Leanne, I am not entering into a discussion about the pros and cons of the merits of antibiotics as I am not a medical person and don't have the knowledge. However, I would like to ask the experts a question Would you recommend giving a bitch a course of antibiotics for approx the last 10 tens of her pregnancy- when she had fading puppies (3 out of 5) in her only previous litter.? . Hope I have not opened another can of worms but advice would be useful. Geoffrey Porter Ringcreevy N Ireland had Original Message ----- From: "Leanne Bertani" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2001 4:56 PM Subject: [CKCS-L] antibiotics, etc
> There will certainly be varied opinions among veterinarians regarding the > antibiotic issue, and here's why: > > The problem with prophylactic antibiotics is that the best culture is taken > at the beginning of the season because the cervix is partially open. There > is no point in testing for mycoplasma in the vagina, because it is normal > flora in the vagina -- you are looking for mycoplasma (or E Coli or > whatever) in the uterus. A culture done prior to the season is probably > going to show nothing, or show vaginal flora, but tell you very little about > the what's in the uterus, because the cervix is closed when the bitch is not > in season. > > And suppose we do wait until the onset of the season to get the culture? > Well, we have established that pelvic disease may take 2-3 weeks to treat. > Since you are probably not going to get the culture results until well into > the season, and conception takes place prior to 14 days into the season, > well, you see the dilemma. I know some people give Baytril to pregnant > bitches, but you gotta wonder about its effect on cartilage development. If > the infection is E Coli, then that may be sensitive to ampicillin, which is > safe in pregnancy. If the infection requires Baytril, I guess you could > treat that season and wait to breed until the following season. Al(Myra, > maybe you could answer this one? Why does your vet choose Baytril? I know > it's broad-spectrum, but if you are only worried about one bug -- > mycoplasma --how about erythromycin? Next time you go in, ask if > erythromycin would be sufficient? Cindy, are you here?) > > As Barb mentioned, Baytril is not innocuous. It is hard on the stomach, and > can cause mental disorientation. Vets call it "Baythrill", for the mental > effects it has (Vets and breeders sometimes take their dog's meds........) > > My own personal opinion, for what it is worth, is that I would not mess with > the cervix of a healthy bitch (there is an important protective factor in > the cervical mucus -- see abstract below), and I wouldn't put her on > prophylactic antibiotics because I wouldn't want to mess with the normal > flora, which is also protective. As a stud dog owner myself (different > breed), I understand the stud dog owner wanting to protect their dog. I > guess if I wanted to use Myra's dog bad enough, I might consider an AI. > Interesting topic. > > Leanne > > > > > Am J Obstet Gynecol 2001 Sep;185(3):586-92 > An in vitro study of antibacterial properties of the cervical mucus plug in > pregnancy. > Hein M, Helmig RB, Schonheyder HC, Ganz T, Uldbjerg N. > > > Cervical mucus plugs from 56 healthy women in labor were studied by 2 > different antimicrobial assays: Analysis was done by overlaying the cervical > mucus plug onto an agar plate with imbedded bacteria, and by radial > diffusion assay with group B Streptococcus and Escherichia coli. > > RESULTS: In the agar overlay assay, there was complete inhibition of > clinical isolates of Staphylococcus saprophyticus, E coli, and Pseudomonas > aeruginosa and patient-variable partial-to-complete inhibition of > Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and > Streptococcus agalactiae. In the radial diffusion assay, cervical mucus > plugs had activity toward group B Streptococcus equivalent to 0.075 > microg/mL of gentamicin and toward E coli equivalent to 0.5 microg/mL of > gentamicin. CONCLUSION: A low-molecular substance with antibacterial > activity in the cervical mucus plug may protect the fetus against ascending > infections. > > ========================================================= > "Magic Commands": > to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL > to start it up gain click here: > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL > > E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. > Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html > > All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 1999 by its original author. ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 1999 by its original author.
