Previcox Emails
"Lucky" Hi, I just wanted to say thank you for writing about your experience with Previcox and Rowdy, I only wish I would have read it five days earlier, I might not have lost the two surviving puppies our Lab had. Lucky, our 9 year old black Lab, delivered three puppies naturally at home on April 15th. Of the three, one was still born. We were concerned when she didn't have any more in a couple of hours, so I called our vet and he said to have her x-rayed for more puppies but that he couldn't see her so we brought her to another vet. Sure enough, she had eight more puppies to deliver, so the vet performed a c-section and delivered the puppies, none survived. He sent us home with Previcox for her pain and the only instructions were to give her one a day for 10 days. (Lucky weighed 74.5 lbs and was prescribed the 227mg tablets of Previcox.) We were making her nurse the two surviving pups. On Saturday four days later, I decided to look up the pain medicine since I have never heard of it before and the vet didn't give us any information on it. The first article that came up was your story about Rowdy, so of course I stopped giving Lucky the medicine but she was still nursing the puppies. On Sunday, the chocolate Lab pup (Hutch), quit eating, had diarrhea and was very lethargic. On Monday he started having trouble breathing so was taken to the vet, who wanted to put him on antibiotics. My husband could not write the check, so the puppy was sent home without any antibiotics. We called the first vet and brought him the puppy. He said the puppy did not have an infection and put him on oxygen and kept him over night. He returned home with us on Tuesday and unfortunately died at 4:00 AM Wednesday morning in my hands. That same Wednesday, the black Lab pup (Marley) started with the same symptoms and we rushed him the the vet and he put him on oxygen also but he died Thursday morning. I started doing research on the adverse effects of Previcox on nursing puppies but could not find any information. So I called Merial and was told that Previcox had not been tested on nursing, pregnant or breeding dogs and that they advise vets not to prescribe it to dogs that are pregnant, nursing, or that the owner plans to breed. I know you probably get a ton of emails daily, but I needed to vent and thought this story might help someone else from losing their puppies to Previcox. Sincerely,
The information below is taken from Merial's
website: Talk with your veterinarian about:The risks and benefits of using PREVICOX. Serious adverse reactions, including death, have been associated with PREVICOX administration at doses above the recommended dose in puppies less than seven months of age. Tell your veterinarian about:Whether your dog is pregnant or nursing, or if you plan to breed your dog. Both vets knew Lucky had recently had puppies (one of them performed the C-section surgery) and would naturally be nursing her surviving pups. Also, Lucky's prescribed dosage was beyond what Merial suggests. She weighed 74.5lbs and should have received 168mg at most, not the 227mg prescribed. ~Mel |
