Pen G

[Wabbitdad12]

Here is the story. I finally got some pen g. Bought insulin syringes, but bought the wrong size. Went out late last night and got some bigger syringes and have tried to give some to Velvet without much success. I pull back on the syringe to the amount I want to give her inject that into the vial and then pull back to load the syringe. It is quite a strong suction, but I eventually fill the syringe. I push on it, some pen g dribbles out, I then go to inject it into Velvet and the plunger will not move forward. Twice I have put enough pressure that the needle seperates from the syringe and the pen g has gone all over the floor, the couch and my dining room.

She has not been doing well and now that I have the pen g, I can't get it into her to do her any good.

B-D syringes are the ones I am using.

Help!

 

[ra7751]

Just wondering why do you need to administer Penicillin? Do you have the correct formula of Pen G? There are various formulas called Pen G. Do you know how to dose this drug? Did you know that Penicillin burns like H-E-double hockey sticks when it is injected? Do you know how to address the skin abscesses that come with the use of Pen? You should use at least a 21g needle when administering Penicillin. It should be buffered with either LRS or Sodium Chloride in order to lessen the burn....and buffering will also make it easier to shoot and will help with the skin abscesses. Penicillin should be refrigerated....and the dose should be warmed to at least room temp before injecting. Keep in mind that Penicillin is not effective against all pathogens.

I generally use at least a 30 mL syringe with Luer Lock attached to a 12" 21g butterfly catheter. This is the easiest method I have found to administer this drug and the long catheter allows some "wiggle" room. I mix the drug with approx. 10 mL of fluids.

Randy

 

[TinysMom]

I'm moving this to the infirmary and I've pm'd you Randy (about to PM you too Wabbitdad)...

I really hope Velvet starts feeling better....

 

[Little Bay Poo]

We've had Pen G squirt up at the ceiling, across the table, out the other side of the bunnies fur, explode into our faces, even explode onto me from a vet tech administering it. I hate Pen G.

For us, the injections were for a case of head tilt and required administering sub Q by tenting the skin. If you are doing something different (like treating an abcess) then what I'm about to say may be totally irrelevant.

There are a few things that I found to be helpful in giving Pen G shots.

• Dabbing a small amount of rubbing alcohol to dampen the fur and clearly see the injection site
• Making sure to tent enough skin to create a good pocket as the plunger would get stuck from hitting intradermal tissue
• Taking the needle out and starting over instead of forcing it if the plunger is stuck. Sometimes slowly extracting the needle while gently pushing the plunger, or moving the needle while in the bunny found the right spot and injected properly. Forcing always resulted in an explosion of Pen G. A warning about starting over: if the injection sites are not given proper time to close in between tries, Pen G can leak out of the holes that were previously created.
• Massaging the Pen G once a successful shot is given. Letting it sit there by itself risks having the whole thing leak out of the injection site.
• Getting the right sized needle (smaller numbers mean bigger needles). A 25 gauge would not work with us as we were even having problems with a 22. A 20 gauge worked best although left scabs and sometimes caused the skin to bleed. 18 would have been too big for our tiny rabbit.

We had the right supplies and all, so the most important thing was making sure to tent the skin properly. I found that simultaneously pulling the skin upward and away from my direction made the skin very taut and easy to get the shot right in the pocket. This resulted in the highest chance of giving a successful shot.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

Thanks for the help. I am using Peg-G Procaine. It was suggested by another very experienced RO member. I haven't had much success with Baytril which is what my vet likes to go with to treat URI. I have heard many good things about the success of Pen-G. For my flemmie I am going to give her 1.5cc's every other day.

I contacted my vet and I am getting larger needles tonight.

 

[mochi_ball]

I found it really hard initially to inject the medication too but it just takes practice. The best way would be to have the vet show you how to administer the shot, and then learn from that. When i first started giving mochi her shots I didn't realize how thick a rabbit's skin was so when I poked her the needle did not penetrate through entirely.

 

[xeblic]

:woohoo Success! I got a 20g needle and was successful in giving Velvet her shot. Boy, does it look ouchy, massaged it some and she is going to get an extra craisin or two.

Thanks for all the help!

Note to self, make sure your wife or daughter is not logged in before posting-Wabbitdad12

 

[Maureen Las]

The Penicillin must be kept refrigerated

When removed from the refrigerator the vial should ideally be rolled between the palms of the hands to mix the medication which tends to settle at the bottom of the vial. The medication should be mixed well

After the pencillin has been mixed the top of the vial should be wiped with an alcohol swab to kill all bacteria.

A syringe should be opened

Pull the plunger of the syringe to the amount of penicillin you plan to inject and then inject that amount of air into the bottle to equalize the pressure within the bottle

withdraw the amount of pencillin you plan to give


withdraw he needle from the vial and cap it.


If you are not mixing the pencillin with an istotonic solution like sterile saline or lactated ringers solution you are increasing the likelihood of the rabbit developing a sterile abscess in addition to the fact that the it hurts to give penicillin and it will hurt less if mixed ...plus be much easier to inject as it will be thinner.

often tiimes it is wise to change needles after withdrawing the penicillin ...if there is penicillin on the needle...just more irritation to the rabbits skin.

When you break the barrier of the skin of an animal or human there is always the danger of introducing a new pathogen into the animal...that means that you have clean hands and that the needle doesn't become contaminated before the injection.
If you miss the first time you cannot enter the rabbit again without using a sterile needle

Idon't feel that anyone should be giving injections or sub q fluids unless instructed properly.

Maureen

 

[Wabbitdad12]

Thanks, but unfortunately this is not the first time I have had to give injections, great information I will keep it in mind.

Dave