Pen G Vs. Bicillin

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did Pidge have any Gi issues at all/ and what was the dosage you gave him and his wt.

I'm asking out of curiousity as I usually cannot get an effective oral drug from my vet either.
 
Sorry it took me a while to wriite back, I had to find all of Pidgey's old vet bills to find his weight and dosage at that time. It looks like he weighed 4 lbs, 10 oz and we were giving him .40 CC of the bicillin. My vet was so caring and understanding about his condition she even went out of her way to get me a big 100 ML bottle of it.
Pidge really didnt have stomach problems, I would ocassionally give him some bene-bac and that seemed to help.

Good luck, you just have to be persistant with these vets.


 
Marietta said:
:

Haley, 4 years ago I bought a bottle of Bicillin from a pharmaceutical company in New York (Bicillin is not available in Europe) and they had it shipped and transported till Greece packed in an insulatedboxwrapped up indry ice. It took 3 days to be flown and delivered to me in Athens and, when I got it,the bottle was still cold and in perfect condition.

Marietta
Click to expand...

Hi Marietta, I was just wondering where you ordered the Bicillin because it is also not available in Canada
-Kyla
 
Hello,
I also ordered Bicillin from a California based company called tscpets.com . It took around 2 weeks to get to Greece, but the packaging was awesome and the bottle was actually still cold. I tried it today with an insulin sized needle and ended up splashing it all over my bunny's back. It has a very thick consistency (unlike the clear Pen G that I have been using for a month). I tried warming up the syringe by emersing it in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes, and it seemed to make a thinner consistency. I might end up having to dilute it with Water For Injection (Ringer's Lactated has sodium in it, so that might hurt more. Most human injections are prepared with Water For Injection anyhow, not Normal Saline or Ringer's Lactated).
My rabbit is battling with a leg abscess for over a month now. Daily Pen G worked well from the first week. She has had 2 operations already though. She was rescued with parts of her hind legs missing (looks like a birth defect, although the vet claims that it could be due to an injury). After an almost fatal GI stasis (on which she was operated on), she developed a leg abscess on on of her hind legs, from hitting it around (she was in terrible pain on the first two days of the stasis - was screaming in pain every half an hour. I still get chills remembering that). A week after lancing it and removing the thick pus, the vet had to operate on it because the bone was starting to protrude from the skin laceration. We had to get a second surgery yesterday because the stiches came off and the bone stuck out again.
Needless to say this is a very tough bunny with a strong will to live!!
 
I don't know if you are needing help, but here is some info on giving penicillin injections. You don't want to warm the syringe by putting it in water, or it will no longer be sterile. You want to draw it in the syringe and let sit out for about 10 minutes(with cap on needle), or hold in your hand to warm it up. It will help too if you dilute with the lactated ringers or sterile saline. You should also ask your vet about the injections if you are having trouble with them.
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f27/bicillin-zithromax-43096/index2.html
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f27/having-trouble-giving-penicillin-injections-bunny-62218/
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f22/antibiotics-13341/#p449212

Also make sure if you get the penicillin on your rabbits fur, that you thoroughly wipe it off, as you do not want your rabbit ingesting any when it grooms.

I'm so sorry about the rough time that your poor bun has had. Hopefully with the surgery and bicillin, your bun will be feeling all better soon. Best of wishes to you and your bun.
 
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Jenny, I was just going to post about penicilin injections and if I need to leave it out of the fridge to warm up a bit before giving it. You´ve just answered my questions. I brought the syringe from the with the correct dosage so it´s in the fridge ready for tomorrow.

It´s been really interesting reading all this and seeing how other bunnies do. Mine was on antibiotics before the pencilin and the change has been like night and day. I would recommend pencilin jabs for treatment of abscesses to anyone, mine is coming along really well and I am hoping will eventually make a full recovery.
 
When we have to give pen g we use a larger gauge needle to make it easier to draw up. We let the syringe sit out a little bit and switch to a smaller gauge needle to administer.
 
The vet prepared it so it's in the syringe already. I am assuming I need to let it warm up outside the fridge before administering.
 
You must have sent me a subliminal message :)

You can let it sit out for a few minutes, or warm it up in your hand. I'm sure it also makes it a bit more comfortable for the bun when the med isn't cold.
 
Thanks Jenny, I was just having a bit of a panic as from this thread I went to another thread where the bun died shortly after having an injection so I went into major panic about tomorrow. However, I have now calmed down a bit. I have been giving both antibiotics and metacam injections for over two weeks so the penicilin will be more or less the same. It just really upset me as I read through the whole thread and he was an adorable little bun s that upset me first, sudden losses are always so hard. Anyway, thanks everyone for the advice :)
 
I'm sorry :( But just remember all the accounts where it has helped peoples rabbits get better.

I thought you had already been giving the pen injections? Or has the vet been giving them til now?
 
Well actually the nurse has been giving them as my vet is allergic to penicilin. I've been giving the antibiotics and metacam but I suppose it's basically the same. I will let you know tomorrow.
 
My bunny developed a sterile skin abscess on the spot of her first bicillin shot! I'm thinking on going back to Pen G daily - she had them for a month without any skin problems. I did dilute the bicillin with an equal amount of sterile Water For Injection, so I don't see what else I could do. She does have very sensitive skin in general, so maybe it varies from rabbit to rabbit. I don't think risking another painful skin abscess is worth that extra 24 hours between doses that bicillin has to offer.
Unfortunately her wound distended again yesterday and she had to get it stiched up (5th time!!!). I can't find any true rabbit-savvy vets in Athens, and I'm beginning to feel desperate
 
Just done the first injection and it was tricky, took me a few times to get it in right but I did it with none getting on the fur. Second time if I have to o it should ba so much easier.
 
Pen G is Benzathene Penicillin (Benzylpenicillin). The product you were looking at is Penicillin G Benzathine plus Penicillin G Procaine (the so called bicillin). You have to speak with your vet about switching. From what I understand the main difference is that Pen G is given every 24 hours where as bicillin is given every 48 h (I don't know if they have differences in the distribution of the drug in the organism or their effect on the outcome). Keep in mind that bicillin is thick and white and is more difficult to administer to your rabbit.
OTC bicillin should be as effective as a prescription one, you shouldn't worry about that.
 
It depends on what type of penicillin you have. With giving daily injections, it's likely what you are using is pen g procaine, as this is the one most often used that requires daily injections. You will need to either check your bottle or ask your vet. The one on that website is a combination penicillin with pen g procaine and benzathine, which is considered a long acting penicillin so doesn't need to be given daily. But if you do get this and it is different than what you have been giving so far, because it is pen g procaine/benzathine and not just regular pen g procaine, the dosage frequency and amount is going to be different, so you will need to get the new dosage info from your vet. As mentioned, the pen g procaine/benzathine is also thicker, and some people find the injections a little more difficult to give. If you are wanting to give this and want to go by the info in the bicillin study, then you will also need to bring this up with your vet, as the dosage amount and frequency in the study, may be different than what your vet would normally prescribe.
http://people.umass.edu/~jwmoore/bicillin/bicillin.htm

OTC pen g is the same as getting it from prescription. Pen g is a common antibiotic used with livestock animals, which is why it is available otc, at least in the US. Getting it otc is fine as long as they package it correctly and it is cold shipped. You may also be able to just pick up a bottle from a local feed store near you. It is usually much cheaper than buying directly from the vet. If you want to stick with giving the pen g procaine, you can also get that otc, which would also be much cheaper for you.
 
Jenny I am actually pretty certain that Bandy is on the bicilin injections every 72 hours, the liquid is thick white and as quite difficult to inject. I think he's on 0.6ml and he weighs about 1.850 kg at the moment. I was looking at the bottle this morning and it is slow acting Shorapen by Verbac. It is all very confusing, I am so glad it is the vet worrying about all this and not me.
 
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