As if the new imports don't have enough to deal with....

[jajeanpierre]

I have two new import T.q.graciliors who aren't doing as well as I would like. After a month, I gave them a very small dose of Panacur, hoping that would reduce their parasite load so their immune system could take over and get their parasite load under control. They still aren't doing as well as I would like so I gave them three days in a row of a larger dose of Panacur, just under what my vet would recommend. Yesterday was the last dose.

When I medicate, I always add water and stuff their mouths with silk worms to give them a bit of a boost.

(Note: The dead space in my syringes--that's the space in the syringe between the completely depressed plunger and the tip of the syringe--held a surprising amount of medication--.04 mls. The therapeutic dose for these guys would have been .025mls so a big difference if I drew up .02 mls on top of the .04mls in the dead space and then .03 water. They would be getting about three times the therapeutic dosage.)

When I put the little guy up on a branch, I saw a dried glog of urate hanging over an inch away from his body, attached to what looks like two fine strands of nylon fiber or my hair! Under a microscope it looks pretty much exactly like one of my hairs.... I snipped off the ends so it wouldn't catch on a branch and saved it on a microscope slide. The two ends worried me since that means the hair was folded over higher up in the gut. The looped end following rather than leading is prime to catch on anything in the gut and do damage.

Thankfully he passed it all this morning. Including the two inches I cut off, it was six inches long. Thankfully it didn't get hung up in the gut.

Hopefully there was not damage to the gut. That's all the poor thing needs.

 

[NHenn]

(Note: The dead space in my syringes--that's the space in the syringe between the completely depressed plunger and the tip of the syringe--held a surprising amount of medication--.04 mls. The therapeutic dose for these guys would have been .025mls so a big difference if I drew up .02 mls on top of the .04mls in the dead space and then .03 water. They would be getting about three times the therapeutic dosage.)

Glad to hear he was able to pass everything. On your note above, that dead space doesn't affect the amount of medication given while using the syringe. Whatever fluid you would bring up into the syringe that goes into that space will remain in the syringe after it is full depressed. The measurements on the side are designed to not include this amount because it won't leave the syringe under normal use. So that is one less thing you can worry about lol.

 

[bobcochran]

Nick is right, unless you add water into the syringe before or after the panacur, and deliver it all at once. I would recommend giving a straight panacur dose, then some water, to keep the dosage right.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Glad to hear he was able to pass everything. On your note above, that dead space doesn't affect the amount of medication given while using the syringe. Whatever fluid you would bring up into the syringe that goes into that space will remain in the syringe after it is full depressed. The measurements on the side are designed to not include this amount because it won't leave the syringe under normal use. So that is one less thing you can worry about lol.

You are correct if I only put medication into the dosing syringe. It all changes when I add water, and that was the point I was trying to make.

If .04mls of medication is in the dead space and I draw up .02 more (so the syringe reads .02mls) there is a total of .06mls in the syringe. No problem if I just give it to him without adding anything more to the syringe since only the ,02mls will be dosed.

However, if I have the same .04mls in the dead space, plus .02mls more drawn up and then .3mls water is added and mixed up, then it makes a huge difference as .06mls of medication is now mixed with .3mls of water. When I dose that, all but .04mls of that solution will be dosed.

Total fluid in syringe: .36mls (.3mls water plus .06mls medication)
Dosage: .32mls of water/medication mix (leaving .04mls of very diluted medication in the dead space).

That's a huge dosage difference. I did the math.

The dilute solution in my example is 1/6 Panacur (.06mls Panacure diluted in a solution totaling .36mls in volume).

If I leave .04mls of this dilute solution (which is 1/6th Panacure) in the dead space , I am only leaving .04/6 Panacur, or .0067mls of Panacure after I give the medication. In other words, I give .06mls Panacure less .0067mls Panacur left in the dead space, or .0533mls Panacur, a much higher dosage than the .02mls intended.

 

[NHenn]

You are correct if I only put medication into the dosing syringe. It all changes when I add water, and that was the point I was trying to make.

If .04mls of medication is in the dead space and I draw up .02 more (so the syringe reads .02mls) there is a total of .06mls in the syringe. No problem if I just give it to him without adding anything more to the syringe since only the ,02mls will be dosed.

However, if I have the same .04mls in the dead space, plus .02mls more drawn up and then .3mls water is added and mixed up, then it makes a huge difference as .06mls of medication is now mixed with .3mls of water. When I dose that, all but .04mls of that solution will be dosed.

Total fluid in syringe: .36mls (.3mls water plus .06mls medication)
Dosage: .32mls of water/medication mix (leaving .04mls of very diluted medication in the dead space).

That's a huge dosage difference. I did the math.

The dilute solution in my example is 1/6 Panacur (.06mls Panacure diluted in a solution totaling .36mls in volume).

If I leave .04mls of this dilute solution (which is 1/6th Panacure) in the dead space , I am only leaving .04/6 Panacur, or .0067mls of Panacure after I give the medication. In other words, I give .06mls Panacure less .0067mls Panacur left in the dead space, or .0533mls Panacur, a much higher dosage than the .02mls intended.

Wow lol. I see what you mean I didn't think about adding water to the same syringe. I vote you just get a second "water only" syringe hahaha.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Wow lol. I see what you mean I didn't think about adding water to the same syringe. I vote you just get a second "water only" syringe hahaha.

I could, but I just hate handling them at all. I put the syringe in really deep in their throats so I only want to do that once. Some of their mouths are really mangled. Have you seen some of the face rubs they have? Awful, just awful. I haven't medicated any with the bad face rubs yet as they are all doing okay.