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Mixing Medical Solutions

Ok these are some mixing guidelines for mixing up solutions from dry products like tablets or capsules. Generally, this is what I do.
  1. Determine Medication Dosage for Your Pet
  2. Determine the dry medication amount available to you(expressed in mg per capsule or tablet).
  3. Figure out how much liquid to mix with each tablet or capsule (expressed in milliters (ml.).
  4. Locate a measuring device(clean syringes with ml. markings are good).
  5. Locate a clean bottle to mix and store the solution in the refrigerator(I use old med bottles from the vet.).
  6. Fill the bottle with the calculated liquid.

  7. Either crush each tablet(pill crusher or mortar and pestle) or open each capsule.
  8. Carefully put the dry material into the mixing/storage bottle.
  9. Mix the liquid and dry contents(mixing by shaking the solution a capped bottle is good) and label the bottle with a date(post-its are good). Most mixed solutions of this sort last 10 days if refrigerated.


Ok those are the general directions, now lets' apply this to a real life situation.

First you need to determine the dosage amount that is per milliliter. Most containers offer that information. You can also find that information at prescription sites like 1800petmeds.com. For that information just click on the medication that you are working with (like say amoxicillin) and click the detail link so you can see more information.

For this situation, let us assume that you are going to mix up some amoxicillin.

First you determine the dosage amount in milligrams per milliliter. After looking at the old expired box you paid 30 bucks for at the vet along with an office call, or looking online, you see that the

mixed concentration amount listed is 50mg/milliliter.

You take note what amount the dry, unmixed medication, that you have comes in.

Often amoxicillin comes in 250mg capsules in dry powder form.

A workable amount to mix up for multi pet families is 15 milliliters of mixed solution.

This is equal to 15- 1 ml doses of 50mg of amoxicillin per ml. of water(distilled preferably)


The problem: A person needs to make up 15ml. of amoxicillin solution at 50mg/ml concentration .

The dosage is 50 mg/ml

50mg/ml X 15ml= The amount to make 15ml. at 50mg/ml = 750mg of amoxicillin needed

So the amoxicillin comes in 250mg/ capsule
750 amoxicillin needed/250 amoxicillin per capsule= 3 capsules needed of amoxicillin to mix with 15 ml. of liquid to make the concentration to be 50mg/ml

This will dose several pets within the 10 day limit before expiration.

10 days is the usual expiration date for a lot of mixed medications.

You get a syringe or any container that has an accurate milliliter scale(I wouldn't suggest a measuring cup unless you are desperate). If all that you can get is a 50 ml syringe, then you fill it 5 times with distilled water (Walmart or most stores offer distilled water by the gallon) and squirt the distilled water into a clean bottle that will hold the solution of amoxicillin and water(I use old dropper bottles). To make it easier next time, mark the bottle at the 250 ml mark.

You then place the open bottle with fluid inside(250ml) in the middle of a dry bowl(to catch any of the medicine) with a good light so you can take the capsules apart and carefully dump the contents inside of the bottle. A tiny funnel is useful for this but not necessary. In this case you will dump 3 capsules of 250mg each into the bottle.

I roll each part of the open capsules in my fingers to make sure all of the dry material is dumped into the bottle. You can also cut the end off of each capsule but that is messy and wastes material.

Replace the cap and shake or swirl the contents. Shake up the solution that you mixed every time before you use the product.

Date the bottle when you mixed up the solution. I use post-its on the front of the bottle.

Sometimes a cat for example will be getting like 50 mg of product /10 lbs of cat once a day. So once you determine the dosage rate and the amount for the cat you are using(need a scale to weigh the cat and write down the cats' weight), then get a 1ml syringe and fill it with the amoxi solution that you mixed, and give it to the cat in the corner of its mouth slowly (most sites suggest putting the med solution into its cheek with its head slightly elevated). We want to avoid choking or inhaling the medication so the cheek is good.

I keep the mixed up solution in some sort of container(an old box that the vet gave you, if you had some old medication already, will do.) along with clean 1ml syringes. the syringes need to slide smoothly, often they stick after a use or two and that is not good. I suck alcohol into each one after every use and let it sit for say 30 seconds(old soft-butter tubs make great containers) then squirt it out and rinse well by sucking water in and ejecting it- several times. Never leave alcohol sitting around in open containers, the pet might drink the alcohol and get sick or die etc. Then place both the dry unmixed meds and the mixed meds in the refrigerator for storage.

Because of the short shelf life(10 days) and cost of buying antibiotics at the vet,I often use non-prescription antibiotics for pet issues. These can be stored and mixed as needed. Click the image for a link to some non-prescription fish antibiotics that I use for my pets.Amoxicillin
Ampicillin
Tetracycline
Penicillin
Cephalexin
Metronidazole
Erythromycin
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