Doxycycline only good for 14 days???

[Jack Sparrow]

I have some doxy for Lupin and the vet told me I have to throw it out after 14 days because it won't be good. I have a lot of medicine in that bottle and I think throwing about 75% of the bottle in the garbagge in 2 weeks is such a waste of money.

Anyone else heard that doxy is only good for 2 weeks? What happens during the night of the 15th day to make the medicine bad? What will happen if I use it after 15 days, will it kill my rat?

 

[jorats]

That's not right that he gave you so much medicine and then it goes bad.
What usually happens is the medicine loses it's potency. It won't be as strong or work as well.

Next time, make sure to ask him for only 2 weeks worth.

eta: is it in liquid form? If it's pill form it should last a lot longer.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

So I could still use it?

 

[jorats]

Ooops, I edited at the same time that you were typing.

Is it in liquid form or pill form?

 

[Jack Sparrow]

Liquid form. He mixed some powder to some liquid.

 

[jorats]

So I would say it most likely will lose it's potency, you can still use it but it won't work as it should. I don't think I would continue using it though.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

Then I wonder why he gave me so much of it. This is not the vet I usually go.

 

[jorats]

Which vet told you that it expires in 14 days?

 

[Jack Sparrow]

I don't remember his name. His is Indian I think.

 

[jorats]

No, I mean is it the same one that gave you the medicine?

 

[Jack Sparrow]

Yes it is the same vet that told me it last 14 days and gave me enough for about 2 months...

 

[Vanessa]

He probably used one Doxy tablet, which is normally 100mg strength (the only strength that I know of for Doxy), and that is why it resulted in such a large volume of liquid meds. Doxy is not a pill that can be halved or split accurately because it has a coating on it due to the foul taste.
In order to make a 25mg/ml solution, resulting in your rats getting about .1cc's per dose, you have to mix 4cc's of liquid with it. It really does make a lot in the end. It was more than likely unavoidable.
It will degrade in increments over time. It is probably at almost full potency a few days after the 14 day mark, but then might go down to 95% potency after 18 days, 90% after 20 days etc. (I am only guessing those percentages, I have no clue what they really are, and they probably don't have that good an idea either). Things like that are never 100% accurate.

 

[jorats]

I remember once, my vet sold me expired Baytril at an extremely reduced price. She told me that it most likely had it's full potency and that I should use it. It certainly worked on our girl. I should say though, I had the choice to refuse it.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

So I could still use it in a month if another rat needs meds. It will be better to use this than have nothing at all. Maybe I should increase the dose a bit then.

 

[Moon]

I thought that it was after 3 weeks that it started to lose potency...

 

[jorats]

Oral Baytril is 3 weeks.

Jack, I wish I could tell you for sure... but it's something to have on hand and to try. But if you see that the (future) sick rat continues to be unwell, then I would bring him in for more current meds.

 

[Vanessa]

It is very tricky, and inaccurate, to say how potent it would be after the 14 days. If the potency has dropped significantly in 30 days, then you are running the risk of providing a way too low dose of the drug resulting in an antibiotic resisitence being built up by the rat.
I would have no problem with giving a rat a few extra days more of the drug after the 14 days if I felt they need it because they have been on the full potency for the first 14 days cutting back on the chances of resistence being built, but would not suggest that you start a rat on drugs from the beginning when they are well on their way to degrading.

 

[Lise]

My vet used to always give me 30 days of doxy at a time. But I was finding that even in the fridge it was going bad in 3 weeks.

You could actually see a color change, and see the "texture" of the meds change. I knew to throw it out right away then.

I don't know if that happens to all doxy. I believe different vets compound it with different liquids, etc.

 

[ratamataz]

My vet told me doxy lasts a month, and that it doesn't need to be refrigerated.
Sounds like we are all getting different info!

 

[mamarat2]

I always ask my vet to call it into CVS for me, I get the vibramycin, which is doxycycline the pink syrupy stuff. Has a significantly LONG shelf life.