Urgent! Am I Going To Kill My Pig With This Medication?

[gorrioncita]

She has a respiratory desease, the veterinary has been trying several oral antibiotics (marbofloxacin, enrofloxacin...) for almost 2 months now but she is not getting better.

Today I went to the vet again and she gave her a shot of Ceftazidima (Cephalosporin), and told me to give her 2 shots everyday during a week.

I have made a google search for this medication and it appears to be a deadly medication: Guinea Lynx :: Dangerous Medications

Veterinary says that it is nothing to worry about because the antibiotic is not being administered orally but injected. Is he right? Or am I'm going to kill my pig?


Answer please!

 

[helen105281]

I am going to tag a couple of people who may know @Wiebke @Abi_nurse

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Some drugs are safer given by injection but should never be given orally. For example, you can give penicillin by injection to bunnies but it is highly toxic if ingested. However, I am no sure about this one for guinea pigs. I would be very cautious about proceeding with this.

 

[Wiebke]

@Abi_nurse is our medications buff; sorry, I have never come across injected Ceftazidima before.

 

[Freela]

In some drugs the culprit in making them unsafe is their effect on the digestive system, making an injection a safer route of delivery. This may be the case with this drug. Does your vet routinely work with guinea pigs, enough that you trust his or her judgment in knowing what meds are safe? Can you call back and double check if you aren't comfortable with it?

 

[gorrioncita]

In some drugs the culprit in making them unsafe is their effect on the digestive system, making an injection a safer route of delivery. This may be the case with this drug. Does your vet routinely work with guinea pigs, enough that you trust his or her judgment in knowing what meds are safe? Can you call back and double check if you aren't comfortable with it?

They are exotic vets so they 'should' know what they're doing, however they told me once that penicillin was also safe if injected... which I read that is completely wrong, so I don't know what to think about them.

In any case I can't call them right now because it is night here, and even if I called them I can't imagine a good answer from their part when I'm questioning their work...

 

[Freela]

They are exotic vets so they 'should' know what they're doing, however they told me once that penicillin was also safe if injected... which I read that is completely wrong, so I don't know what to think about them.

In any case I can't call them right now because it is night here, and even if I called them I can't imagine a good answer from their part when I'm questioning their work...

If they're closed you can't reach them, but I don't see anything wrong with asking questions if you have a concern. I ask my vet a ton of questions and have even had my vet call me up and tell me that I was right and he was wrong (I asked him to put one of my pigs under and check her molars even though he didn't see anything while looking in her mouth, but she was pulling faces the way one of my prior pigs with dental issues had. Turns out there was a molar spur at the back after all.) I don't think he dislikes me for it, because I've got a pig with some long-term issues we've actually gotten pretty friendly and I think he appreciates that I'm involved and do my research. So don't be afraid to ask questions when it comes to your pet's health... a good vet will realize that people will second-guess and ask questions and not take it personally.

 

[gorrioncita]

Finally we didn't give her the shot last night.

We have called this morning and they insist that the medication is safe, they say that is toxic only when given orally. Furthermore, they say that Ceftazidime is a third generation cephalosporin so it is even less harmful, and they assure that they have never had a single problem with this medication on any guinea pig...

They say the only alternative to this is returning to oral medications that are not giving results... they have told me to give her half of the dose if I'm too concerned, that way I would just give her one shot per day...so I'm thinking of following their advice and give her such treatment.


EDIT: I have noticed that my pig has not sneezed (she was sneezing all day long) since the shot that the vet gave her yesterday, so, even if toxic, it looks like that is in fact effective.

 

[flintstones]

They are exotic vets so they 'should' know what they're doing, however they told me once that penicillin was also safe if injected... which I read that is completely wrong, so I don't know what to think about them.

In any case I can't call them right now because it is night here, and even if I called them I can't imagine a good answer from their part when I'm questioning their work...

I have used penicillin before for a sereve throat infection, it was injected daily. My pig is still alive 4 years on. The vet assured me at the time it was toxic if given orally.