Mastitus in older females

[pilotknob]

I have a 9 yr.old female I am wanting to breed if I can catch her in heat.I have only had one litter of pups out of her ,and of that litter I saved 2 of 7 due to mastitus.I have only had this occur one other time and that female was an older also.How do you guys deal with this,better yet stop it from happening to start with.

[beagler29431]

I get Fish Antibiotics (Cephalexin 250mg, twice a day or Amoxicillin 250mg, twice a day), I order mine from www.jefferspet.com

You can use either prior to breeding, during her heat cycle to prevent any infections. I've used the Amoxicillin while the female is nursing. Personally, if she's had it in the past, I would try that on her after she whelps. A 10 to 14 day course twice a day.

[eddywilliams]

called fishcillin

[TheLittleBlackBook]

The two best drugs to use for mastitis are either Trimethoprim-sulfa or Clavamox.

Cephalexin is a decent choice, and straight amoxicillin can work too, but there are many potential staph bacteria that they will not cover, which is why Clavamox (a potentiated amoxicillin) is the better choice.

Trimethoprim-sulfa (TMZ) likewise provides better coverage for mastitis, for one because it achieves its highest concentration in mammary tissue, and another key reason is that TMZ provides a further benefit in that it also eliminates coccidia infection as well, which can likewise infect and kill nursing pups.

Jack

[pilotknob]

Is there anything that is safe to give them say 7 to 10 days before they deliver.The female I spoke of is about 1 week bred now.I have her in good shape,and she is healthy.The vet pulled a bad tooth last time right after she had pups and got mastitus,I was just wondering if there was anything I could use as a prevenative measure just to be safe.I don't want to go thru that again.The 2 females I saved are fine little dogs.Makes you wonder what the rest would of been like?