Cefotaxime Injection

[ctlfreak]

My vet prescribed cefotaxime for my bp. He told me to give it under the skin, but I am hearing you should administer it into the muscle. Anyone have any experience or knowledge on this?

I ask because her 3rd shot has left a slightly swollen spot. Its been about 7 hours and its puffy and slightly swollen. Its not the lump of medicine, which i saw after injection. That dissipated quickly. I swap areas each injection. Any thoughts?

[zmd0827]

Well if you inject IM, it does leave a bit of a swollen spot, regardless of the medication, for about a day... Sometimes seen it last two days. But most cases it's only for a day. How far along the body are you injecting? Where is hte site? Cause you shouldn't do it near the bottom half, as it can cause kidney damage, depending on the drug, and your administration.

[2kdime]

Did yoy guys culture and do a sensitivity test?

More often than not Pseudomonas is a factor in RI's and the med chosen isnt effective on Pseudomonas.

Most meds are IM but some are SQ like what your doing

Id follow the vets orders

How much are you injecting into the animal? Can you split the injection sites up so less is going into each spot?

Where are you injecting as well?

[ctlfreak]

Injection site is roughly upper 3rd of the body, the doctor jokingly called it the shoulder, and he said to run along the "alien eyes" area. Its odd since I watched him give the shot in the muscle yet when i asked he said doesn't matter and the medicine bottle said under the skin.

The injection is actually the result of a severe burn we are treating. No cultures were taken (to my knowledge) and I am giving her .2 cc every 72 hours I could split them, but honestly its such a small amount and I am not very comfortable doing it, I like getting it done as smooth and quick as possible.

The only reason I was concerned is I saw no swelling the frist 3 injections I gave, or the after the 2 the doctor gave her. I am hoping I didn't do it wrong. She moved around a good bit and I had to "follow" her with the syringe to keep from loosing my grip. I was concerned I might have cause a small internal cut on the muscle of dermis as a result of her "fighting back"

I looked today and the swollen area is still there though not near as prevalent.

[2kdime]

Sounds like she'll be fine

.2cc is too little to try and split sites

Just get the needle in and quickly pull back on the plunger to make sure you didnt hit any veins or anything.

Inject

Good luck

[ctlfreak]

Sounds like she'll be fine

.2cc is too little to try and split sites

Just get the needle in and quickly pull back on the plunger to make sure you didnt hit any veins or anything.

Inject

Good luck

Yea I felt the same way about the split sites. I'm doing the injection right, as long as it IS supposed to go UNDER the skin like I was told. She is no longer swollen in the spot so I am guessing the swelling was just a temporary inflammation from the trauma. Thanks for the input everyone. I was a little worried last night just because of the size of the knot that she had. But all is well.

Curiosity, does anyone know for certain if that drug goes under the skin or in the muscle. Like I said before the DR did it in the muscle but told me to go under the skin. I watched him do this both times. He said it doesn't matter and said that he just prefers the muscle but for beginners it's better to go under the skin.

[2kdime]

I dont think it matters for Cephalosporin antibiotics, at least it didnt seem to with Ceftazidime.

I dont believe its an irritating drug so under the skin should be fine.

After you inject, make sure to rub the area with a little pressure to get the meds dispersed.

A bump isnt going to hurt her, and should disappear as the meds are absorbed.

[ctlfreak]

I dont think it matters for Cephalosporin antibiotics, at least it didnt seem to with Ceftazidime.

I dont believe its an irritating drug so under the skin should be fine.

After you inject, make sure to rub the area with a little pressure to get the meds dispersed.

A bump isnt going to hurt her, and should disappear as the meds are absorbed.

Just to make sure I am being clear, this was not the bump from the antibiotics, this was a knot, swollen about a half inch from the body. About the size of a quarter. Like I said its gone now, I did massage the area, something I actually read to do on here, but that bump is not the thing that had me worried. But all is well now, once again thanks everyone for the timely and helpful answers. This is my first go with giving injections and its nice to have some support.

[2kdime]

SO there was some swelling huh?

Are you injecting in the "shoulder" area like you mentioned going under a scale and going towards the head at a 45 degree angle?

You could try injecting IM if you wanted, I dont see why you couldnt. It might minimize any injection site reaction

[ctlfreak]

SO there was some swelling huh?

Are you injecting in the "shoulder" area like you mentioned going under a scale and going towards the head at a 45 degree angle?

You could try injecting IM if you wanted, I dont see why you couldnt. It might minimize any injection site reaction

Yes there was localized swelling, lasted for several hours, it is now gone. I was going in the shoulder toward the head and between scales. not quite 45 degree since I am going under the skin, I was more at 35 give or take.

In hindsight I think it was just swollen due to the trauma of the needle piercing the skin, and possible poking around as she struggled. Like I said I am still new to giving her a shot so I am not very fast, takes me about a minute from start to finish. I am thinking the more I do this the faster AI will get and the less localized trauma I will cause.

The swelling was not warm, and is completely gone now, can't even see the needles point of entry. So what ever it was thankfully it was temporary. I called my vet today and he said that swelling can be expected at times and to only be concerned if its very profound, warm to the touch or lasts more than a few hours.