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Stewie again: bicillin vs. Pen-G

22 10:18:13

Question
Ok. Spoke with vet about bicillin and she is not on board at all! She wants to give me Pen G to give him every other day, says its the same as the Bicillin. She actually has a handout on negative side effects of the bicillin she wants me to read. She will order it if I insist and if she can get it. Should we give him the Pen G every other day for now? What to do if I can't get my hands on the bicillin. I called a few other vets and they don't have it either.

Answer
Dear Karen,

If you are in the UK, then bicillin is not available at all. So Pen-G is the next best thing, if penicillin is the right drug for the job.

I've been hearing things lately about vets having second thoughts about bicillin, but no one has been able to give me specifics--even vets.  But they are very quick to jump on a bandwagon, sometimes.  I'd be *very* interested to read the article your vet is offering you, because no one else has been able to give me any good reasons that bicillin is undesirable.

And just for the record:  bicillin/duplocillin is *not* exactly the same as Pen-G.  Bicillin is Pen-G combined with another form of penicillin, Benzathine, which is believed to increase the drug's "hang time" in the tissues, thus possibly promoting greater penetration of abscesses and bone.  We have found bicillin to be very useful, and I've never seen any adverse reactions.  

But Pen-G will be okay, too.  Some vets have told me that they've "heard" that Pen-G lasts as long in the body as it does without benzathine--but again, no one has ever been able to back that up with hard data.  It seems to be all hearsay.  But when it comes to rabbit medicine, that's usually the way things are.  :(

So go for it with Stewie, and hope the Pen-G does the trick!  Good luck!

Dana