Antimicrobials neonatal animals

Supportive measures that would complement antimicrobial effectiveness and assist recovery of the animal from the infection should be provided. In neonatal animals, care must be taken to avoid a too-rapid rate of intravenous fluid administration. Fever may serve a useful purpose in infectious diseases, and the change in body temperature may be used to assess the progress of the infection. In the presence of an infectious diseased, the only indication for an antipyretic drug, e.g. aspirin or paracetamol (acetaminophen) in dogs but not in cats metamizole (dipyrone) or sodium salicylate administered intravenously to horses, is to decrease body temperature to below a dangerous level, 41°C (105.8°F). Concurrent therapy with a NSAID and an aminoglycoside antibiotic increases the risk of nephrotoxicity. If the infection is suspected to be contagious, the diseased and in-contact animals should be isolated. 

The Bioavailability and Disposition of Antimicrobial Agents in Neonatal Animals... 

The systemic availability of orally administered antimicrobials is higher in neonates and elimination, particularly when hepatic metabolism is involved, takes place more slowly. At 1 week of age the foal appears to have a relatively greater ability to eliminate drugs than neonates of other animal species. 

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