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Zithromax dosing?

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Freela

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Does anyone have any info on the dosing of Zithromax (how much per g or kg?) We are still dealing with Sundae's abscess... she is happy, running around, and eating, but I am still expressing gunk out of the wound every day. I know that Zithromax is the go-to antibiotic for many who have had abscess experience, but it's pretty much unheard of as a med for guinea pigs in Canada. She has another follow-up at the vet on Thursday and I want to suggest it to the vet and give as much info as I can and request that they look into it for me. I can pretty much guarantee that it won't be something that they've encountered before, so want as much info as possible before Thursday.
 
It's a fantastic antibiotic for dealing with abscesses. For example, I am currently dealing with a piggy who had a huge abscess lanced and drained a week ago Friday, and it's just about sorted now. I use the box of Zithromax powder 200 mg/5 ml Powder to prepare 15 ml (600 mg) suspension.

The dose is 1 ml per 1 kilo weight of piggy, so therefore a piggy weighing 850g would be on a 0.85 ml dose or a piggy weighing 900g would be on a 0.9 ml dose, etc The dose is given once per day. As the mixture doesn't keep well, we split the powder into two separate bottles and make each batch up as needed. To each bottle you add 4.5 mls of tap water.
 
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Zithromax is a human drug, i cant remember the name of the drug company who manufacture it. I have been prescribed it for pigs with jaw abscesses and pneumonia ( different pigs!) in the past with life saving results. The dose has always been exactly as furryfriends explains above. If you give your vet info about it they can look into it, there must be vet forums or similar where they can contact vets in the uk, including rabbit specialists as it was used in bunnies before guinea pigs.
 
For those in the UK who need it, I checked it out my 2 suppliers. Vet UK don't do it but Chemist Direct do. You would need to get a prescription from your vet.
 
Thanks very much! I will pass this info along to the vet tomorrow and see what he says. It seems like the UK is ahead of North America in terms of guinea pig veterinary care!
 
I'm glad you posted this, Freela. I was just asking my vet earlier today about prescribing George Zithromax instead of Baytril for after his his abscess surgery. She said she has to research it...so I hope she can give us some! And I definitely agree that the UK is way ahead of us as far as guinea pigs go...which gets frustrating!
 
I hear you! It seems like in North America, guinea pigs are seen as disposable pets for kids. I have a great exotics vet, but I think that the knowledge base for guinea pigs is still a lot smaller in North America. Luckily my vet is usually open to suggestions, so it's worth a shot to see if he can look into it, and maybe it will benefit some other guinea pigs in the practice too!

I'm glad you posted this, Freela. I was just asking my vet earlier today about prescribing George Zithromax instead of Baytril for after his his abscess surgery. She said she has to research it...so I hope she can give us some! And I definitely agree that the UK is way ahead of us as far as guinea pigs go...which gets frustrating!
 
I have been "trying out" different vets since we have had the pigs. This vet that i finally found seems pretty good with guinea pigs; she has been treating George for his infected toe. I'm hoping after all of this is sorted out (George's infection, that is) I will have found a "forever vet." The practice doesn't specialize in exotics, but i was referred to their practice by my long time vet that treats our dogs and cats. Like I said, I mentioned that I read that Zithromax is an excellent antibiotic for treating antibiotics. She said she would research; and I really hope she'll be willing to prescribe this for him, rather than Baytril. Whether or not she is trying to "appease" me remains to be seen; I just want to have a vet that I can feel confidant taking the pigs to during a problem, it's just stressful when you make that decision after a problem happens, but I am optimistic!
 
I asked a few vets for zithromax and no one would give me it as they hadn't experienced it with gpigs and weren't willing to D< But finally found a vet that let me buy a bottle of it from him. The abscesses were removed but my poorly piggie got a pus infection on one of the wounds and I was on baytril but asked for zithromax. I can't say I can see any pus any more, vet visit tonight though for a check up.
I think vets who haven't used zithromax on piggies before are apprehensive to use it because they aren't sure on the effect or the dosage. I wish more vets would be willing to contact others though and try it instead of flat out saying no!
 
Sundae and I saw the vet today- he was pleased with how she is coming along, and said I am doing a good job taking care of the wound and keeping it clean. He said most owners are really squeamish about it and don't want to clean it out properly, and that I should have been a vet! LOL! That's one of the things I really like about my vet... at this point he seems to treat me like I know my stuff and is very willing to show me how to do things myself (at this stage, I mix my own meds and he gave me a big bottle of veterinary antiseptic to rinse out the abscess because he said if I'm putting in so much effort to irrigate it, I might as well use the same stuff he uses post-op.) We talked about Zithromax, and he said he has not prescribed it himself in the past, but he will do some research about it and we can see where we are at her next follow-up in 2 weeks' time. If he feels comfortable about it and if we are still expressing pus from the wound at that point, it may be worth a shot. So we'll see where that goes when I go back. In good news, she has gained another couple of ounces and is back at the 2 lb mark, which is great! Her maximum weight has been about 2 lb 9 oz, but since she began having issues with her teeth about 6 months ago, she has been around 2 lb 3 oz on average, so we are inching back to her pre-abscess baseline. The vet also pointed out what a nice piggy she is... he said he gets bit draining some abscesses, but she just squeaked for a minute and then went back to sitting with her front feet on my hand, looking around. Hopefully things will continue to go well for her.
 
Sounds like you have a great vet! Hopefully during your next apointment you won't even need antibiotics, but if you do your vet will be willing to give you the zithromax. that's also pretty cool that he's recognizing your knowledge of guinea pigs; there have been times i've taken my pigs to a vet and known straight up that i knew more than they did, so it's great you have a vet who is good and appreciates your abilities, too! Hope you can put some more weight on her, and good job Sundae!
 
When my Fred had his Jaw Abscess, I asked about Zithromax initially my vet was apprehensive. It's good having the forum as I knew the Dental Sanctuary (Furryfriends) has a lot of experience with the drug. Fred was booked in to get Xray's when I got a phone call he'd managed to find a paper done on Rabbits about Abscess sensitivity, Zithromax was 94% effective in dealing with Abscesses in Rabbit's. We'd been dealing with Fred's abscess for about 6 weeks, when we finally tried Zithromax. Fred had two negative Reactions to both Baytril and Flagy, so it wasn't surprising 6 weeks in with two antibiotic intolerance's, that Zithromax wasn't going to agree. It is the First time I've ever continued with Antibiotic after the piggy has shown he was intolerant, he was hard-work and needed round the clock feeding, massages and gut stimulants but we got to the end of the 14 day course and it cleared the nasty bone abscess.
 
Yes I did, thanks very much for that! I will pass it along to my vet when I see him next week. I really appreciate it!
 
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