hello again, i appreciate the advice that i get from you, it helps with my decisions on animal treatments. my next question will be a little different. as i am always trying to learn and do the best to treat my animals i am going to ask some questions on medicines. penecillian , borgal , biomycin , liquamycin , nuflor and mycotil are all listed as antibiotics used for respitory illness , fot rot , scours and so on. question, what does each drug treat best and when should it be used? older animals or smaller calves, ( i use biomycin LA and liquamycin LA ) i run a cow / calf heard of 50 pairs and dont usually buy in from the auction yard however i have bought from my neighbors. i do not require an imediate answer and i do appreciate your time spent. christian
Hello, Christian:
Thank you for your question.
Antibiotics work by killing or interfering with the growth of bacteria. If an animal is ill because it cannot eliminate a disease-causing bacteria faster than the bacteria reproduces, an antibiotic is given to reduce the number of bacteria to a level that the animal can eliminate and return to good health.
So, the general answer to your question is use the antibiotic which is most likely to kill the type of bacteria causing the problem.
Penicillin is a broad-spectrum antibiotic which can be used to treat many infections (respiratory, skin, urinary).
A good guideline is follow the manufacturer's label recommendations. The labels will generally state the conditions the antibiotic has been proven to treat.
Keep in mind there are hundreds (or more) of disease-causing bacteria. Some diseases are alway caused by the same bacteria (for example Clostridiun tetani causes tetanus), but some diseases can be caused by more than one bacteria. In those cases an antibiotic may not work as expected, and another may have to be used.
Very general guidelines: Nuflor, micotil, penicillin, tetracycline: respiratory.
Scours: Sulfa drugs
General infections; penicillin, tetracycline.
I hope this helps.
thankyou again, how long do i run a treatment before i deem it is not working and try another ? are any of the drugs stronger than some ?
If there is no improvement in the patient after 72 hours of antibiotic treatment, try another antibiotic.
The answer to your "stronger" question is similar to my previous answer. If stronger refers to the different types of bacteria that an antibiotic will kill, then the broad spectrum antibiotics like penicillin or tetracycline are stronger. If you are unsure which type of bacteria is involved, a broad spectrum antibiotic is a good place to start.
If the infection involves the respiratory tract, a broad spectrum antibiotic that kills a wide range of bacteria may not be as effective as an antibiotic that kills bacteria which are often involved in respiratory infections (Naxcel, Excenel, Nuflor).
In the case of intestinal infections, a sulfa-type antibiotic will probably be more effective or stronger than a broad spectrum antibiotic.
Experience: 35 years of experience