Success with zithromax

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How many forum member have used zithromax?
if you have used it (good or bad) please post the formulation of it.
Did you use the powder mixed with water that creates a pink syrupy liquid ,is obtained from a pharmacy and is good for 10 days or was it given to you in another form.

ex. Pill form compounded by pharmacy or mixed with water or any other form?

if you remember the dosage given and the weight of your rabbit at the time that the rabbit was given the drug ...that would help also.

Thanks
Maureen
 
Well I will start ...
Babette was onazithromycin for 6 weeks at a dose lower than what was cited in medi-rabbit ; she was receiving about50 mg per day rather than the 30-50 mg per kg that is recommmended in medirabbit Babette was 2.5 kg so you can see that she was grossly underdosed.

My vet would not raise the dosage as he had never used it on a rabbit before.
Even on that dose (which was the powder mixed with water that turns into a sweet pink liquid) she lost some of her appetite and lost a little weight. The symptoms, however , were not significant enough for me to stop the med.

her symtoms cleared up (URI) while she was on it but came back almost immediately upon discontinuing it thus clarifying to me that she had really been underdosed.
I never had a rabbit on this drug at the dose prescribed for rabbits.
I was somewhat concerned about the loose poops that she had while on it but it was NOT diarrhea and I did give her benebac while she was on it.

it was an expensive drug for that length of time and I wasted my money on it as the symptoms came back immediately.
 
This is what my bottle says:
Zithromycin Tablet 250mg/#5 Tablet-
Zithromycin 250mg/ml
Little Bunny is 4.6lbs and was getting .25 ml every 24 hours.

This was pill form compounded from the vets office.

Little Bunny had diarrhea that was all watery, mushy poops and smaller poops. She also stopped eating. She only took 3 doses of the medication before being taken off from it due to the side effects.

The Zithromax was $21.90 for a 2 week supply.

If you need any other info, let me know, I will be happy to answer. I look forward to reading other people's responses.
 
The Zithromax I used is a for children.

It's white powder, to be mixed with water into a translucent liquid with a concentration of 200mg/5ml. Once mixed with water, the drug should only be kept for 5 days and shouldn't be used anymore beyond 5 days.

Hans weighs 1 kg. Based on the medirabbit dosage of 30-50mg/kg, Hans was put on 1ml daily dose. I split the daily dosage into 2 i.e. he gets 0.5ml in the morning and 0.5ml in the night.

I only gave him Zithromax twice before I stopped using it because Hans would lose his appetite immediately after taking Zithromax, hide in his cardboard house and most worrying of all, he had watery poop. I not sure if its accurate to call it 'diarrhea' because there wasn't a lot of it. There were no diarrhea puddles on the floor, but the fur all around his bum was stained with brownish liquid.

These symptoms occurred on both occasions when Hans was given Zithromax, and stopped when I stopped giving him the drug.

A bottle of Zithromax (which can be made into a 15ml suspension) only cost me about US$7.00.
 
When Nick was treated for his URI, earlier this year, he was given Zithromax.

Nick is about 4.5lbs. The dose was 1.0ml. I was to give it to him once every day for 5 days, then once every other day for 10 days, then once every third day for 6 days.

The formulation I was given was a white suspension that the vet office mixed for me. They crushed tablets and mixed it, it was sort of chunky, and I think it was only good for 10 days. I had to go back halfway through to get the second half. (I didn't have enough for the final dose, but otherwise completed the course of treatment.) $25 each time.
The vet tech did tell me that it was sweetened to be more palatable, and Nick didn't seem to mind the flavor much.

Almost immediately after the first dose, Nick lost his appetite, stopped drinking water, and became lethargic. This was a complete change from how he had been behaving before I started the treatment. He did not develop diarrhea or mushy poops, but his poops were very tiny, dry, and tear-drop shaped rather than round. Nick barely ate a thing for the first 5 days, and then gradually got his appetite back, but it took about 2 weeks after that for his appetite and behavior to return to normal.

So far, Nick's URI symptoms have not returned.

Also, the vet said he could call the prescription in to a regular pharmacy, so I could pick it up closer to my house, but I would then have to grind and mix it myself. I chose to just pick it up at the vet's office, as I wanted to make sure it was mixed properly. The vet's office is not that far away, anyway.
 
I'll be waiting for Beth to answer but little Bunnny got 62.5mg in every dose .If the dosage range is 30- 50 mg / kg and Little Bunny is about 2 kg (same as Nick) then Little Bunny was in the medi-rabbit dosage range on the lower end of the scale.

Hans got 40 mg per dose and is about half the size of lNick and Little Bunny so Hans was also in the dosage range of medi-rabbit. but in the middle range of dosiing
 
angieluv wrote:
Beth do you know how many mg were in the dose that you gave each day and then every other day
The bottle just said "2.5% suspension." Since I didn't see the package the tablet came from, I don't know any more than that.
I was to give the same 1ml the whole course of treatment.

My vet allows access to your pets' records through their website, but for some reason the URI and Zithromax are not listed for Nick.
 
Beth

When You see your vet again maybe you can ask her/him some questions as to why he did not dose daily. I have an idea that the reason that you did not have to take him off it was because you were spacing doses.

Rami (vet)on etherbun has also posted that a rabbit will often loose its appetite the first couple day of being on any antibiotic . During the first few days the bacteria are dying and this inhibits the rabbit's appetite and if you can supplement the food for a few days the appetite will return. This , of course, would not be something you would do if the rabbit got diarrhea from the drug.

JadeIcing is going to post on here later as she has had really good results from this drug ( Zithromax) and it will be interesting to see what was done differently ..if anything...

Randy alss also never mentioned any of these types of problems at his rescue ; I wonder if he is supplementing the rabbits with thiamine injections or something that iscauing the the drug to be more more palatable
 
angieluv wrote:
Beth

When You see your vet again maybe you can ask her/him some questions as to why he did not dose daily. I have an idea that the reason that you did not have to take him off it was because you were spacing doses.
I will ask him, if I remember to.
I guess when he told me the treatment, I just assumed it was like a person taking a Z Pack; I've only had one once, but I remember taking one pill every day for a couple days, then every other day, then every third day. (I have had to do that with other antibiotics for myself, as well. I have chronic sinus infections, so I have taken quite a few of them, some just go right through and others do the taper-off thing.) I do not know if this is protocol for treatment in pets, or if the vet was just guessing.
The vet I saw that day was the less experienced of the rabbit-savvy vets at the clinic I go to.

I do know that those 5 days when Nick refused to eat were nerve-wracking, and it did take a long time for his appetite to be completely normal again. I almost stopped treatment part-way through because of the side effects, but advice I got here and from my friend at the rescue encouraged me to stick with it. Nick did not have any other complicating factors, did not have the diarrhea others are reporting, and was able to withstand the weight loss. If there had been any other issues, I would have discontinued treatment.
I was relieved to see Nick's energy start to return when the every-other day dosing started.


I am also interested to hear JadeIcing's experience with Zithromax.


 
What about B comp? B vitamins can stimulate energy, I think (they're a main component of Nutri-cal)and I know Randy's a big fan of B comp injections.
 
angieluv wrote:
I'll be waiting for Beth to answer but little Bunnny got 62.5mg in every dose .If the dosage range is 30- 50 mg / kg and Little Bunny is about 2 kg (same as Nick) then Little Bunny was in the medi-rabbit dosage range on the lower end of the scale.

Hans got 40 mg per dose and is about half the size of lNick and Little Bunny so Hans was also in the dosage range of medi-rabbit. but in the middle range of dosiing
Hans is 1kg, so yup, he's in the middle of the dosage range. On top of that, I split the daily dose in 1/2, so each time I gave him zithromax, he was only getting 20mg of it.. yet he didn't take well to the drug. Imagined if I had given him the entire 40mg dose at one go.. :nerves1
 
I was given Zithromax mixed into a liquid form ( actually its the generic name azithromycin ) got it from the pharmacy, good for 10 days, and was prescribed for my rabbits URI.

Yesterday was their last day on it, both were on a week course and I dont think it worked because I heard both of them sneeze today ugh!:X

Spirit is approx 7 pounds and Shadow is approx 6 pounds and I was told to give them each 1ml a day for a week

Shadow never behaved differently while taking it, but for the first few days I noticed Spirit looked "drugged" after I gave it to her..she just kinda stayed in her cage for a bit and slept the first day I almost made a call to the vet about it but she acted more alert a few hours after the dose was given and there was never any difference in her poops.

The bottle says 600mg ( 15ml when mixed )

200mg per 5ml


 
Korey, I think they'd need more than a week for treatment. In fact, I'd say you need 2 weeks at least.
 
I can't seem to find where my Zithromax info is from when I gave it to Reuben. He was first on it for a week for an upper respiratory infection. The symptoms diminished, but returned. We then put him on for two weeks and that was months ago with no sign of it returning. I was given what Korey was (the stuff they mix up into a liquid and it is good for ten days). It definitely needed two weeks though to work completely.

I'll look around again through my vet records and see if I can find the info. It was a Rx that had to be called into CVS as all the vet's office had was the liver flavored stuff they used on cats. Reuben wouldn't be too keen on liver flavored. :p
 
murph72 wrote:
I can't seem to find where my Zithromax info is from when I gave it to Reuben. He was first on it for a week for an upper respiratory infection. The symptoms diminished, but returned. We then put him on for two weeks and that was months ago with no sign of it returning. I was given what Korey was (the stuff they mix up into a liquid and it is good for ten days). It definitely needed two weeks though to work completely.

I'll look around again through my vet records and see if I can find the info. It was a Rx that had to be called into CVS as all the vet's office had was the liver flavored stuff they used on cats. Reuben wouldn't be too keen on liver flavored. :p
So since they were on it for a full week and now has been 2 days since the last dose..should I start a 2 week course all over again?? can recall how much were u giving them a day?...because I knowmine were underdosed..which served no purpose..this is something I want to talk to my vet about when I go see her Thursday... they were not sneezing while on it.. but the week just wasnt enough..so should I just maybe start a week and a 1/2 course since they have had it for a week and have only missed a few days or just start a full new 2 weeks course??
 
Unfortunately I don't have the answers for you. I was advised by Randy to have the vet put my Reuben on the Zithromax for his problems. He told me at the time that it had to be given at a higher dosage for rabbits than for cats or dogs. However, since he is not a vet he didn't want to give a recommended dosage. He told me that the information was available for the vet with the product. I'm assuming my vet (who, by the way, is not rabbit-savvy but took Randy's advice) must have been able to find that information on his own.

I looked back through my records, but since the prescription was called into CVS, all I have is a receipt for it and a receipt for the vet visit. There's no information on either one about dosing. I would think since your buns have only been off it for two days that there is still some in their systems. My non-professional idea would be that you wouldn't have to do the whole week over again, maybe just add another week? I'd be afraid to do another two weeks on top of the week you did do...I worry about them building up a resistance to the drug by too much exposure to it. I might be totally off-base with that thought, but that's my worry. Having found a drug that works well, I don't want it to lose its potency either.
 
Yeah I dont think i'd be comfortable giving them a whole 2weeks all over again..I actually shouldnt of posted that last replyin here, I think I'm getting off the subject of what the thread is actually about...I'm just so frustrated with the whole situation dealing with this URI..I'm thinking maybe I'll pm Randy and ask his opinion..I should have been more persistant when dealing with the vet because to be honest a week course didnt sound long enough to me when she gave it the first time..heres hoping :pray:
 
Randy is unfortunately unavailable due to other conflicts. I honestly don't know if it's better to do a whole 2 weeks or just a week and a half right now. Sorry. Perhaps your vet will now. I can't imagine that doing 2 weeks would be that much more difficult or bad for them than a week and a half, in fact it may be better.
 
BethM wrote:
Iam also interested to hear JadeIcing's experience with Zithromax.

Sorry! I had 7 dogs for a few days!

I did speak to the pharmacist at work and she said that if it was kid version or even if any coloring or flavor was added it could change it possibly causing more side effects.

Ringo is on the adult pill 1/2tablet I can not for the lifeof me recallanything else. I will have tofind out tomorrow atwork.I gave it to him crushed and mixed with different things. :blushan:Sometimes his greedy butt would snatch the pill out our hands and chow down so fast that he didn't know he was taking it.
 

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