Help with Melvin
- Sef
- I dissent.
Looks like Baytril has a range of 5-20 mg/kg. The calculation for a dose of any medication is the recommended dose per kg x weight of the guinea pig (in kg) divided by the suspension of the medication (mg/ml).
If we go with a middle-of-the-road dose of 10 mg/kg, and if he weighs around 1 kg, it would be 10 mg/kg x 1 kg of weight = 10 / 68 mg/ml = 0.147ml as the dose. Somebody here please double-check my math.
I'd absolutely call your vet first thing and verify this, but from where I'm sitting, I'd say it was a typo.
If we go with a middle-of-the-road dose of 10 mg/kg, and if he weighs around 1 kg, it would be 10 mg/kg x 1 kg of weight = 10 / 68 mg/ml = 0.147ml as the dose. Somebody here please double-check my math.
I'd absolutely call your vet first thing and verify this, but from where I'm sitting, I'd say it was a typo.
He is close to 3lbs., like 2.10, I think. They have his weight and he's put to bed for now, so I can't get him on the scale til tomorrow. The bottle only says 68mg. and 1.2 mls twice per day. The bottle of Baytril is a lot bigger than the doxy, so the volume per dose would much bigger, but I'm clueless now. I held off on the Baytril for tonight and will call them first thing in the am. Thanks all!
So, I heard back from the vet office. I didn't get to speak with the vet herself. Basically, the label was wrong. Rather than 1.2 twice a day, it should be .6, twice per day. Now I recall the last time I used Baytril the dose was like, .4 1/2 to .5 twice a day. The person I spoke with couldn't explain the dosing. She said she thinks the calculation is 5mg/ml. I don't know what that means, but I suppose I will try the .6 dose for now. I don't know why their dose and your numbers seem so far off. Could it be that their concentration is low, so the volume is greater? She did say this is the lowest dose they get from their supplier.
- Sef
- I dissent.
I would ask to speak to the actual vet. I'd want to know how this was compounded (how many milligrams per ml). There really isn't any other way to know if you're getting the right dose.
I will also add...vet needs to know that there was a GLARING error on the label. If you hadn't been knowledgeable/paying attention, you might have given him a huge dose of Baytril that could have had very negative consequences.
I will also add...vet needs to know that there was a GLARING error on the label. If you hadn't been knowledgeable/paying attention, you might have given him a huge dose of Baytril that could have had very negative consequences.
Melvin has been on .15 ml Doxycycline for 2 weeks and .6 ml Baytril for one week now. I did not give a dose this morning. He still sneezes and snorts occasionally. I'm not sure what to do. His symptoms aren't apparent all the time. When I took him to the vet, she didn't see or hear any problems at first. When he got excited (when she needed to look into his mouth), the wheezing became mildly apparent. Other than that, I think she was mostly going on my word. When we left he snorted out a bit of snot. The congested breathing sound seems intermittent. I feel like it would take an hour or two of observation for a vet to notice anything. If I weren't around them so much, perhaps I wouldn't notice anything either.
I don't want to keep him on antibiotics if it isn't absolutely necessary. Isn't there some way, other than listening to his breathing, to tell if respiratory infection is present?
I don't want to keep him on antibiotics if it isn't absolutely necessary. Isn't there some way, other than listening to his breathing, to tell if respiratory infection is present?