3,374 satisfied customers
Specialities include: Dog Veterinary, Dog Medicine, Dog Diseases, Small Animal Veterinary
Good afternoon, I’m Dr. Gates and I’m happy to assist you this today.
My job here is to assess whether or not you pet needs to be examined and diagnostic tests run or if we can manage things safely at home.
I will do my best to go through everything with you and give you my professional advice based on the history and clinical signs. The more information I have the better the job I can do to help get you some answers for your pet.
independent contractors and answer questions as they come up in our chat window. Therefore, I apologize if no one answered your question, as we all have full-time jobs and try to help people in our off time.
However, I don’t want you to go without an answer. Please don't leave a bad review if you don't like the service as it's a review of my answer and not of the service or format. For issues with JustAnswer, please contact customer service.
Sorry, part of my last response was cut off.
Unfortunately, I have no way of seeing when you asked your original question, as we are just independent contractors and answer questions as they come up in our chat window. Therefore, I apologize if no one answered your question, as we all have full-time jobs and try to help people in our off time.
However, I don’t want you to go without an answer. Please don't leave a bad review if you don't like the service as it's a review of my answer and not of the service or format. For issues with JustAnswer, please contact customer service.
Black tarry stools are generally termed melena and can be caused by serious issues like stomach ulcers and internal bleeding. You can read about this condition here:
https://www.petplace.com/article/dogs/pet-health/melena-blood-in-stool-in-dogs/
Prednisone is a steroid and can lead to stomach ulcers and stomach bleeding which can show up as melena. I would discontinue giving any Prednisone and follow-up with your vet as soon as possible. Never give any NSAIDs like Tylenol, Ibuprofen, etc. to dogs, especially with Prednisone.
You can try giving Pepcid AC (famotidine) or Prilosec (omeprazole).
The usual dosage of famotidine or omeprazole for dogs is 0.25 mg to 0.5 mg per pound of body weight given twice a day and is sold as over-the-counter medication.
Pills usually come in a strength of 10 mg, though they also come in amounts of 20 mg. This will decrease the amount of hydrochloric acid produced in the stomach in the event that Winnie does have an ulcer. Ulcers can quickly perforate and lead to peritonitis, so I would not delay in having her seen.
I hope this information was helpful and that Winnieis back to normal soon. You can provide updates and ask follow-up questions by picking up the chat in the window and I will answer when I am next online. Thank you for using Just Answer and have a wonderful day!
If any part of my response is unclear, please let me know. It’s my goal to deliver excellent service, so please let me know if there is anything more I can do. I invite you to ask me any follow-up questions. Thank you for using our site and for trusting me to answer your question.
3374 satisfied customers
Ellen
Licensed veterinarians