# Baytril, meloxicam overdose, help requested



## Spazdoc (May 20, 2014)

I was hoping for some quick help to reassure me.

So we have had a tumultuous few days with our rats. We had a trauma with one of our rats, Lollypop, that I presented elsewhere. Today my wife brought her home from the vet after surgery, and is supposed to take Baytril (enrofloxacin) and Mobic (meloxicam). With the first dose, she accidentally made a decimal point error (yes, she feels even more horrible as she is a chemist) and gave 10x the dose of each drug. In effect, she gave 1 mL of meloxicam, instead of the ordered 0.1mL. She gave 0.5 mL of Baytril, instead of the ordered 0.05 mL. Lollypop wieghs 248 gm (250 gm for calculation purposes)

*Baytril:*
Lollypop received 100 mg/kg (45 mg / lb) in a single dose. From what I could find on Baytril, an older post here alluded that the LD50 is 4000 mg/kg, while an academic article ( http://academicjournals.org/article/article1380104167_Babaahmady and Khosravi.pdf ) and a handout from Bayer ( http://www.animalhealth.bayer.com/fileadmin/media/baytril/pdf_companion/kap6.pdf ) states:
- LD50 is 5000 mg/kg for rats
- No-Effect Level (NOEL) is 16 mg/kg over 13 weeks for rats

As a result, it looks the given dose should not require acute treatment
*
Meloxicam:*
Lollypop received 4 mg / kg (1.8 mg / lb). I have some people recommend 1-2 mg/kg, so I do not think that I am in trouble. According to a handout from Pfizer
( http://www.pfizer.com/sites/default/files/products/material_safety_data/PZ01219.pdf ):
- LD50 is 83.5 mg/kg for rats

Although Lollypop received near 10% of the LD50 for rats, it is not significantly higher than the usual dose given to rats.

The vet recommended for my wife to come in, but there is also a safety issue at hand for us. I am in the hospital on call, so she would have to go to the vet at 10pm with 3 small children on a Saturday night, which is not the safest idea, either. I understand that the vet cannot treat or diagnose by phone, but the over night vets is not necessarily the exotic pet vet, and I think that we are reasonably safe (I understand that there is nothing 100% safe).

Am I correct in my assumptions above? We will skip the next dose of both medications and monitor over night for adverse reactions (especially seizure risk in fluoroquinolones, like Baytril).

Lollypop and I thank you for your assistance.


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

You could call animal poison control to see if they have any advice or for reassurance. Not sure if they know much about rats though. Thats what most vets do in an over dose situation. Best wishes...


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## PawsandClaws (Jul 22, 2014)

Should be okay, just observe carefully for adverse reactions like you said you will. Rats have fairly fast metabolisms.


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