help with baby calves

[Vicky the vet]

Quote from the container of gentamicin sulfate solution:

...that recommended doeses of gentamicin produce serum concentrations bactericidal for most bacteria sensitive to gentamicin with an an hour after intramuscular injection; these concentrations last for 6 to 12 hours...Fifty to 100% of the gentamicin injected can be recovered unchanged within 24 hours from the urine of patients with normal renal function....Toxicity Studies: No toxic effects were observed in rats given gentamicin sulfate 20/mg/kg/day for 24 days; in cats given 10/mg/kg/day for 40 days. Gentamicin sulfate given to dogs at 6/mg/lb/day, 6 days weekly for 3 weeks, caused no detectable kidney damage. At higher doses, impariment of equilibrium and renal function were observed in these species.

I'd take that with one heck of a grain of salt. Gentamycin is well known to cause renal damage especially when the animal is dehydrated--and scouring calves are almost always dehydrated. And as for the bottle saying it's flushed out in 24 hours--hog wash!! It reaches subtherapeutic levels so must be repeated, but this is one antibiotic which lives on in the tissues (especially the kidneys) for one heck of a long time. It can be detected in the MUSCLE 6 months later. There are other effective antibiotics which are preferable to this one. This drug is no longer easily purchased in an injectable form in Canada from this kind of misuse.

Look, it's no skin off my butt if you use the stuff. I just feel you should be properly informed as to the risks you're taking. If your vet doesn't know this stuff, he/she/it should!
V
back on the broomstick...

 

[milkmaid]

Well now that's interesting.

Thanks for sharing.