Doxycycline

[Libby]

Hi,
my rabbit has "rabbit kennel cough", and the vet gave him some Doxycycline.
My boyfriend left it out all night, about 12 hours, and didn't put it in the fridge.
Can it go bad? Or is it okay?
It was thick but now it's very watery.

 

[ra7751]

Depends on the version....if it is a compounded drug, refrigeration is to keep it stable. I probably wouldn't use any drug thatshould have been refrigerated but wasn't. But I have other concerns. First, rabbits don't get "kennel cough". They can be carriers of bordetella but rarely present active symptoms. Doxycycline is in the family of Tetracycline. In all my years of treating rabbits, I have only used it once and that was in treatment of a streptoccocus infection. Without a proper culture, use of antibiotics is a guessing game. Most of the time, what many vets may call "kennel cough" is actually an Upper Respiratory Infection that is usually caused by a bacteria knonw as Pasteurella Multocida. The traditional drug used has been Baytril but the bacteria is becoming resistant and that drug doesn't work so well these days. My personal drug of choice against a confirmed Pasteurella infection is Zithromax. I have also used Zeniquin (a new floroquinolone related to Baytril but without the resistance issues) or one of the injectable antibiotics such as Convenia or Penicillin. My non-professional opinion is that Doxycycline isn't the best choice in this situation.

Randy

 

[Maureen Las]

If it was compounded into a syrup usually it does not need refrigeration ..if it was mixed with water and instructions were to refrigerate then you probably need a new bottle. give it as instructed until you can get a new bottle as it will not hurt your rabbit but just may be ineffective.
I would call the vet office and tell them what occured

 

[Libby]

Thanks everyone. I would have called and asked the vet but they are closed weekends. I'll call Monday and buy some more just to be safe. Hopefully my bun is okay until Monday- he isn't incredibly sick with it, and still eats like a piggy.

Oh, and we called an Emergency Animal Clinic that handles rabbits and they said don't give it to him just to be safe.

 

[Libby]

ra7751 wrote:

Depends on the version....if it is a compounded drug, refrigeration is to keep it stable. I probably wouldn't use any drug thatshould have been refrigerated but wasn't. But I have other concerns. First, rabbits don't get "kennel cough". They can be carriers of bordetella but rarely present active symptoms. Doxycycline is in the family of Tetracycline. In all my years of treating rabbits, I have only used it once and that was in treatment of a streptoccocus infection. Without a proper culture, use of antibiotics is a guessing game. Most of the time, what many vets may call "kennel cough" is actually an Upper Respiratory Infection that is usually caused by a bacteria knonw as Pasteurella Multocida. The traditional drug used has been Baytril but the bacteria is becoming resistant and that drug doesn't work so well these days. My personal drug of choice against a confirmed Pasteurella infection is Zithromax. I have also used Zeniquin (a new floroquinolone related to Baytril but without the resistance issues) or one of the injectable antibiotics such as Convenia or Penicillin. My non-professional opinion is that Doxycycline isn't the best choice in this situation.

Randy

Thanks.
Well, he doesn't have Kennel Cough- I'm aware... he has Pasteurella and I'm sorry, I forgot the name. That is how the vet explained it to me.

The vet is who gave it to us and he is the best small animal vet within a 50 mile radius of here. Unless you're a vet I'll take your advice with a grain of salt, and I'll leave the medicating to my vet. Thanks anyways.