The American Beagler Forum

my beagle has a bacteria skin infection. he was given cephalexin. Can i buy cephalexin anywhere without a prescription. Also will amoxicillin do the same thing.

try this #---800/528/0058 same pills but lable for fish

thanks so much, I will give them a call. I had seen something but for fish, was not sure it would work.

rjrgray2 wrote:my beagle has a bacteria skin infection. he was given cephalexin. Can i buy cephalexin anywhere without a prescription. Also will amoxicillin do the same thing.

Since amoxicillin and cephalexin are not the same drug; they do not do the same things. While there is most definitely some overlap in their mutual bacterial coverages, there are also some differences where one drug can handle certain pathogens while the other cannot. Cephalexin is generally a better for bacterial skin infections than amoxicillin. For enterococci, however, amoxicillin is a better choice than cephalexin.

One thing I am curious about is how you know your dog's skin infection is bacterial in nature, or is this an assumption on your part? If the infection or problem is not bacterial in nature, but rather (say) fungal, than neither antibiotic would work as neither drug is intended to handle fungal infections. Indeed, using antibiotics can actually make fungal infections worse. This is why it is typically better to use sulfur-type topical applications to un-diagnosed skin maladies, as topical sulfur/turpentine preparations will produce better results on a much broader range of skin problems, regardless if the problem is bacterial, fungal, yeast, or even mange in nature.

In other words, if you're going to "guess" what's wrong with your dog's skin, and apply "something" (without really knowing what it is you're dealing with), a sulfur preparation like Nu-Stock or my own Nature's Magic would be a better choice than an antibiotic.

Good luck,

Jack



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rjrgray2 wrote:thanks so much, I will give them a call. I had seen something but for fish, was not sure it would work.

There are only two differences in the fish antibiotics from what you purchase by prescription: (1) the design of the label and (2) the fact you don't need a prescription.

Compositionally, cephalexin is cephalexin, and amoxicillin is amoxicillin, regardless of the color of the label or whether that label indicates animal or human use.

Jack



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"if" it is bacterial,also remember to give the capsules three times a day,and for three days after the dog has healed.
if you think just one a day is fine,then i suggest not even useing it.the dogs digestive system will elimintae the drug quickly and therefore the need to give in timed doses.
i would also assume that if it is a bacterial infection then either its a cut of some kind otherwise it may be fungal and then forget the antibiotics and use a sulfhur based product.i would expect to see results within three to 5 days---thats the average for my dogs here.every dog is different though