involved. The prednizone that was given has the side effectt of being dehydrated for dogs. It’s been given to mine in the past and created the same kind of thirstiness in my dog so I guess it’s common. As for the leg if it does not go away then my council would be to get another opinion from another vet who at that point may need to introduce some kind of leg and joint med so that he is not in pain. My baby is about 11 and just a Sr. nothing I can do about that except keep him comfortable and make sure he is not in pain…the pain can be managed. I make sure he get’s out of bed in the morning and walks outside to pee just so that he get’s his legs circulating and then we take a slow walk in the park in the evening so it helps to make sure the dog get’s exercise for the joints and mobility. Prayers and hugs to you. You sound like a good mom. Blessings.
I’m so sorry, Kat. I would be livid, I know. My vet was one of those who always prescribed amoxicillin for everything, dog or cat, and I don’t think we ever had anything else since I’ve had dogs, but I certainly will speak up if that if ever suggested with mine. I can only imagine how you are feeling right now and I hope to goodness he gets better soon.
Reba – nice thing to be talking about guns when everyone is hoping and praying that the dog does get better.
Keflex is not the only antibiotic that you have to worry about with dogs there are a couple of them that are very dangerous if given or over prescribed.
Most vets. are very carefull with what they prescribe also the dosage of medication given.
Hope that he gets better.
[...] Katherine Coble For those interested, I’ve added information on my dog’s progress in the original entry. I’m doing this to keep those informed who otherwise wouldn’t be, but I’m also [...]
So sorry to hear that! I know how you must feel. We place so much trust in vets to make our babies better that it’s heartbreaking to see them suffer anyway. I wish your doggie a full recovery!
I sure hope he’s much better soon. Thanks for the alert on this. I’d never heard of it, and I’ve had a LOT of dogs. Keep up the progress reports.
how sad! what a horrible experience! dogs are such a blessing and and i can’t imagine having to go through that. my puppy maggie and i send our love!!!
OH man! I hope your pup is gonna be ok! Scarey that a med that should help is causing such problems.
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Thank you for posting your experience. I found this page by searching “My dog is drinking excessive water after antibiotic” and then was shocked to see that the antibiotic that your dog was on was the same that was given to my dog.
My dog (german shep) had a rash like spot under her arm that she wouldnt stop licking (for about 2-3 days). It was very red and sore. I decided to take her to the vet for whatever to get her healthy faster.
Vet said it was allergies, and recommended a shot of antibiotic, a cream and gave me a bottle of Cephalexin. I religiously gave to my dog twice a day and noticed she was drinking a ton of water from the first day. I didnt do anything until the 4th or 5th day where we had to refill all three bowls in the house like twice a day. She will just drink until the entire bowl is gone (like at least 16 ounces!). then she’d pee a lot of course. Then she vomit a few times.
Something gave me the impression i should quit the antibiotic…. and I did. She stopped vomitting. Her sore has been cleared up for days now (like one day after i left the vet it was better), and her drinking is still a lot.
I would take her to the vet but frankly dont trust them anymore. Everytime i go it seems they throw all the meds at me in a big guess. I prefer my dog be healthy naturally.
Does anyone have suggestions what the excessive water might be. Could a dog develop diabetes from 3 days of antibiotics? Should i wait til it just gets out of her system? If so, how long til it does?
She has no other symptoms. Shes pretty regular in every other way (her eating is fine and shes still her self, except just drinks lots of water)>
thanks!
Hi Liberty,
Wow I know how you feel about vets…I don’t want to throw them all in the same heap together but I’ve been through some doozies with them recently but getting back to your baby…antibiotics cause dogs to drink lots of water at least that is my experience. I’ve had cocker spaniels with ear infections and it’s common with this breed and every time an antibiotic is prescribed it’s to be expected…I woudn’t be too alarmed because in actuality the very best things for a dog is water. I think they get dehydrated like we do sometimes and it sounds like the stuff is still in his system and in time he will be back to normal. If’ he’s pooping and his appetite is good don’t be too worried just be watchful and I just bet his drinking will go back to normal…could be other factors ie: is it hot in your climate, is his exercise more lately?
Blessings.
Get the homeopathic remedy Nux Vomica 30c in a medicinal solution. Tap the bottle ten times, place one teaspoon in 7 tablespoons of water, stir briskly about five times and give to your dog.
If no improvement next day, repeat above.
The moment there’s the slightest improvement, don’t give any more.
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I just lost my Weimaraner named Parker just a couple of hours after giving her the first dose of Cephalexin. She was just seen by the vet yesterday and was giving it for a skin rash. She was suppose to get 500mg every 8 hours but she never made it to second dose.
I’m glad I stumbled across this, but wish I had a few days sooner. We took in a 10 yr old lab mix who had a slight cough with some spit up. Since he was older and the cough was getting worse and he’d been kenneled then lived in a car before we got him, we were worried and took him to the vet. The vet prescribed Cephalexin “just in case” it was kennel cough, so it did not spread to our other two much younger dogs. We had a 7 day supply and by the 4th day we noticed the dog was losing appetite. We read on other websites that antibiotics can make a dog nauseous and lose appetite, so hoping it would pass in a day or so, we gave him his 5th and 6th day meds. Only when we noticed the almost depressed aura and his weak stature did we stop the antibiotics. Hoping his appetite would improve once we stopped the doses, we continued giving him food without success and then a couple of days after his last dose, he finally ate canned food. He ate 1/2 can the first night (2.5 days after last dose), then 1/2 can the next morning, then 3/4 can the second night (3.5 days after the last dose), and hasn’t eaten any since then (5 days since last dose, now 1.5 days again without eating). He seems to be getting slowly less healthy, very weak, having a hard time standing, urinates without lifting leg, started drooling the last night he ate, often sits with his hind legs collapsed under him and holding himself up with front legs, unfocused vision, restless to the point of lying down for only a minute or so before standing up in a single place staring off into nothingness for a few minutes, barely manages to walk on a leash whereas before he was pulling in excitement at beginning of walks.
If I had read this before it got to this point I could have started steroid treatment (we have some for our other dogs who have very bad allergies) to see if his health would improve. At this point I’m worried about the lack of eating and drinking water. We have a vet appointment today and I’m worried as this is the same vet who prescribed this drug. I would love for them to confirm it could be a side effect of the antibiotic and send him home with steroids to see if that will help. Even though we’ve only had him for a month or so, we love him and he is part of our family. It would devastate us to know our trust in the vet and lack of our own knowledge caused his suffering but as long as there is hope that he can come out of this condition we’ll keep trying.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope it has helped others!
As far as I’m Now concerned, NO DOG SHOULD BE GIVEN THIS DRUG (CEPHALEXIN) !! I have a 10-yr. old male Samoyed who, other than allergies, has always been a happy, healthy dog. Last yr., he was down & blue, his girlfriend had died a couple months earlier. Took him to the vet who diagnosed a virus. Gave me a two week protocol of this drug. Within hours, his mood soured, he cried out in pain, stopped eating, but I thought this would pass as his system got used to the drug.
A month after this, he still hadn’t recovered. Took him to the vet who ran a senior profile on him (9 at the time) and told me he had kidney & liver damage, probably from something foul in the yard he ate. I blamed generic dog food since it was only a yr. since the melamine scandal. He said he had 2-4 weeks maybe.
I started doing online research and started a protocol of low-grade proteins, egg whites, rice and yams, all organic. Gave him salmon oil, Vit E, 30 mg of CQ10 and a blood pressure pill aimed towards his intestines. He rallied really well. (Screw Prescriptives diet, that was killing him too)
Took him back to the smart-ass vet who said he wouldn’t take responsibility is my dog died from my treatment. Now the prognosis, after 2 mo. of this treatment was pushed to 2 yrs.
Recently he developed a sore on his pads and red yeast stain on paws and eyes. Yogurt and ACV didn’t help after 3 weeks so back to the vet. She looked at his records, said he’d not been on Cephalexin before, I said I was sure he had. So she gave me the script. Within 4 hrs. his appetite fell off completely, he was in pain again, his mood soured and he simply wouldn’t even get up. After 3 days, I took him off it again. Went back to the vet today and while the docs weren’t there, I pushed the recept to look farther back in the records. There it was, last Dec. when he almost died. In 5 days, he’d lost 6 pounds and almost died again.
Then I looked up and found that this drug is used on dogs off-label.
AGAIN, NO ONE SHOULD GIVE THEIR DOG THIS DRUG. I’M CONVINCED THAT IT’S WHAT CAUSED HIS INTERNAL DAMAGE AND I’M GOING TO BATSH*T ON MY VET TOMORROW!! BE WARNED!!!!
Kimberlee, I was wondering if there was any further news on your Sammy.
Wow, found this page by accident. My vet just prescribed Keflex 500mg twice a day. I am an RN and this is a dose that I myself have been on. My 2.5 year old mixed breed girl Mia is thought to have some infected flea bites. She got her 3rd dose this evening and funny I said to my husband tonite that Mia isnt acting like herself. Now I am wondering if the antibiotic is causing this change. Well I am not taking any chances. I am stopping the tx and I will watch her skin for signs of any progression. I will find something natural for her. Glad I found you guys. Thanks.
Maureen,
I wish you good luck with Mia. I’m hopeful that all goes well.
When I first started looking into this issue it seemed that the largest population for contraindication was Large Purebreeds. So I’m fervently hoping that with your dog being younger, mixed breed and having her dosage stopped early that she’ll rebound quickly.
I’ve been able to treat skin infections with shaving and thrice-daily peroxide washouts. I’ve also had good luck with some other antibiotics. I’m not anti-treatment. But it’s safe to say I’m very anti-Keflex.
Good luck, and let us know how Mia is fairing.
Not to further alarm anyone, but I did feel like I should add that after 14 days of watching him deteriorate, we did have to send our beloved Berner on to wait for us.
This information is very important to all pet owners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a 11 year old Cocker Spaniel inwhich I took to my vet in August 2011 for a limp in the right rear leg and weight loss from 34lbs to 25 lbs the vet gave me Cephailexin 250 mg to give him 2 times a day every 8 to 12 hours apart and told me to bring him in for blood work and stool sample after 1 week. I did this for 1 month and followed his directions carefully, the next month (september 2011) my dog was loosing his hair along with scabs that was forming on his skin, in October and November I tried giving him food that did not have soybean, wheat, corn or byproducts in it expensive but it seemed to be working, I went back to my vet at the end of December, he recommended an abdominal scan which turned out ok and a skin scraping which he sent to the lab for analyzation in which Iam still waiting for results back as to the findings. he also recommend and I paid for, CEPHAILEXIN (back to antibiotics) since I read these articles I have completely stopped the antibiotics, I personally contribute my dogs back end problems to the antibiotics that I gave him.
These drugs need to be outlawed and away from animals I am very concerned that any vet would prescribe to pet owners to give this drug to there pets knowingly that it could be this dangerous to the pet this is a crime and needs to be addressed by the proper authorities!
I have to admit – I like my vet; I really do. After my knee-jerk reaction, I did a TON of research from everything from anecdotals to reading case studies done in Europe.
Apparently, MOST drugs given to dogs are OFF-label, NOT approved by the FDA for dogs, drugs. Keflex is one of these.
Yes, I did find research that talked about how 3-5% of dogs are FATALLY allergic to this drug. One of the symptoms, and my dog started to suffer from it also, is pain in the rear quarters. This is accompanied by loss of appetite, increased thirst, general pain, renal disruption and kidney damage.
My vet SWEARS she was unaware of this and after knowing how drug reps work, I believe her. She’d never intentionally hurt my Bobo. I know he’s one of her favorite patients.
I faxed her all the info sheets I came up with and she actually forwarded them to the professor of veterinary studies at Iowa State, so I know my research was good.
He’s doing better now and we have this allergy on his file. If I’d known that only certain dogs could be allergic to just certain medicines like this, I would have been watching out better for symptoms when they persisted and taken him off the drug sooner.
Took almost 5 days till he was eating again, 8 days before his rear wasn’t painful to the touch, and almost two weeeks before he was completely his old self.
He’s weaker for the experience and now won’t eat his normal food since he associates it with being sick.
As for feeding your dog more expensive foods like Blue Buffalo or Candidae, yes it is necessary for your dog to recover to keep giving him 1st-class nutrition. I too, took pride in how little money I could spend to feed my dog, but with the damage from the drug, it’s not worth it if I want him happy and healthy again.
Thanks for reading and for your concerns. It helps to have support.
I give you a world of credit for so thoroughly researching this drug! Do you happen to have any links, or sources, that you can recommend to me? Knowledge is power! Also, I wonder if adverse reactions to such drugs (for dogs) can be reported to the FDA or at least to another agency?
My two-year-old border collie was recently given 500 mg x 2 Cephlexin for skin allergies and a urinary tract infection. Although the drug almost instantly cleared up his sores, within 5 days he was vomitting. My vet said to take him off Cephlexin and wait a few day to give him another (similar) antibiotic. He was also supposed to take predisone, but I held off on that, being cautious (and am too afraid to give it too him).
However, he has continued to vomit daily even after I discontinued the Cephalexin. (He’s only on Bendryl for itchiness) He’s been off Cephalexin about 5 days and now the vomit has turned to bile, which makes me wonder if there is possible liver damage.
I had read about the bad effects of this drug, but decided it only happened in a minority of cases, so I gave it to him anyway (to my regret). But, luckily, I started off giving him only half a dose (a good practice to use before any new drug is used). He’d probablybe a lot worse right now had I given him the full dose.
Presently he eats very little, drinks lots of water, and I am worried. I hear that the effects of this drug can last a very long time, with new symptoms showing up several weeks later. Perhaps through everyone’s input and help, I hope that all dogs on this site who are sick will find a way to become quickly better.
Hi Paula,
Getting in touch with the FDA wouldn’t yield you any results anyway. Apparently, it’s common to try human medicines on animals and they’re often prescribed off-shelf like this. The FDA doesn’t really carry any credibility these days anyway, LOL!
Sorry your Border was a victim. Guess he’s part of the 5-7% like mine. I have heard when the drug works and the animal doesn’t have a reaction, that it’s gang-busters. I’m supposing the fact that we’re talking about animals is why it doesn’t seem to be a big deal about us and ours having fatal/near fatal reactions. Wish they’d get with the program. Anyways -
I got a lot of info from a site called b-naturals and looked at their diet for kidney problems and made my own dog food based on what I was able to figure out from studying the info there..
At this point, avoid foods high in sulfur (egg yolks), oatmeal for some reason exasperates the condition as does high-quality proteins like fish or lean beef.
I boil an organic chicken JUST till I can get the bones out or just barely warm some organically raised, fatty ground beef then mix that with equal parts of white rice and sweet or regular potatoes, both overcooked to mush. Then I add some ground eggshell, an 1/8th tsp. per lb., and you can get “Just Whites” in the refrig. section of the market. That I do cook with the beef just till it coagulates. For flavor, a tsp of organic sugar of some sort, honey or agave, whatever and a 1/4 tsp. of salt per lb. I make it into balls whatever size you want and then freeze. My boy actually prefers them frozen but you can defrost and feed any way you want. Also you’ll see about CoQ10 (my 60 lb takes 40mg I figured) and how salmon oil and Vit E will help retard kidney deterioration.
I’ve learned that careful nutrition CAN bring your dog back. Do go back to your vet and have the values run on a blood test to monitor how much damage your dog may have and when your vet suggests that Prescription Diet nonsense, turn him/her down. It just made my dog sicker. They still use the suggested diet from back in the 60′s/70′s, when the protocol was different. The studies I used were all from 1989 and newer.
I also found a lot of knowledge from the links pertaining to pet nutritional problems from exploring a catalogue called Only Natural Pet Store. They have a flea chip in there that I swear absolutely worked on my part-time outdoor dog. But explore the site for links to other vet’s works.
I’m not a doctor or learned person by any measure and wouldn’t say that my work is in any way professional. I was just desperate to save my boy.
Hope anything I’ve added here is helpful to some degree.
Typical over-reaction from an unfortunate owner whose dog happened to be in the minority to have an uncommon severe reaction to cephalexin.
Common side-effects, affecting about one in five dogs, is vomiting and possible diarrhoea; the nausea causes excessive drinking. The hindlimb lameness is less than a one in a thousand chance, and if it does happen, certainly never give it to your dog or cat again… but you’ll find that the same animal will also likely be sensitive to penicillin-based medications as well, limiting the antimicrobial choice.
However, cephalexin is safe for the overwhelming majority of dogs and cats out there, if dosed appropriately and if dispensed by the veterinarian for the right condition. If everyone panics every time a few animals have a reaction to a medication, then no medication will ever be good enough for any pet. Be vigilant, and certainly question your vet if your dog does have an adverse reaction, but don’t then rule it out for everyone else.
“If everyone panics every time a few animals have a reaction to a medication, then no medication will ever be good enough for any pet.”
This what You said Elsol and I’m sorry but when Death is the reaction, then NO, perhaps it Shouldn’t be given.
I started out by DOING RESEARCH into scientific studies as well as the anecdotal. I perused over 50 sites and read them in depth. My vet doesn’t even do that!
I don’t consider 3-5% rare so much as perhaps, uncommon, but it’s still a concern. As for the lameness, my research found an Italian study where the incidence was .02%. That’s 1 dog in 200 which is also not that rare.
“Typical over-reaction from an unfortunate owner whose dog happened to be in the minority to have an uncommon severe reaction to cephalexin.”
I found this line to be patronizing and insulting.
I LOVE my dog. So do many here. Did you not see that others have LOST their beloved pets? The tone of your response seems to belittle others who are grieving.
I have heard of people whose dogs did get better on this med, but owners should be WARNED of the dangers and what to look for. Otherwise, they will simply assume that those side affects are normal to the drug. The fact is that vets should not issue this medication without warnings.
Kimberlee, I for one am thanking you for this thread,I brought my 5 yr. old beagle to the vet for a hotspot he had behind his ear which appeared within a few hours. she shaved the area ,cleaned it then handed me a priscription for keflex.. soon after giving him the first dose he became worse (no appetite, distended stomach,major pain all over. ) as I write this I am waiting for my son to come home to help me get him in the truck to get him back to the vet,, my daughter is in there with her beloved dog crying her eyes out because she thinks he is dying. !!!! We just lost our 8 yr. old shepherd a yr. ago… I am getting quite angry at the vet right now myself… If this can be so fatal they should give you a verbal warning also. I even called them yesterday and they told me to wait until tomorrow and if he didn’t feel better to bring him in today ….I will repost and let you know how things went today…
Hi Cheryl,
Just so folks know, while I’m fairly invested in this particular thread, it is our host’s site, LOL!
As I said, this drug is supposed to be fairly safe for the majority of dogs, but the ones who do turn out to be allergic to it, do seem to be almost, if not Fatally allergic to it.
I wonder if there are any tests that could be conducted by vets to see how a dog would react to it? That would save a lot of grief. Unfortunately, it would seem that no one is going to find this thread unless they’ve encountered damage to their pet that’s already occurred.
I started off angry at my vet too, but after I calmed and realized that she was only acting on what she has been taught, we discussed it, made a note on my dog’s chart to never prescribe it again, and she learned a lesson to always warn dogs’ companions to watch for certain symptoms and quit the treatment immedialtely under her new guidelines, based on my dog’s experience.
I think this may be the best we can hope for unless so many dogs suffer from this drug that it needs to be tested again by whatever Veternary Assoc. controls that sort of thing.
Best wishes and prayers out to you.
My purebred bulldog had a course of cephalexin–had mild initial reaction–vomited twice–so i gave her half her meal, waited a while, then the rest of the meal with the pill. no more vomiting. She was more thirsty as well. During the 10 day course for an infection under her nose rope, she became weak and at the same time restless, up at night wandering around. I checked online for side effects and these were side effects. I was close to the end of the course so I finished it but she became EXTREMELY weak in the hind quarters as well as lethargic and panting. She seems to be in pain. While these symptoms seemed to lessen after 4 days off the pills, they are back now, a week later. I notified my vet and she said she had never heard of any reaction like this to cephalexin. I had them note on my dogs chart she was NEVER to take this again. Yesterday amy dog seemed to be in more pain so I am giving her a dosage of aspirin (per her weight) twice a day (as recommended by an online vet site. I am hoping time will heal.