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My senior dog smells bad. Can she take Cephalexin with her meds?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Female | spayed | 15 years and 7 months old | 57 lbs

Have a 16 yr old female mix Australian Sheperd. Had severe UTI in Jan that required a month of very expensive antibiotics. She has started smelling bad again for about 3 days. Have some cephalexin from a skin infection. She also takes other meds. Was wondering if anything she takes now would interact with the cephalexin? She takes Apoquel 8 mg a day, Thyro tab 0.4 mg 2x day. Metacam 7.5 1/4 tab a day. Enacard 10 mg a day.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Lauren Jones VMD

Veterinarian

Published on April 27th, 2017

While none of the medications that Katie is taking will interact with cephalexin, this antibiotic is not generally very effective for treating urinary tract infections. Since her UTI in January was (I assume) resistant to some antibiotics, there is a concern that a new potential infection may be as well. Giving unnecessary or ineffective antibiotics only serves to create bacterial resistance to some antibiotics. Katie should go to her vet for a urinalysis and urine culture so that the most appropriate antibiotic can be chosen for the bacteria present. I hope that she's on the mend soon!

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    Answered By C. Rathjens, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Sounds like Katie has a lot of medical issues going on. I would not recommend giving the cephalexin, particularly since she had a recent infection that required a month of antibiotics. Cephalexin is a first line antibiotic at best, and it sounds like Katie needs something stronger. If you give her the cephalexin, you may end up killing weak bacteria in her urine and promoting the overgrowth of resistant bugs. The cephalexin won't interact with her other medication, but it could make her overall health situation worse. I recommend checking in with your veterinarian again to make sure she really has a UTI or skin infection, have them determine if cephalexin is appropriate for the infection. It will save you money in the long run to get the right thing from the start. Best of luck!

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