Stupid vet gave my nursing bitch a shot of Baytril for a retained placenta. She had a temperature of 101.5 and a substantial amount of discharge, and was refusing food. She also had a shot of oxytocin.

I brought the bitch home only to google Baytril and find that it should not be given to nursing animals because it affects cartilage formation.

Does anybody have any information on how long the antibiotic will stay in the body? Obviously I will not be able to handle constant bottle feeding for long and I would like to have the pups nursing normally with the bitch as soon as possible.

Thanks.

Here's what I found on the Bayer Site

http://www.animalhealth.bayer.com/5161.0.html

 Quote:

Safety studies have shown that puppies between 1 and 4 weeks of age tolerated treatment with Baytril for up to 10 days at maximum doses of 25 mg/kg b.w. without showing adverse effects. In young dogs above 6 weeks of age, however, cartilage was affected depending on the dose and duration of Baytril administration

 Quote:

However, no evidence exists that Baytril treatment of pregnant or nursing dogs would have a negative influence on the cartilage development of the offspring.

It looks like studies showed no negative effects in very young pups

Yes, I found that too, I am trying to find out how long it will stay in the dam's system, more than 10 days? Plus I really don't trust pharmaceutical companies in researching their own product, especially a company founded by nazis, then again they did invent aspirin. IDK. Would you let your puppies breast feed with that in the dam's system? Would it be better to breast feed with the antibiotic or bottle feed? And the litter is Belgian Malinois, working dogs in need of good cartilage. I risk possibly having to replace the dogs due to elbows and hips, potentially. Bottle feeding is intense, I'm willing to do it, but I feel letting them nurse off the dam is superior, I'm weighing unknowns here.

I don't want to sound rude but research is research and if you don't trust it then that's your prerogative. But I'm certainly not qualified to offer any better alternatives. I know when I've given baytril orally the instructions have been once daily dosing. But sometimes injections are longer lasting. You could look into the half life of that class of drugs maybe.

Personally I wouldn't make the decision without veterinary advice.

Perhaps there is an emergency vet in your area who would offer some advice over the phone if you call and explain the situation? Or bottle feed tonight and call your own vet in the morning?

Well, I'm furious .

Your STUPID vet is trying to save your dogs life and the life of the puppies and Baytril is a damn good antibiotic with terrific tissue penetration, and the drug of choice. Using a good antibiotic will get your bitch eating, drinking, and lactating and likely save her life.

What would your choice of drug be? How about tetracycline? That stains the teeth of the puppies.
How about penicillin? That has a narrow spectrum, likely won't work. How about a cephalosporin? Not good when diluted with fetal fluids. Causes upset stomach. Ampicillin? Amoxicillin? Stomach upset. Tribrissin? Shuts down bone marrow..... Gentamycin? Kidney failure.

ALL drugs have side effects. EVERY ONE. If medicine works, it has side effects.
Don't worry about the Bayril. Those puppies are a 100% new puppy about every 2 wks, they are growing so fast. We are not talking about closing growth plates in 4 day old pups for God's sake. Baytril is a problem, maybe, rarely, at 6 mos.
You are talking life and death here. retained placenta is life and death, dead tissue inside. We are talking gangrene of the womb here.

Be grateful for the Baytril and give it as directed. Be grateful someone invented it, someone prescribed it, and that you can afford it.

 Quote:

especially a company founded by nazis

Bayer was founded in in 1863. That would pre-date the National Socialist party by about 70 years. Hardly founded by Nazi's. Peddle your bigotry elsewhere.

And, yes, Baytril is a good choice for that condition. It's relatively mild with few side effects and is generally tolerated well. The cartilage damage was noted in a few puppies aged 8-12 weeks that had high doses directly administered in that time frame. That is, they received far higher doses than they would get from mother's milk. However, Baytril is 'black-boxed' for puppies in that age range (8-12 wk) due to cartilage concerns.

Having a live dam and live puppies would seem to be more important.

I'm not upset that she was given the drug, I am very thankful for it. I am upset that no mention of potential effects on pups was discussed. Sorry about irate posts, I was about 48 hours sleep deprived and literally out of my mind. though i still question the company's statement "It appears that very young dogs between 1 and 4 weeks of age tolerate treatment with baytril from 5 to 25mg/kg b.w. for up to 10 days with out developing cartilage lesions." which is why I am curious to know how long it will remain in the dam's system. Anyway thank you, all of you, for the responses.

Perhaps no potential side effects were discussed because, medically and scientifically speaking, there were none to discuss given the situation. But, for curiosities sake, checking out the technical info for the drug will tell you the half life and give you an idea of how long it stays in the system and at what level. Many vets are happy to discuss the more technical aspects of drugs and treatments - they just don't tend to offer the information unless they know the client is interested in/can understand it.