Hi everyone, my beardie has been on antibiotic injections for a few weeks now for a respiratory infection and only had one more dose left to go.
My question is how long do these infections last? I still hear some wheezing during heavy exhales but only when he is worked up, I dont hear it when hes relaxing. Should I be concerned if I am still hearing the wheezing or is it still going to take some time after the medication to clear up? Thanks
The antibiotics really would only help if the RI was bacterial. If its viral they wont do much.
I assume you are using baytril? Or did the vet prescribe something else.
Has the symptoms seemed to have gotten any better?
Are you keeping his tank a bit warmer at night to help his system?
The vet prescribed Ceftazidime been giving injections every 3 days switching arms each injection day.
Its hard to tell he seems to be more active and his beard has had some bight colors. But he definitely has not been running around as much as he used too Im guessing thats just because of how the medicine is making him feel. He is still eating regularly. As far as temps go I bumped cool/basking sides up a few degrease and keeping my room warmer but I dont have any light fixtures for night heat.
Increase in activity (even slight) and healthy appetite are good signs. Some antibiotics can make you feel crappy, but so can infections, and as Brandon pointed out, antibiotics aren't much good for virals.
As long as he isn't going downhill, it may be a waiting game. If he does start to deteriorate further, I think a call to the vet is in order to see if Zip(?) needs to be seen again.
Fortaz can be kinda tough on their systems. To me that seems like quite awhile to be on it. Tracie might think otherwise, she'd know better than me. What was the dose prescribed?
Either way, that is probably the cause of his lower activity.
What do the temps in your house get to at night? Supplemental heat when an RI is present does help quite a bit. If you can keep the tank around 80 would be best. CHEs are pretty cheap on amazon. And most hardware stores have dome fixtures for 12 bucks or so.
I do think it would help.
If the wheezing doesnt get worse, I dont think I'd be too concerned. But if it does you might want to talk to your vet about nebulizer treatments.
Hmm okay thats concerning if you think thats awhile for him to be on it. The does was 0.16mls per injection. As far as temps at night his tank is between 75-78 Ill try to get a CHE, is there a certain type to go for or are they universal?
The Fortaz is a bit hard on their system, but the injections are better than oral on the kidneys
anyway. Do you know what the strength/concentration of it is?
They prescribed one shot, every 3 days, for how many weeks?
If he is not improving, I agree, nebulization would be a great option since it helps to penetrate
deep lung tissue whereas oral & injection treatments don't. They have no cilia to clear out the
lungs so when they do get respiratory infections they aren't able to easily cough things up as
well as we are.
Definitely keep his tank a little warmer overnight. A 75-80F is just fine. What is the humidity in
the tank?
Just checking in here, & just sent a PM to you also.
So you think he may be feeling a little better I hope? Those humidity levels are alright. It's
hard to get them real low most of the time.
So, the concentration of the Cefz is 1 gram per milliliter or for 10 milliliters?