Calf Reaction to IM Penicillin Injection

[morlando27]

Hello! I'm new to the forum and to raising cattle. My 15 year old son is working on a dairy farm and recently brought home a set of bull/heifer twins (now 4 weeks old). The bull has had a bit of a rough time with things. We got him through some sort of illness and a case of scours, followed by hair loss on his backside. He was doing well when we noticed a lump on his lower jaw a couple days ago. After consulting with the farmer my son works for and a couple of others, we were advised that it was either an infected tooth or abscess from a cut in his mouth and to give him 5 mL penicillin, two doses the first day, then one dose a day for a few more days. I picked up the penicillin last night but the label said to give 1 mL per 100 lbs body weight so 5 mL seemed way too high and we only gave 0.8 mL. I have since read that many vets recommend 10 mL per 100 lbs body weight so I guess 5 mL would be ok afterall. Anyway, immediately upon giving him the penicillin in his hindquarters, we began wheezing and coughing and lost coordination in his back legs. Within 10-15 minutes, he seemed to be ok and looked good this morning but I am reluctant to give him a second dose in case it was an allergic reaction. Should we proceed with giving him another dose of penicillin or switch to a different antibiotic? Go ahead and increase the dose to 5 mL?

 

[Chocolate Cow2]

You shouldn't give any vaccinations anywhere but within a triangle area on the neck. You may have hit a nerve in his hindquarters. I give injections SQ in the neck area and massage the area immediately to avoid the possibility of a lump. I'll let others comment on whether to give penicillin again. I'd just like to see you change location.

 

[Aaron]

You hit a nerve when you injected him. Hindquarter injections should be given dead center in the rump. I do it all the time, especially in cows. I would like to know the exact spot you needled him. I have never heard of a reaction to Penicillin, figure it is about the safest to use on everything. Also, you didn't specify if it is Pen G or Pen LA.

 

[Son of Butch]

Penicillin has to be given a minimum of 3 days, it has been known for over 60 years to do any
less just breeds drug resistant super bugs. Giving 1 shot (and low dose to boot) and stopping is
worse herd management than never doing anything at all.

p.s.
Not meant to single out OP, but as a reminder to all when using penicillin.

 

[darcelina4]

I only give injections in the triangle on the neck per beef quality assurance rules. I rarely use pen in calves. Use nuflor or baytril instead. You need to get them from a vet. Look in the calf's mouth. Feel to make sure there isn't a sticker or a piece of hay stuck in there. Look for yellow slim. If find it then it is calf diphtheria. Give a dose of banamine. 1cc orally. It should reduce inflammation. Anytime you give a baby antibiotics also give some probias gel everyday.

 

[morlando27]

Thanks for the advice! We gave him subsequent injections of Pen G in the neck without issue and the swelling along his jaw is nearly gone.

 

[Lucky_P]

Very few cconditions that I'd even consider using penicillin for, anymore...we don't keep any on hand, haven't had any here in over 5 years.
Regardless of what's on the label, from a pharmacokinetic standpoint, the appropriate dose for procaine pen G is 3ml/100 lb body twice daily for 3 -5 days or longer.
'Long-acting' pen products are awful, and would not be approved if they had to go through the process today... the benzathine pen fraction that confers the 'long-acting' activity does stay in the animal longer, but it never attains a high enough blood/tissue level to kill ANYTHING. Add to that, the procaine pen G fraction is half that in the normal PPG injection product, and you've effectively underdosed the patient if you follow label dosage.
I'd bet a Coke that most animals treated with 'penicillin' by most CT members would have fared just as well if they'd received no antibiotic injection at all

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

As a reminder, it is best to also give a Probias to get good bugs working again. Good luck
:welcome:

 

[morlando27]

I haven't had a chance to get to Tractor Supply for probiotics but have been giving him yogurt.