Doxycycline side effects?

[axys]

Just curious if anyone here has had an axolotl who was given a doxycycline shot by an exotic vet to prevent infection of a wound?

After one of my babies got bit by a tank mate i made an appointment to go see a vet near me. The incident occurred on wed. and the appointment was this morning. For the last 4 days he had been acting completely fine, the appetite of a monster as usual, active swims around, comes to the front glass when i sit down near it etc. 2 hours before the vet appointment i fed him a meal of 3 small-mid cut up earthworms. He gobbled them up like always. Seemed completely fine and even started using his injured arm again.

At the vet (my first time at an exotic vet with any of my animals) they weighed him which was horrid process to watch bc he took my axie out of the water and for a brief moment put him on the scale bare. I dont know if this is how its done or how its suppose to be done but it was not fun to watch. Then he said the wound looks a bit worse than he thought but should heal no problem. To avoid an infection he gave Antigone a shot of doxycycline and was nice enough to charge it for free since a 30 gram axolotl does not require as much as a dog or cat would.

When we got home i didnt notice anything too off about Antigone but a couple hours later he threw up his morning meal (i should have figured it would have been a bad idea to give it before a vet app.). Kinda figured that might be a normal thing since doxycyline makes people have upset stomachs too might do the same to a small salamander. Now however he is just sitting in his hidy spot not moving at all which is something he never does.Usually he is like a 5 year old at a play ground at all times. Being a wildtype what worried me the most is the fact that he lost all color in the sight of injections and other patches around the body. Literally went from being a grey/dark wildtype to having huge leuc blotches around his body.

Has anyone ever had this happen to their pet or know the possible side effects of doxyc on axolotls or different animals. Is it possible that its just the incredible stress of the vet appointment. I mean the poor axie suffered everything from being handled, to lights being shined at him, to being out on a scale out of the water to recieving a shot. We are talking about a 5-6 inch juvi not a full grown axie. Will his color come back eventually? Any input or experience is appreciated

 

[Nachtmare]

I wish I knew the answer to the question. I am sorry Antigone had to go through that process. Sounds horrible(lights shined, being out of water,etc) I do imagine that would have an effect of his eating but I do not know about the discoloration. Was the discoloration near where the shot was given? The only thing I can think of is that he is "bruised" from the needle and medicine being injected. I hope he returns to normal.


Seems like the whole process was stressful. Does the wound look any different at all?

 

[Se]

I'm afraid I have no idea on the effects of the shot, but I wouldn't be surprised if it could just be stress and the discoloration a side effect of the medication. I mean an injection, any injection, is not only painful but also introducing some new substance in your body. I imagine for a cold-blooded creature they can feel the temperature difference between it and their own body more than we can when we get shots, so it's probably particularly stressful for them. Plus, as you said, all the handling, being under bright lights, and being out of the water would cause a lot of stress.

Hopefully someone here can share some information on the actual shot itself though.

 

[axys]

the main discoloration is near the sight of the injection but there are misc. areas around his body with slight patches of discoloration as well. he still wont eat but he came out of his hidy spot briefly today so thats a slight improvement. i left some food in his bowl to see if he is more willing to eat later. since it seems like a doxyc shot is not very common for axies ill keep u guys updated so if in the future someone else's axie gets the shot they have something to judge their own experiences off of

 

[LSuzuki]

I found this in a thread from a couple of years back (http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...lotl/61920-weird-blister-parasite-tumors.html)
"Even some drugs commonly used to treat this in small animals such as doxycycline are not suitable antibiotics for axolotls. Tetracycline class of antibiotics cause nasty skin irritation, sloughing and even dermal necrosis. Dead skin ain't pretty."

However, my vet prescribed it (vibramycin) orally for my axolotls after they had a cilia infection to treat the secondary infections, and my axolotls did not have any problem with it. At the time, I did some google research, and found one semi-authoritative sounding reference that said doxycycline was only safe for axolotls (or was it amphibians in general?) if the dose was carefully calibrated to the weight of the animal. (My vet weight each of the axolotls and adjusted the dosage accordingly.)

 

[axys]

thank you Lsuzuki looks like my fears are correct and the doxyc has been what is bothering Antigone. Its been 5 days and she still hasnt eaten a single piece of food, all day long and all night she just hides inside her hidy spot and doesnt move, she still has some large white patches on his skin. He said the drug should last 1-2 weeks so im just going to hope when its out of her system she will go back to normal and start to eat again. even when he had the shot ready i personally thought it to be a bit too much for a 30gram axolotl but didnt say anything bc after all he is the expert and im just a 17 year old kid. I really wish i hadnt even taken antigone to the vet bc she was perfectly fine before and on the day of the appointment she had even started using her foot again. I just really hope she can pull through but its not looking good at all )':

 

[LSuzuki]

Good luck. It is very sad when you try to do the right thing and it turns out badly.

Perhaps some of the more knowledgeable people have suggestions on what might help Antigone. I don't know if fridging would help or hurt. Probably just keeping the water conditions as good as possible and making sure there are no unnecessary stresses is the best course of action, and I think you are already doing that.

 

[axys]

she finally came out of her hidy spot and walked around for a bit today. she looked incredibly ill and weak while trying to walk but atleast she moved, if that wasnt enough she ate half of a small earthworm, her first meal in 7 days!!! its slight improvement but i will take anything at this point. now what im noticing is this raised grey fuzzy stop over her head. Does that look like dead skin or an infection or what any ideas? what ever it is there will be no more vet trips thats for sure

 

[LSuzuki]

It looks like fungus to me, but I don't know if she is strong enough for the standard treatments (fridging, salt baths). One thing that I found on this site is that elevated levels of nitrates can make axolotls more susceptible to fungus, and in her weakened state, perhaps she is more sensitive to such things. Or perhaps it is purely due to her mis-medication. So, I suggest to do extra water changes and make sure the water is as good as possible. If it gets worse, you may need to try the other treatments. Good luck!

 

[LSuzuki]

Thinking about it overnight ... here are some other suggestions.

In this thread http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...-discussion/100362-do-axolotls-like-salt.html, the consensus seems to be that 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons of water is ok and possibly beneficial. Read the thread though, since there is a lot of discussion.

This thread http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...cussion/80062-using-indian-almond-leaves.html discusses indian almond leaves. I have never used them. Some people swear by them, others think they aren't worth it. They can cause a pH drop, depending on your water. Again, read through the thread to see all the opinions.

 

[axys]

will do that right now thanks for the info, if it is indeed a fungus which it seems to be right now, its getting pretty large so honestly i dont want to lose anymore time and am going to take a leap of faith and start the salt baths, i know the generics of it but how many days in a row are you suppose to do it and after the salt bath do u do something special before putting her back into her normal tank or do i just keep her in a separate no salt declorinated water container till the salt baths are done?

 

[axys]

ahh just saw your last post, you must have posted it as i was typing mine, i read the links, im still a bit vary of putting salt in the main tank especially since she shares it with another axie (with a divider) and antigone seems a bit more mobile within the last few hours compared to the last week so i did start refrigerating her and when the temperatures of the declorinated water are proper i will start salt baths. Her fungus was shaped so just but nipping a tiny "thread" part of it attached to the small wound i was actually able to remove 95% of the fungus without causing much harm if any. this should reduce the number of days i have to give her the salt bath which hopefully will mean less stress on her.

it looks like she had a tiny open wound on her head, possibly caused by the dead skin caused by the doxyc shot. hoping that since colder temps reduce metabolism refrigerating her will actually slow down her weight loss too. thanks for all the info by the way

 

[LSuzuki]

Any update on your axolotls condition? I hope she made it.