Draxxin
by Laurie Prasnicki
In the Winter 2005 issue, we ran a helpful hint for the drug called Draxxin. Now that deer farmers have
had a chance to use the drug in their herd, we have some updates to share.
Draxxin: A full course of theapy in a single dose.
An antibiotic which give record long acting action against pneumonia and respiratory disease has been
launched by Pfizer Animal Health.
Field trials demonstrate that a single dose of Draxxin provides exceptional effectiveness in treating
pneumonia. This product claims 9-15 days of activity against pneumonia in cattle and 5 days in pigs.
In cattle, Draxxin is administered at a low-volume dose of 1.1 mL/100 lbs. of body weight. In addition to
its low-volume, single-dose treatment regime, Draxxin moves easily through syringes making it usable in
darts, even in cold conditions that are common in the production environment. The pre-slaugher
withdrawal period for cattle treated with Draxxin is 18 days.
For more information about Draxxin, talk to your veterinarian, visit www.draxin.com or call
1-888-DRAXXIN.
UPDATE ON DRAXXIN!
This is the drug of choice for deerfarmers because of the ability to administer it
successfully in a dart, eliminating the need to tranquilize the animal for treatment.
According to Tim Condict, this drug works well for foot rot and for diarrhea. I personally
have not tried it on foot rot, but have tried it on diarrhea and can tell you that it does work
for that.
I also have tried it numerous times for pneumonia. It does not last 9 to 15 days in whitetail
deer. This could be due to their high metabolism, or it could be due to the how whitetail
deer do not usually show signs of illness until they are really sick, and therefore, the
disease may be well advanced before I have begun treatment.
I have been successful in treating some of the animals for pneumonia now that I have
started treating them with a dose every 2-3 days until they are back to acting normal.
However, sometimes I have let my guard down, thought the animal was out of the woods
and stopped the treatment only to find they were not better and have either lost the
animal or had to start over with the treatment.