# How long should I administer Cephalexin for folliculitis?



## mark896 (Jul 3, 2012)

I see that Cephalexin is commonly prescribed for folliculitis and allergies which my dog seems to have some folliculitis around his mouth. Anyways, we took him to the vet and he prescribed him Cephalexin but he wants us to give 2 pills twice daily for *42 days!!* They are 500mg capsules. Doesn't this seem excessive???

He's a 10 month old male.


----------



## performanceknls (Apr 4, 2009)

Some times long term antibiotics are needed, it seems excessive but it's not in a case like this.


----------



## krystleo85 (Nov 5, 2012)

"The dog should also be placed on an oral antibiotic selected on the basis of culture and sensitivity tests. Continue oral antibiotics for six to eight weeks, including at least two weeks beyond apparent cure. Treatment failures occur when antibiotics are stopped too soon or used at too low a dosage. The prolonged use of corticosteroids should be avoided in dogs with folliculitis"

Just from doing a little searching online. 42 days SEEMED excessive at first, but makes sense


----------



## mark896 (Jul 3, 2012)

performanceknls said:


> Some times long term antibiotics are needed, it seems excessive but it's not in a case like this.


Was actually hoping you would chime in, performanceknls. Thank you. I just thought that long-term antibiotic use would be bad for him, kinda like humans.



krystleo85 said:


> "The dog should also be placed on an oral antibiotic selected on the basis of culture and sensitivity tests. Continue oral antibiotics for six to eight weeks, including at least two weeks beyond apparent cure. Treatment failures occur when antibiotics are stopped too soon or used at too low a dosage. The prolonged use of corticosteroids should be avoided in dogs with folliculitis"
> 
> Just from doing a little searching online. 42 days SEEMED excessive at first, but makes sense


Thank you.


----------

