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Adam

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Hi guys and girls, i got my 2 male rats about 3 weeks ago. They were about 10 weeks old when i got them. Since we had them one was always sneezing, left it a week as thought may of been the new home etc. After it didnt stop we took him to the vet who gave told us to give him 0.78mls of synulox and 0.3mls of Azithromycin twice a day. Now the vet didnt really explain how to administer the doasage very well. I beleive iv been doing it right but just need to check. On the syringe theres two units of measurements and just wondered if anyone can confirm the measurement i should be using. Little rattie is full lf energy, running around, fighting climbing etc but doesnt seem to want to stop sneezing or making a chirping noise.


 
.3 or .03? .3 seems like a lot for 10 week old rats. That would be down to where it says 0.3 & the .78 would be between 0.7 & 0.8 again I have NEVER seen a dose that high!! Do you know the concentration or can you put a photo of the bottle on here? We recommend baytril and doxy for URI
 
Yes, use the ML/CC side - as Dpsch said, the doses would be at the .3 line (approx 1/3 of the syringe) and between the .7 and .8 line (almost the full syringe).
The dose does seem high but it may be really "watered down". The concentration should be somewhere on the bottle or on your receipt - it should say # MG / # ML.
You can also post your rats' weights so we can double check the dose. Your vet probably took down their weights and should also be on your receipt. :)
 


Any help?
Couldnt tell if the dosage was too high. 3/4 of a syringe seemed a lot. She did weigh them but seemed to have difficulty working out the dosage
 
I will need their weights to double check the doses.
Did she write down their weights for you? Or do you have a kitchen / postage scale to check?
 
Will have to try and weigh them. She recorded them on the computer. The pet shop have covered the cost of the meds so didnt give me a receipt.
 
Well, I can tell you that your rats would have to weigh almost 2 pounds for that Clavamox (synulox) dose to be correct....

The Zithro I am not sure what people are currently dosing at. Ratguide suggests 8mg/lb on the high end, which would give me the result of your rats weighing 1.5 pounds.

My largest rat (quite big adult male) is about 1.8 pounds.
 
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Right dexter is 200g. Smudge wouldnt sit still but looked about 300g before he jumped off
 
Alrighty, so for the zithro:
Dexter: .09 cc twice a day
Smudge: .13 cc twice a day

For the synulox:
Dexter: .08 cc twice a day
Smudge: .12 cc twice a day

It's going to be somewhat difficult to measure with the size syringes you have.
You can call and ask the vet for smaller ones. Or you can sometimes find them in stores (pharmacies), or online. They would be called .5 ML oral syringes. It is doable with the ones you have though. All of the doses are going to be right around that first line - the .1

We should get Jorats or Lilspaz in here to check my doses too though, I am not as familiar with these meds as those two are - I'm not positive on the dosage strengths. I think quoting will bring them to this thread.

I did the calculations for Zithro @ 8mg/lb and Clavamox @ 20mg/kg.

lilspaz68 said:

jorats said:
 
Yes big difference! Doses for rats are usually pretty small. Maybe your vet was dosing for dogs or something.. hard to say. I love the name Smudge too btw. :)
I just reread your first post and I see you said they are still sneezy. How long have they been on the meds? It often takes 3-7 days to see results.
 
Right so i rang the vet i used again today to get some answers on this. Being at work i was unable to go in directly. They say the dosage they have advised is correct and even though its on the high end is safe?
They said they had 2 different vets check and its looks more due tomthe size of the syringe??

Obviously im no vet and these are the first rats iv ever had to medicate so a bit worried about implications if i over med them
 
I don't know where that vet gets his numbers. I just checked my Exotic Animal Formulary and the dosages never goes high enough to get the calculations your vet got. The first syringe is the standard syringe all of us use.
 
OK let's go over your facts

Dexter - 200 g & Smudge - 300 g
Your clavamox is 50 mg/ml.
Your zithro is 40 mg/ml

Using 20 mg/kg for Clavamox & Zithro

Dexter - 0.1 ml twice a day for zithro and 0.08 ml twice a day for Clavamox

Smudge - 0.15 ml for zithro and 0.12 ml for Clavamox (both twice a day)
 
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I'm treating both. Only gave me one measurement for each med. told me to give the same dosage to both rats. It's Dexter that's ill. The amount they told me to use is pretty much 3/4 of the syringe
 
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