Can Pen-G be used orally?

[CCWelch]

My rabbit doc is out of town and her *new* assistant that know a little about rabbits put my bunny with pneumonia on Pen-G Aqueous with Procaine but he wants me to give it orally, I told him that did not sound right. I held off giving it to my bunny today because of the doubts I have, can anyone tell me if Pen-G Aqueous with Procaine can be given safely orally?

 

[Maureen Las]

Absolutely not orally :shock:
Thank God that you did not give it; it would have destroyed all the normal gut flora and most likely have lead to diarrhea, dehydration and death.

penicillin can only be give by injection ...

You need to find a new vet....



http://www.medirabbit.com/Unsafe_medication/dangerous_antibiotics.htm

 

[Maureen Las]

Bicillin was initially used in the treatment of abscesses but was found to be useful in the treatment of other bacterial infections . this is the initial article which could be printed out for your vet to read ; Bicillin can also be dosed very specifically in units determined by the rabbit's weight

http://people.umass.edu/~jwmoore/bicillin/bicillin.htm

 

[CCWelch]

Thank you, I am glad I didn't give it to her yet either. I found the number and bugged my regular vet on vacation, she told me the dose is right but inject it and also give her plain yogurt during treatment to stop any problems with losing the flora in her gut/intestines.
She also called and chewed her assistant a new one.....Told him if he doesn't know about an animal don't guess, call her.

 

[CCWelch]

The assistant called me at 6:30am to apologize and make sure I had the correct instructions, and he was very thankful that I had not given my bunny any yet.

Thanks Angieluv, I was sure I had seen that chart before and it said no Penicillin orally.
Gotta run, I have an injection to give and yogurt to feed.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Oh, Corely, I'm so glad you didn't give your bunny the medicine!! And I'm glad the assistant has been made aware of his potentially fatal error and apologized to you. Thank goodness you're a savvy bunny mom.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

:thud: wow I freaked out when I started reading that.
Yep, absolutly no Penicillin orally. You have to use injectible kind-bicillin. So glad bunny didn't have that :innocent

 

[Maureen Las]

If you have trouble injecting the penicillin ask the 'good " vet if you can have some lactated ringers solution /and or sterile saline to dilute the penicillin . Penicillin is very thick and often is difficult to inject; it tends to clog syringes. By diluting the penicllin it is easier to give( subqutaneously under the skin) and also prevents the bun from developing what is called sterile abscesses.

Sounds like you are giving procaine G penicillin and not bicillin ? AmI right?

Procaine G is a faster acting penicllin and leaves the body sooner. Since bicillin is a combination of both a short and long acting penicillin it works more effectively as it stays in the body longer. Usually it is given every other day

 

[slavetoabunny]

Thank goodness you were wary about the assistant's instructions. That could very well have killed your bunny! I had to give Pen G injections to Sparky for 10 weeks after she had her abscess surgery. I found it was easier if we let it warm up for a while before the injection.

 

[CCWelch]

I am giving every day for 5 days, was told she should show marked improvement in 24 to 48 hours. By the way it gets better, my vet was half awake when I called her, she called me back as I was drawing up the shot and said..."I told you subQ didn't I?" I answered her "Yes" She answers with "I am sooo sorry, you need to give it IM" "SubQ won't hurt her but IM will work much faster" Gotta love a vet that realizes her error and calls you back especially on a weekend and she is out of state on vacation!

 

[CCWelch]

Angieluv we went with Pen G because my bunny was showing blueness around her nose and mouth and rattling with each breath, we wanted to knock this down fast.My vet also has me giving the pen G to another of my bunnies she heard sneezing in the background, she had me hold the phone up to him so she could hear him breathe and he also has the starting of pneumonia. Strangely both of these rabbits came from the same rabbitry a little over a month ago, and both struggle with heat badly and both are REW of 2 different breeds.

 

[CCWelch]

Well, 5 days later both rabbits are done with courses of Pen-G but the vet added Water Soluble Tetracycline for 10 days and swabbed both noses to send to the lab. Both are now mostly symptom free, the young buck still sneezes just not as frequently and it seems to happen only when he drinks out of his water dish.

 

[naturestee]

That's great!

 

[CCWelch]

I actually have a Penicillin question- The stuff that is used for vent disease is Penicillin G Procaine in sesame oil and it is applied pretty much topically. Don't the rabbits then lick that off? Why does that not bother them?

Just asking......