However in guinea pigs, be aware of the risk of procaine toxicity.Great gram positive and negative activity (depending on the generation), covering aerobes and anaerobes.Though cephalosporins are rarely used, cephalexin can be used subcutaneously in rabbits, or via intramuscular injection in guinea pigs.Gram positive and negative action, covering aerobes and anerobes.Doxycycline has a great ability to penetrate into respiratory secretions. This mentality is very similar to the use of penicillin in cows, it’s not going to hurt, and it just might help, so whats the harm?The harm is that are doing a disservice to your self and your patients by limiting your knowledge and your tools, or antibiotics.So what are our options if enrofloxacin is NOT the cure to all ailments?The aim of this article is to provide you with options and knowledge to use with your rabbit and guinea pig patients. A young three year old male desexed rabbit had come in to the clinic.
Most antibiotics are prescribed in oral form for the pet owner to administer at home, though several can be administered by subcutaneous or intramuscular routes. How do you approach antibiotic selection?Centre for Veterinary Education: Time Online Course – Rabbits and Rodents 2018

But not a first choice.There are other options (and yes a few unmentioned classes), this is a good fundamental selection on which to treat your patient. We do this every day with other small and large animals, though often the barrier in exotics is not knowing what is safe, or in what dose.Antibiotics deemed safe have minimal risk of anerobic overgrowth, dysbiosis, and death. Milder side effects include dehydration and a loss of appetite. Especially handy for urinary and respiratory infections.Gram positive action, some anaerobic and some gram negative activityNot great for usage in rabbits and guinea pigs, consider this a reserve option for colitis and mycoplasma infections.
Each problem is different, and as any micobiologist will gleefully state, ideally culture and sensitivity tests should be run. Which is why they are used frequently.So when selecting antibiotics in rabbits and guineas, please consider;Will the antibiotic effectively reach and eradicate the bacteria?For example rabbit abscesses are full of thick caseous purulent exudate, which require surgical excision and adjunct antibiotic therapy.Are these antibiotics effective against the bacteria causing the infection?This is the limitation of enrofloxacin, which has limited anaerobic activity.For example – Otitis media may require one month of antibiotic therapy! The best way to keep your guinea pig safe from antibiotic toxicity is to choose a vet that specializes in treating exotic animals like guinea pigs. ), so the safe path of the cautious veterinarian begins and ends with enrofloxacin, closely followed by meloxicam.There’s nothing wrong with this, enrofloxacin is a very safe medication in rabbits, guinea pigs and ferrets. Use them wisely!A few years ago, i attended a cow seminar, the presenter discussed several cases and asked about the recommended therapy for each.I always thought it sent the wrong message, isn’t it better to encourage people to use different antibiotics depending on the infection?Depending on the interpretation of the previous sentence i picture microbiologists screaming somewhere in horror.My meaning being, use the most effective antibiotic for the infection. A dose of 0.625 cc would provide 30mg bactrim for a pig of one kilo (2.2 pounds).It is considered by some to be the drug of choice for urinary tract infections (UTI's). But all that surfaces are these words;So you delve deep into the middle of the ancient tome of notes, hoping to find an answer, before your client begins to wonder why you’ve been gone fifteen minutes…Unlike with cats and dogs, there is limited published information about which antibiotics are most effective in each body system, and a lot of evidence is anecdotal or extrapolated from other species.The other very real concern is giving toxic medications to your rabbit or guinea pig (remember penicillin bad?