[Christie]

My vet wants me to give my dog 20mg of Pepcid 2x Day. According to the box, you can either take the pills 10-60 minutes before eating to prevent symptoms or after eating to treat symptoms. I’m assuming that he wants to prevent the symptoms in the first place, however in the mornings, the dogs are whining to eat as soon as I get up. I read online elsewhere that ten minutes isn’t long enough before a meal for Pepid to be effective (that you should wait at least 30 min) and I can’t foresee getting up early just to give him the pill and attempt to go back to sleep, because once they’re awake they stay awake. I also know that you shouldn’t give the pill with food because it can lower the effectiveness. Any suggestions? I was going to give the morning pill 30 minutes or so after eating in the morning and 30 minutes before the evening meal. Or should I do it differently?

[anonymous]

I think 1 hour to 30 minutes prior to the meal would be ideal.
I would put a call into the vet, have him call you back when he has a minute, rather than go by what you read online.
Ask which would be preferable, at bedtime on an empty stomach? Or in the morning 10 minutes before eating?
Tell the vet the exact times you are planning to give the med, as he might like at least an 8 hour interval between doses.

[Susan]

Hi, what I did when Patch was on Zantac, I woke up around 6am & had the syringe fill with water & the tablet near my bed & cause Patch slept on my bed with me, it was easy, I would get up open his mouth & put tablet on the back of his tongue push & then give him the water in the syringe, make sure you push the tablet down the throat & wash it down with water, I even get my hand & rub downward on Patches throat, the tablet needs to be in the stomach to work not stuck in his throat/esophagus & start dissolving… then we both went back to sleep & got up 30-40mins later, now he’s on Losec you don’t have to give before food, Losec works in a different way it’s a Pump Proton Inhibitor (PPI) the brain sends a msg not to make Hydrochloric acid in the stomach, I think some stomach acids are made but not as much like normally is made, you can give a PPI with or without food in the morning, it lasts for 24hrs, but you can’t just stop giving a PPI after they have been on it for more then 20days you need to slowly reduce a PPI….The Gastro vet when Patch gets his acid reflux bad just give the Losec for 3-4 days then stop & Patch would do really well again then maybe 1 week later he’d have his bad acid reflux again, then I’d give him a Losec straight away again for 3-4 days & stop, but I noticed he did heaps better the days he was taking the Losec so now he’s on it permanently, he’s 8 yrs old & probably won’t get better.
I feed him 1/2 cup kibble 7am & give him Losec tablet around 8.30am then around 9am I feed Patch the other 1/2 of cup of kibble, Patch cant eat 1 full cup of kibble, he gets pain & burps up food, 1 cup kibble must be too much when it all swells up…. You’ll work out a routine, the famotidine may not work that well, it didn’t work for Patch, Patch needed something stronger… or give tablet as soon as you get up in the morning & they have to learn to wait 20mins, maybe go out for a wee, my dog & cat just sit/sleep & wait & I do what I have to do, make a cuppa, put on a load of washing, maybe get dressed, I do a few things to past the time while the tablet is doing what it has to do, with the Zantac it’s about 45mins-1 hour before food, I prefer the Losec…

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