Giving Medication to Animals by Injection

Introduction For many medicines and vaccines, injection is the best method of administration to an animal.

Although the purpose of the injection is to benefit the animal, if proper technique is not used an injection has the potential to do harm.

Poorly injected products may not be well absorbed an may not work. The injection could create drug residues, scar tissue, and/or abscesses that could cause the animal pain and suffering.

1. Read the Label Before using any product, read the label.

Research is done on medicines prior to their licensing to determine the best injection site, route, and dosage for the treatment of a particular condition in a particular species and class of animal.

Medicine labels will have the product name, usage directions, contents, warning statements, withdrawal time, dosage, restrictions, expiration, and lot number.

Extra-label use Products used in any manner other than that which is recommended on the label is an “Extra-Label” use. Extra-label use treatments can ONLY be done with written recommendation by a veterinarian.

Group discussion How can extra-label use alter the information given on the drug label? Give an example.

General Instructions

1.Wash your hands before and after handling medicinal products. 2.Use a sterile needle for each animal. 3.Use disposable needles whenever possible. 4.Choose the smallest needle that is reasonable to use for the product type and volume to be injected.

5. Pick an area for the injection site that is clean and dry. 6. Clean the bottle tops with a small amount of alcohol on a cotton swab. 7. Only enter the bottle with a sterile needle. Never re-enter the bottle with a needle that has already been used to give an animal injection.

8. Provide appropriate restraint for the animal to keep both the animal and handler safe when giving the injection. 9. Split large quantities into smaller quantities and inject at different locations.

10. Do not combine vaccines or products in the same syringe unless the label clearly states to do so.

Intramuscular Injections 1. Choose a muscle of lesser value for IM injections (the neck in pigs). 2. Draw air into the syringe and inject the air into the bottle. 3. Fill the syringe to the correct dosage. 4. Tap the barrel of the syringe with your finger to make the air bubbles move upwards and slowly push the plunger up the eject the excess air.

5. Give the IM injection deep into a muscle. Use a needle long enough to penetrate the skin, subcutaneous tissue, and fat to reach the muscle. 6. Depress the plunger all the way and leave for one to 5 seconds to make sure that all of the medicine/vaccine has entered the muscle.

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Subcutaneous Injections Subcutaneous injections are applied beneath the skin, rather than into the muscle.

Locations: halfway up the neck in front of the shoulder Over the ribs, well behind the shoulder In the skin below the neck between the front legs

Typically use a 0.5 – 1” needle

In cattle Lift a fold of skin to make a skin tent. Insert the needle through one side of the tent at a 30 – 45 degree angle.

In pigs Slide the needle under the skin at a 30 degree and inject.

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