Plasma Disposition of Ceftiofur and Metabolites After Intravenous and Intramuscular Administration of Ceftiofur Sodium to Calves of Various Ages

Abstract

Find out what happens to ceftiofur (NAXCEL ® Sterile Powder) after you leave the barn when the drug, the bug and the calf take over. Just as that wet naveled little cutey grows up to be that cantankerous black baldy, some of its metabolic machinery matures as well. This study reviews the pharmacokinetics of ceftiofur sodium in calves as they mature from 7 days to 9 months of age.

The approved dosage regimes for ceftiofur sodium, 1.1-2.2 mg/kg (0.5-1.0 mg/pound) bodyweight administered intramuscularly once daily for up to five consecutive days, provides plasma concentrations of ceftiofur and metabolites above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC₉₀≤0.06μg/mL) for the bovine bacterial respiratory disease pathogens Pasteurella hemolytica, Pasteurella multocida and Haemophilus somnus. In this study plasma concentrations are maintained for a longer period of time in neonatal calves than in older calves. This update will review the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of ceftiofur in calves from 7 days to 9 months of age providing useful information for bovine practitioners.