Ceftiofur (Excede) antibiotic for URI

[RyanBRZ]

I brought my cham to the vet today because I think he has a URI. The vet was on the same page and recommended she gives him one 3ml injection of Ceftiofur vs 10-12 injected doses of (I forget the name but I used it before), over the course of 10-12 days; Ceftiofur remains active for 1 week. She said to check in with them after a week so they can see how he's doing.

I don't know much about meds so I said sure, it'll be easier than doing those daily injections. I get home and look up this antibiotic and 1. I found very minimal discussion on chameleon use, none for URI and 2. It's for horses.

Does anyone have any experience with this for a URI, or even chameleons? I wish I'd gone with the tried and true stuff.

Thanks

 

[jannb]

My vets have never prescribed it but with a google search I found it can be used in reptiles and it mentioned it being used for RI’s.
@ferretinmyshoes Do you have time to chime in?

 

[kinyonga]

Some information...
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/multimedia/table/antimicrobial-drugs-used-in-reptiles

 

[RyanBRZ]

It says a per day amount, I wonder why my vet thought 1 dose was good for 7 days. I'm pretending like I know what I'm talking about.

 

[RyanBRZ]

I lost him this afternoon Just turned 4 years old

 

[dinomom]

I lost him this afternoon Just turned 4 years old

So sorry for your loss

 

[rbrock]

So sorry to hear that.

 

[Action Jackson]

Hopefully she didn’t actually give him a 3 ml dose. That’s a lot of anything to inject into a chameleon. Sorry for your loss.

 

[kinyonga]

So sorry for your loss.

 

[RyanBRZ]

Hopefully she didn’t actually give him a 3 ml dose. That’s a lot of anything to inject into a chameleon. Sorry for your loss.

It says 0.015 dose of Ceftiofur (Excede) 200mg/mL Inj /Mg

I'm going to ask for a specialist to evaluate this treatment. I spent $350 for the treatment and he's dead less than 24 hours later. Not to say the doctors call was bad, but I'd like a specialist to weigh in. The dr I got was just out of school and just joined this hospital

 

[jannb]

I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[dinomom]

It says 0.015 dose of Ceftiofur (Excede) 200mg/mL Inj /Mg

I'm going to ask for a specialist to evaluate this treatment. I spent $350 for the treatment and he's dead less than 24 hours later. Not to say the doctors call was bad, but I'd like a specialist to weigh in. The dr I got was just out of school and just joined this hospital

I agree that is a good idea. Others can learn from this for future, and you will get answers. I also agree with Action Jackson, I am hoping it was 0.3 cc and not 3 as that could easily be fatal; maybe there was 3cc of saline for hydration? So sorry you are going through this.

 

[RyanBRZ]

I am not sure, the .015 is listed as the Qty for the item listed above. Fluids for hydration was an entirely separate line item.

I really hope they didn't trust a cat and dog vet to treat my chameleon. When I first called, they said they'd give it to an available vet and if needed will be referred to exotics. Maybe they didn't make the right call...or maybe there was no chance to begin with, he went downhill so fast.

 

[Chamcrazy904]

I brought my cham to the vet today because I think he has a URI. The vet was on the same page and recommended she gives him one 3ml injection of Ceftiofur vs 10-12 injected doses of (I forget the name but I used it before), over the course of 10-12 days; Ceftiofur remains active for 1 week. She said to check in with them after a week so they can see how he's doing.

I don't know much about meds so I said sure, it'll be easier than doing those daily injections. I get home and look up this antibiotic and 1. I found very minimal discussion on chameleon use, none for URI and 2. It's for horses.

Does anyone have any experience with this for a URI, or even chameleons? I wish I'd gone with the tried and true stuff.

Thanks

I agree that is a good idea. Others can learn from this for future, and you will get answers. I also agree with Action Jackson, I am hoping it was 0.3 cc and not 3 as that could easily be fatal; maybe there was 3cc of saline for hydration? So sorry you are going through this.

My chameleon was given flagyl
, this O name antibiotic and calcium to go home with. The calcium was .2 and the o was one drop every two days. It was actually an eye drop for cats and dogs. It worked really well for about 2 weeks then I believe he got a parasite and ultimately passed away. I hope your baby pushes through

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I brought my cham to the vet today because I think he has a URI. The vet was on the same page and recommended she gives him one 3ml injection of Ceftiofur vs 10-12 injected doses of (I forget the name but I used it before), over the course of 10-12 days; Ceftiofur remains active for 1 week. She said to check in with them after a week so they can see how he's doing.

I don't know much about meds so I said sure, it'll be easier than doing those daily injections. I get home and look up this antibiotic and 1. I found very minimal discussion on chameleon use, none for URI and 2. It's for horses.

Does anyone have any experience with this for a URI, or even chameleons? I wish I'd gone with the tried and true stuff.

Thanks

I'm very sorry for your loss but just wanted to comment on the antibiotics mentioned to help clear up confusion. @jannb thanks for the tag!
Ceftiofur is indeed only given every 5-7 days for 3-4 doses as a broad spectrum antibiotic in reptiles. It was first used in farm animals and that is where it used most predominantly but it has been studied in reptiles to demonstrate how long it lasts after being given. This is becoming a more common usage and I have definitely used it in a variety of reptile species with success. Ceftazidime is the other antibiotic mentioned that is given every 3 days for 10 doses. Ceftazidime is the more "traditional" antibiotic but Ceftiofur is very similar and sometimes is a nice option for not having to give it as often. They are basically interchangeable for most infections and just vary in how they are administered. There is an injectable antibiotic in cats that lasts 10-14 days but interestingly in reptiles it only lasts about a day. Different animal species have significantly different metabolisms depending on the medication.

In all honesty if your chameleon passed away that quickly then the medication choice really didn't matter. He must have been sicker than he looked, as is often the case with these guys because they are so good at hiding signs of illness until it's really advanced. Him dying so quickly despite seeking veterinary care means he was already too severely affected and another medication wouldn't have worked any better/faster. Sorry again for your loss.

 

[RyanBRZ]

I'm very sorry for your loss but just wanted to comment on the antibiotics mentioned to help clear up confusion. @jannb thanks for the tag!
Ceftiofur is indeed only given every 5-7 days for 3-4 doses as a broad spectrum antibiotic in reptiles. It was first used in farm animals and that is where it used most predominantly but it has been studied in reptiles to demonstrate how long it lasts after being given. This is becoming a more common usage and I have definitely used it in a variety of reptile species with success. Ceftazidime is the other antibiotic mentioned that is given every 3 days for 10 doses. Ceftazidime is the more "traditional" antibiotic but Ceftiofur is very similar and sometimes is a nice option for not having to give it as often. They are basically interchangeable for most infections and just vary in how they are administered. There is an injectable antibiotic in cats that lasts 10-14 days but interestingly in reptiles it only lasts about a day. Different animal species have significantly different metabolisms depending on the medication.

In all honesty if your chameleon passed away that quickly then the medication choice really didn't matter. He must have been sicker than he looked, as is often the case with these guys because they are so good at hiding signs of illness until it's really advanced. Him dying so quickly despite seeking veterinary care means he was already too severely affected and another medication wouldn't have worked any better/faster. Sorry again for your loss.

Thank you for the detailed response and it's good to hear that he did not get the wrong meds at the vet and I don't need to ask an exotic specialist to evaluate what he was given.

Yeah, he went downhill really quickly, I agree with you in that it was likely too late, unfortunately. I'm glad that I had him for the 4 years that I did and he was such an awesome pet. I still can't believe he's gone.

I may get another in the future, but not sure. Going to hang on to all of my equipment and figure it out later.