# Can doxycycline and baytril be mixed together?



## JessyGene (Feb 27, 2012)

I just got some baytril and doxy for my rat with myco. I am going to try mixing them with babyfood to make them taste better. I'm just wondering if I need to give the medicines separately or if I can give them at the same time, mixed together. 

Also, I've tried putting baytril in my rats drinking water with no success (she just didn't drink) so this time I wanna mix it with food. The vet said it was fin to mix with babyfood. The dose is .1ml over 2 days. I am going to make up two days worth (.1ml with however much babyfood I need to make it taste good) at a time. Should I give her the baytril once a day (which would be .05ml all at once) or should I spread it out into two times a day, or more...? I'm just wondering because if it is normally dispensed in the water, the rat would only be getting a small amount over the course of the day. 

Anyone else doing/ have done the doxy/baytril treatment? How did you do it? I appreciate any help or suggestions.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

JessyGene said:


> I just got some baytril and doxy for my rat with myco. I am going to try mixing them with babyfood to make them taste better. I'm just wondering if I need to give the medicines separately or if I can give them at the same time, mixed together.
> 
> Also, I've tried putting baytril in my rats drinking water with no success (she just didn't drink) so this time I wanna mix it with food. The vet said it was fin to mix with babyfood. The dose is .1ml over 2 days. I am going to make up two days worth (.1ml with however much babyfood I need to make it taste good) at a time. Should I give her the baytril once a day (which would be .05ml all at once) or should I spread it out into two times a day, or more...? I'm just wondering because if it is normally dispensed in the water, the rat would only be getting a small amount over the course of the day.
> 
> Anyone else doing/ have done the doxy/baytril treatment? How did you do it? I appreciate any help or suggestions.


Too many of us have done doxy/baytril and for an active infection you should be giving it BID (twice a day). I think its fine to mix the 2 together in some baby food (but make sure there's nothing with probiotics in it, or dairy for the doxycycline...as these will both render the abs ineffective).

As for putting any medication in water, that is an old-school way that has been thrown out a LONG time ago. Never put anything in a rat's water, as you cannot tell how much they would be getting as a dose, and it can taint the water so a sick rat refuses it and becomes dehydrated which is very dangerous, etc, etc.

You said 2 days for .1 ml and I am confused. One, that is a very low dosage unless your baytril is really concentrated and I am not sure why your vet mentioned 2 days? What is the mg/ml of the baytril and the doxycycline? We could figure out dosages based on a guesstimate weight and the recommended dosages (from ratguide.com) of baytril - 10 mg/kg, and doxy - 5 mg/kg.


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## JessyGene (Feb 27, 2012)

I haven't picked up the doxy yet, they had to order it so I'll get it monday. The label on the baytril says 50mg x 1 mL. The instructions were originally to put .1ml in 100ml of water and to change it every two days. Since I told them I didn't want to put it in the water, the vet said I could put the .1ml in babyfood and spread it out over two days. I'm guessing that the baytril is really concentrated because I just have a small syringe of it, and it says MUST BE DILUTED. Im guessing they didnt want me to measure out .05 per day because the smaller the amount the harder it is to be accurate. Is this not the way it is normally prescribed


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

That is Baytril 5% injectable. The upper scale of Baytril dosing is as Shelagh said is 10mg/kg (or about 4.5mg/lb) so if your rat weighs roughly 1lb (453g) you would be dosing 4.5mg twice a day (every 12hrs). Sooo... yeah around .1ml twice a day for a pound rat. I think average females weigh around 350-450g.. It looks like you have the right dose, but it needs to be given twice a day, not once every 2 days.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Jaguar, they are saying to give .5 ml once a day, not twice a day (.1 ml spread over 2 days). They are dosing her at 5 mg/kg which is useless in my opinion.


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## halfmoon (Mar 29, 2010)

With the doxycycline, do the probiotics and dairy only affect it when they're mixed together? Or does it affect it after ingestion as well? Meaning if a rat is given doxy and then later that day has a bit of yogurt, will if affect the usefulness of the antibiotics?


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## CarrieD (Nov 20, 2011)

I have given yogurt to counteract loose stools from abs, and gave it 2 hours before or after the meds.


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## JessyGene (Feb 27, 2012)

lilspaz68 said:


> Jaguar, they are saying to give .5 ml once a day, not twice a day (.1 ml spread over 2 days). They are dosing her at 5 mg/kg which is useless in my opinion.


Yes, this is right. But you guys think I should up it to .1ml twice a day? That's 4x what the vet said but to be honest I don't know if she knows what she is talking about. My rat has myco pretty bad so I really wanna give an effective dose, so I don't mind increasing the dose (It would be easier to measure out too). Are you positive that .1ml twice a day for a 350gram rat (that's exactly what my rat weighs) is safe, even when combined with doxy? 

Thanks for your input guys!


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## BigBen (Nov 22, 2011)

Lilspaz has a lot of experience with this sort of thing, so I would go with her recommendations. The dairy will be fine as long as you separate the food from the med by at least two hours before or after, as CarrieD said. Read about these drugs on the Rat Guide at http://ratguide.com/meds/antimicrobial_agents/doxycycline.php and http://ratguide.com/meds/antimicrobial_agents/enrofloxacin_baytril.php to get the full list of what might interfere with them. It's not just dairy that we should be worrying about.


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## JessyGene (Feb 27, 2012)

Ok thanks, I'll try the .1ml twice a day


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Oh woops lol. I would give just under .1, try for 0.08 or 0.09, even if you just have to eyeball it.


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## JessyGene (Feb 27, 2012)

ok, thanks, I will do that. I really appreciate the info.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

JessyGene said:


> Ok thanks, I'll try the .1ml twice a day


I just double checked and I would give her .1 ml twice a day, since you said she is very sick. Poor lass.


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