[nyx0313]

Hey everybody,

I'm Bobo's mom and in this September I got her sister from the same litter, Kissy, to join our sweet family. So now I have to girls, both one and half years old. Kissy has a worse tear stain problem and I just bought her a bottle of Angel's Eye Natural (the one that doesn't contain antibiotics). On the instruction, the smallest does is "for dos under 10 lbs, give 1/4 teaspoon daily." Bobo is 4.5 and Kissy is 3.5, together less than 10 lbs.. I discussed with the pet store staff and decided to give them 1/4 teaspoon for two of them daily, since they eat from the same bowl.

Then it is time for their monthly Heartguard (<25lbs) and Frontline (<22lbs), I am wondering if I can do the same for those meds. I am always really worried about overdosing my girls with those chemicals, since they are so tiny... Wonder if anybody has done the same? Will that affect the effectiveness of those preventives?

Thanks Everyone!!!

 

[Ladysmom]

You can't split the Heartguard pill because the medicine isn't evenly distributed in the chewable tablet.

How did you end up with an under 22 lb. Frontline dose? I have heard of people dividing it using a syringe, but why not get the correct dosage to begin with? Or buy Frontline spray and customize the dose by pound since your Malts are so tiny?

I personally prefer Interceptor because it comes in an under 10 pound dose. You can also dose every 45 days instead of every 30.

 

[Bailey&Me]

Hello! Your girls are very cute. I agree with Marg and recommend Interceptor...that's what I have my dog on. From what I've read on SM, most of the Maltese on here are on it too.

Just a thought, regarding splitting the Angel Eye's between the two dogs eating out of the same bowl...how do you make sure they are each getting exactly half of the dose? I am guessing it's a powder you mix in to their food...in which case, I would think it's possible maybe they aren't getting the dosage you intended, if one of them eats more of it than the other? Just a thought!

 

[Starsmom]

There was a discussion last night in chat - Are you sure they don't have any retained baby teeth, are you giving them filtered/distilled water? A "no" answer to either question could be the cause of staining. Also closed tear ducts, and some types of food also can be the culprit. Is there staining anywhere else on their body, or just the eye area?

You're so fortunate to have little girls, and sisiters!:wub:

 

[maltlovereileen]

I wouldn't feed meds to them in their food - just in case that was part of the question. You never can be sure they 1) eat it, 2) each gets it ... I also read on a website that the active ingredient is not uniformly mixed in those tablets, so you couldn't be sure of a good dose for each if you split it

I also use the Interceptor. Maybe a phone call to your vet to ask if you gave a whole heartguard to each?

 

[aprilb]

I also use Interceptor. Both my girls are tiny and I do divide the Frontline dose in half. This has worked fine for us. I would advise you not to feed your girls from the same bowl because you can't be sure how much each one is eating, one may need more or less food, and you don't want to encourage bickering during the meal.

 

[nyx0313]

My vet prescribed it to Bobo, and for Frontline the smallest dose is under 22lbs..

Maybe I will change to interceptor too. It seems it has a much better review here.

Thank you!

 

[nyx0313]

Thank you very much everybody !!!

About feeding, I was actually worried about the same bowl thing but then I discovered that they never have any problem/bickering/fighting over dry food. (I do separate them when I give them chewy treats/toys or Kongs.)

Actually they have a pretty regular pattern. Every morning I give them the amount for two dogs, Kissy (the smaller one) will eat first and she will finish roughly half of it; then about half an hour or so Bobo will come and finish the rest. Kissy loves to eat as soon as she wakes up in the morning; while Bobo prefers a short nap before her breakfast. Same for the evenings.

I'm happy with the fact that Kissy has the same amount of Angel Eye as Bobo, despite she has a smaller weight. Because she has a worse tear stain in the first place.

For food, I give then Natural's Balance, Duck and Potato limited ingredient formula. I always make sure the Angel eye power is well mixed with the dry food.

For water, yes, I give them distilled bottle water only. None of them has milk teeth left. Bobo's tear stain is not as bad as Kissy. And Kissy only has it on her face; mostly under eye, a little bit around her mouth too, no where else on her body.

Thank you everybody for all your advices.

 

[jmm]

Do not give distilled water. Spring/filtered water is fine.

Do not split any heartworm medication in half.

Under 22 lbs is the smallest size Frontline Topspot (Plus) comes in.

 

[nyx0313]

Do not give distilled water. Spring/filtered water is fine.

Do not split any heartworm medication in half.

Under 22 lbs is the smallest size Frontline Topspot (Plus) comes in.

No distilled water?? I thought the minerals will worsen their tear stain problem...isn't that true?

 

[jmm]

Just like people should not drink distilled water, animals also need those trace nutrients. Distilled water is primarily for use in machines where you don't want mineral build up (humidifier, autoclaves, many other medical machines).

 

[Chalex]

I give my dogs filtered water. I've read that bottled water isn't necessarily as good as tap, so I just use filtered from my sink. However, our water is pretty hard. Preston continues to have mild tear stains and is 14 months.