Cipro dosing?

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JacknRum

JacknRum

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Mar 24, 2012
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I can't find any sort of guide to double check dosing for medications in chinchillas. Is there one? My vet is awesome, but I'm also neurotic and really prefer to double check everything. In my experience, she is good at under dosing, and since that can make antibiotic resistances, I really want to be sure.

Jack is an approximate one pound. The dosage is 2.5mg 2x a day (.05ml).

He is still eating, drinking, etc. Not playing as much, but I think he is upset over the loss of Rum. He is not snotty or anything like that, but I have noticed him wiping his nose a bit more often. I'm not sure if it's just me or if it's actually happening. I feel very paranoid with the loss of Rum. I did catch one sneeze earlier. But we did have the heat on overnight as we got cold and that's the first time in about month we've had to, so maybe there is some dust floating around. I also just made him new shelves, and while I made sure to wipe away all the sanded down wood, maybe there is some still in the air, or the new smell of him caused the sneeze.

Either way, we've opted to be safe rather than sorry. If anyone could double check our dosage, that would be great! And point me in the direction of resources when it comes to medicating chins, that'd be great, too!
 
The dose for cipro range is wide, 5-20 mg/kg, the vet gave you the low range of dose which IMO without firm symptoms is fine but I still don't like the idea that a heavy duty antibiotic such as this is being used without firm symptoms, again JMO. As far as resources I just use my old pill bottles....
 
Thank you, that helps. Is there a different antibiotic you would recommend? With how fast Rum went downhill (Symptoms presented without warning and very badly, had passed within 24 hours), would you recommend something different? My vet is pretty receptive, but she's used to me bringing her rats, which are almost always prescribed Baytril or Cipro for respiratory illnesses.
 
Looking back at your past post on the other chin passing and since this chin is still in the bell curve zone for coming down with whatever the other chin had premedicating with a antibiotic is better safe than sorry in this case. I did not pay attention it was only a couple of days ago.
 
Is the dosing still good? Or should it be higher?

ETA: What's the bell curve? When should he be safe?
 
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Dose IMO is fine.

When I dealt with a infectious respiratory disease that killed 4 chins that potentially was passed to my chins by a sick chin at the state show, my vet told me the bell curve was 7-21 days, peak at around 14 days from "transmission", so basically you will worry until 21 days after the last contact, to feel safe. Sorry to say.
 
****, that is a good long time. I'm going to go ahead and mark the calendar and keep an eye on him. Intently. I don't think he appreciates it. I keep staring into his cage for minutes at a time to make sure he's breathing normally, fussing with him to listen to his chest, and constantly checking his eating and pooping.
 
It's certainly a job and a half. I'm up constantly through the night just to peek, since Rum's breathing was very bad towards the end. So far, so good! Just a sneeze here and there. He is looking a little lack-luster, though.

I know the general consensus on treats is there's no need for them. But I've ordered some papaya, vitamin C tablets, and apple & oat cookies to give him after his medicine. Is there any reason I can't give him tiny pieces of something sparingly (After medicine and before bed) just to make sure he's still accepting treats? I don't plan on doing it forever, but it's certainly been helpful to make sure he's still eating while he's on the antibiotics. Though, I think he's sick of shredded wheat. He's not taking it from me anymore, but he hasn't refused the dandelion greens yet.

I've caught him nibbling on hay, but his appetite isn't quite as ravenous as it usually is and I am not sure he's eaten many pellets at all (I'm about to dump the dish and put a small amount to see if I notice any missing since it's usually just filled to the brim.).
 
The antibiotic can cause loss of appetite and the need to hand feed until its done and maybe a few days after. The problem with what you want to do is the chinchillas gut-during antibiotic treatment the bacteria in the gut is killed off along with the bacteria that its supposed to kill, leaving the opportunity for bad bacteria to flourish, give that bad bacteria the sugary stuff you list and you have the potential for the bacteria to go bananas and overpopulate, when this happens it fermentation, fermentation leads to gas (bloat) and also inflamation of the digestive tract, both bad things in chinchillas. Sick chins need bland when on antibiotics or when sick or injured in general. Chin needs to be weighed daily and hand fed critical care if there is weight loss. If you want to know if he is eating pellets, weigh the bowl every evening and see how many grams of food are missing.
 
I didn't think of that with the sugary stuff. I've got critical care on the way, too. So maybe I'll use that after each dose to get the taste out of his mouth. I'm going to have to get a gram scale, because my scale weighs in ounces, which isn't quite as specific as I'd like. Good news is he seems bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning.
 
Alot of people will use simethicone after a oral antibiotic to remove the flavor. Its a baby gas drop that is harmless and tasty.
 
That's perfect, thank you very much! I've got to go out later, so I'll write that down and see if I can find it at the store. Thanks for being so patient and answering all my questions!
 
I usually go generic with OTC meds as long as the active ingredients are the same and there's no extra additives. I'll be sure to double check all the ingredients for sure.
 
When should the meds show an improvement? This is day 4 on the cipro. I haven't given him his first dose of the day, yet. But he is significantly more sneezy today than he was yesterday. Should the meds be adjusted?
 
Oh, but on that note, I just turned around and caught him eating some hay! I didn't see him eat at all yesterday, so I'm post poning the hand feeding and meds just twenty minutes or so until he's done eating.
 
Oops, missed the editting line. The eating didn't last long. I think I've figured out part of his lack of interest. I handed him a tiny piece of oat cookie to see if he'd eat it. He had a nibble, but then he started sneezing and dropped it. He got preoccupied with wiping his nose and then settled back down to sleep. I think his congestion is making him lose interest, kind of like how people do. So, heading to try the critical care now. I mixed up 2 tbs critical care with 4 table spoons water. But it's a bit thick, so I'm going to water it down a bit more, basing it off the video I found further down in threads.
 
I would call the vet up since the weekend is coming and run it past them that he is more sneezy, the dose of the cipro you are using is the lowest dose so it can be upped, URIs can take a LONG time to go away, but I personally would feel better if you called.
 
Alrighty, I'll shoot them a call as soon as I get washed up. I'm covered in more hair than he is, I think.

I got ~12-13ML of critical care into him before he stopped swallowing it completely. We pressed on for a bit after that, because he eagerly took the first half of the 15ml syringe, but then I had to force the rest and we had a bit left in the syringe, but we were wasting more than he was swallowing.

I read on here (I think maybe you said it?) that he should be getting ~60mls a day. So, would it be okay to hand feed every 4-6 hours? Or should I do it more?

I'll report back with what the vet says.

Edited because I can't spell.
 
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