Dragon on "Baytril"

[Nickis89]

Please help! My beardie had a swollen foot with puss, so I took him to a vet who prescribed Baytril (that's the generic name I think? It has a longer name that starts with an E)

He has seemed fine for the past four days on the medication, only slightly less active. But today he threw up and has been CONVULSING and twitching!!! It's making me so nervous!! I didn't give him any medication today. Is there anything I can do to help him? I won't give him any more of the meds, and I see that vomitinf and convulsions are possible side effects. What can I do to help him other than ceasing medication?

Nicki

 

[CooperDragon]

Baytril (Enrofloxacin) is a commonly prescribed antibiotic. I would discontinue use as you mentioned. Have you contacted your vet to report this side effect? I would offer some water in small amounts at a time and see if he can hold that down. I would consult with your vet to determine a new course of treatment and to determine if the convulsions are due to the meds or if they are a symptom of another issue.

 

[diamc]

I completely agree with Cooper. Don't give anymore of that antibiotic and consult your vet right away.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oh dear, poor dragon! It sounds like he either had a reaction to the drug or he was overdosed on it.
I agree, do not give anymore to him & call the vet as soon as you can.
Can you get any extra oral fluids into him? Is his beard black at night?
Try to keep him around 80 or so in his tank to help him out right now since he isn't feeling well.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[Nickis89]

Thanks everyone. His beard doesn't seem to be a different color than usual. Not very dark at night. Right now he is sleeping and his toes are twitching slightly. poor little guy. Tomorrow I will try to give him some water orally if I don't see him drink on his own. I gave him a nice soak in warm water earlier tonight... I was hoping he might absorb some water that way to keep him hydrated.

 

[CooperDragon]

The best bet for hydration is to take a plastic syringe or dropper or similar with water around room temp and drip it on his nose. If you do this repeatedly he may start licking it. Since he threw up I would only offer a few ml at a time but do this throughout the day. The extra hydration may help him flush his system and protect his organs. Baths are good but he won't absorb much water unless he drinks from it and it's harder to keep him from overdoing it on the water when he's in a bath vs drops on his nose. How is he feeling today?

 

[Nickis89]

Okay, well today he is very lethargic. I haven't seen him eat or drink so I'm trying to drop a little water on his nose. He doesn't seem very interested. And I am noticing that his beard looks a little darker than usual.... What does that mean?

 

[CooperDragon]

Poor little guy. The darkened beard means he doesn't feel well. Hopefully the meds will clear out of his system soon and he'll start feeling a bit better. What is the dosage of Baytril you were giving him? How much does he weigh?

 

[Nickis89]

I hope so!! He was prescribed 1 mL of Baytril per day, and I had been giving him that from Tuesday-Friday. Yesterday I stopped his meds. He weighs about 12.5 ounces.

 

[CooperDragon]

1ml sounds like a pretty high dosage to me based on his weight. I may be wrong but something along the lines of .1 to .2ml sounds more like I've seen prescribed before. I'd double check the dosage with your vet to determine if this issue may be related to an overdose. Stopping the meds and providing extra fluids is the right course of action at this point as far as I know. Hopefully his system will clear soon without further issues.

 

[Nickis89]

Wow! .1 or .2 is definitely a lot less than 1! I obsessively checked the dosage on the bottle and double checked with the vet and it was supposed to be 1 mL. I hope he wasn't mistakenly prescribing 1 and meant .1!! Now I feel terrible I will continue to try giving him fluids and hopefully it will all clear out of his system soon.

 

[CooperDragon]

If 1ml is what the vet prescribed then that may be correct and I'm just mistaken. I'm just going by memory and don't have veterinary training. Do you know what the concentration % of the baytril is?

 

[CooperDragon]

I just double checked an old bottle I have from when one of my guys was on it. It was prescribed at 22.7mg/ml and the dosage was .15ml daily for 3 weeks. He was 428g at the time so a bit bigger than your guy who is at about 354g.

 

[Nickis89]

Wow. Someone must have messed up... I'm thinking it should have been .1 mL instead of 1 mL. Thank you for the info! I feel awful now that I've basically poisoned him. I just hope he can pull through and get it all flushed out.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Wow, he got 1ml of Baytril, not .1ml, correct? It sounds like someone forgot the decimal point. I am so sorry.
Depending on the strength of the solution, that would be quite a bit of medication for him.
I hope he is feeling better soon. Is his beard still dark?
You can bathe him, he may drink a little from him bath & might relax him if he seems to enjoy it.
Baths do help with hydration but oral hydration can normally get more fluids into them.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie