From:
meesh meesh
Date: 2001-09-08 13:12:00 UTC
Subject: Carafate- imp. info/ Metron- ECE/Bun-info re: kidney
failure
Hi all,
Well, I've been home sick for two days now and
starting to get stir crazy so I thought I'd write to
FHL :).
A few misc. things I've noticed that I thought I
might comment on. (Disclaimer for all - I am not
(yet) a vet - I'm in my last year of vet school, but
again, I'm not a vet and I have a LOT yet to learn-
anyone who has contradictory or additional info,
please comment :) )
1. Re: CARAFATE. Interestingly, I've been prescribed
this by vets both in private practice and by my school
and only one vet (recently) told me something very
important about the use of Carafate (I confirmed this
with my school pharmacist). Carafate *must* be given
at least 1 hour prior to, or 1 hour after, any other
meds. Concurrent administration of carafate and
another med will prevent absorption of the other med.
Perhaps everyone else knows this but the fact that I
had not been told this before makes me suspicious that
there are others who don't know this. It's no fault
of the vet. I grew up with a Dad who is a doctor and a
sister who is now a doc and many friends who are docs.
That, combined with my being in vet school,...well, I
know what we do learn and don't learn about drugs. We
learn a lot but not everything (that's why we have
pharmacists :). I have always checked with pharmacists
when I have questions about drugs. And, it's very
important to ask a pharmacist if drugs can or can't be
given concurrently, if they need to be given with
food, types of food that are not good, etc. I hope
this is helpful info and apologize if it's "common
knowledge" for you all.
2. Re: METRONIDAZOLE/FLAGYL: I don't know if
metronidazole is of any benefit in ECE or if it
isn't..literally have no idea. I do know that many
docs use it with GI/diarrhea problems because it is
not only an antibiotic but it has antiinflammatory
properties (for the GI tract). As far as I know, they
don't know why it has antiinflammatory properties but
it does.
I'm curious about where the use of Tylan/Tylosin has
gone in treating ECE. When ECE came through my
household, Tylan was "in vogue" for getting ferrets to
eat again. It came about as a last resort ditch by a
vet tech who had a lot of ferrets dying of ECE (years
back). It is an antibiotic used for many things,
including colitis in dogs. Why it works, no one
knows. But, it seemed to help ferrets with ECE. And,
when I had two who were so bad off, they couldnt' keep
down even half a ml of watery baby food without
violently vomiting it up, they were eating on their
own in 24 hours after starting treatment with Tylan. I
am not a vet and am not advocating it's use. But, I am
curious as to where it's use in ECE stands at the
moment. There is one warning...it is harder to get
into a ferret than metronidazole. And, you can NOT
hide the taste. I dont' know how I got it in my guys
but I did. I can say that while we don't know why it
works, and there is no formal (only anecdotal)
evidence for it's efficacy, the vets at school let me
use it because they said it couldn't hurt.
3. Re: BUN: There have been a few posts regarding
increased BUN and kidney failure. Given Mighty Mouse
is currently in kidney failure I've been reading
anything I can about it. From what I recall (correct
me if I'm wrong anyone), when a kidney begins to fail,
it takes 2/3 of the kidney being non-functional before
you see changes in the ability of the kidney to
concentrate urine (urine specific gravity) . When 3/4
of the kidney is non-functional, you then, and only
then, see Azotemia: increases in BUN and Creatinine
(from bloodwork).
**BUN however is influenced by extra-renal factors
like a recent high protein diet (or if an animal is in
negative energy balance due to anorexia, etc..ie:
catabolism: "eating" it's own body for energy). The
more sensitive indicator is Creatinine which is less
influenced by non-renal factors. (this does not mean
BUN is not helpful, but it must be contextualized in
relationship to all the other bloodwork values).
I hope this information is helpful. If anyone has
anything to add, comment on, criticize..please do ! :)
Michaela Maurice
College of Veterinary Medicine
Ohio State University
Class of 2002
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