Confused about given medicine

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Moggy

Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2020
Messages
13
Location
Den Helder, Holland.
Earlier today I have been given two drugs for a sick rat; novacam and sulfatrim.
Upon opening the package I immediately got confused. They gave me two unmarked syringes and a description for dosing.
The problem is I can not tell these two drugs apart from each other; one is darker, other is lighter. But still I have no clue.
I attached a picture with the two syringes in the hope someone does recognize the difference.

The dosages on the package I received read as follow;

Sulfatrim; 16/80 mg/ml 10ml
Novacam 0.5mg/ml 5ml

I need to give 0.06ml Sulfatrim two times a day and and Novacam one time a day for 0.07ml.

Hope someone can help.
 

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The one with less is the Novacam (metacam) as they only gave you 5 ml of it. The one with more is the Sulfatrim as they gave you 10 ml of it.
Did they give you this for a respiratory infection or a structural infection like inner ear infection?
 
They gave it for an ear infection. But today she got an injection of prednisone and tomorow she is scheduled for another as she got worse. She moves erratic and shakes her head in all directions and is unable to eat any solid food, though she does try hard.
 
Can you post a video? Is she suddenly moving at high speed, waving her head around? Like this video I posted of a rescue I took in ?



If so that would be inner ear infection but the manic variety. I call them manic tilties. Just like the head tilt with regular inner ear infection, the manic behavior doesn't usually go away, but you still have to treat the active infection which is usually with a combo of antibiotics and steroids if possible. Make sure to treat for at least 3 weeks to clear the infection as they can be persistent.

Unfortunately you will need to stop using the Novacam as its meloxicam (an NSAID) and you cannot give steroids and NSAID's at the same time. Plus Novacam really won't help much with the inflammation due to inner ear infection.

Try offering her soft lickable food for now, like baby cereal or her regular lab blocks with a lot of water added to make a mush (with Oxbow you need to grind it first in a coffee grinder before adding water). Inner ear infections hurt and are connected to the jaw so eating can hurt as well.
 
I just stopped the novacam and am about to go to the vet right now for another prednison injection.
Luckily I still had a bag of Oxbow's from a few weeks ago with another rat. She eats that readily and gains weight slowly.

I just made a video and this is how she is right now;

 
pretty classic. Treat as inner ear infection for at least 3 weeks and watch for her to be more alert and capable (less dizzy). If she still seems really dizzy after a week you might want to consider changing the antibiotics to baytil and doxy, or baytril and azithromycin or baytril and clavamox.
 
Just came from the vet and they did mark an improvement in her behaviour. Still dizzy though but again gained a little weight and she is a bit more alert.
She got another injection of pred, but did not want to give more antibiotics as they don't think it will make a difference. And Baytril is not even available in Holland anymore. Do you perhaps know where there are proper ones available without prescription?
 
do you or any family or friends have any leftover antibiotics/pills in your cupboard? Ciprofloxacin, Doxycycline, Azithromycin, Amoxicillin, Clavamox (or Augmentin), etc will all help better than nothing?

I have NO clue if you can order online in Holland.
 
do you or any family or friends have any leftover antibiotics/pills in your cupboard? Ciprofloxacin, Doxycycline, Azithromycin, Amoxicillin, Clavamox (or Augmentin), etc will all help better than nothing?

I have NO clue if you can order online in Holland.

Sorry for my late reply. No antibiotics in my family or any friends. Nevertheless I been to the vet yesterday and today and she was administered Dexamethasone. She is currently much less confused about her surrounding and her balance and alertness has improved markedly; head tilting is almost entirely gone. I got some shots of Dexamethasone to last me the weekend, and will bring her in on Monday for another checkup. I hope this keeps up.

Thank you for the advices so far :)
 
Unfortunately she just died. I woke in the morning and found her very weak, an hour later she died. I am glad I could say goodbye and hope she didn't suffer to long through the night. When I went to bed she was very strong and was convinced she would make a full recovery........
 
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