Tulathromycin

What is this medication for?

• BRD (Mannheimia/Pasteurella/Histophilus), infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (label); ovine respiratory disease
• Respiratory disease (label)

How is it given?

Give exactly as your veterinarian prescribed — never change the dose or stop on your own unless your veterinarian has told you to.

What if I miss a dose?

• Give it as soon as you remember — unless it is almost time for the next dose (then skip the missed one; never double up).
• Call your clinic if you miss more than one dose in a row.

Side effects — what should I watch for?

Effects listed as common in this handout

• Injection-site reactions (Most likely adverse effect)
• Occasional loss of appetite/transient signs (Label events)

Worth a phone call to your veterinarian

• Any new symptom that worries you.

⚠️ Contact your veterinarian or an emergency clinic IMMEDIATELY if you notice

• Trouble breathing, collapse, seizures, severe vomiting or diarrhea, facial swelling, or pale gums

Before starting (or refilling), tell your veterinarian if your pet:

• has or has had: Hypersensitivity; lactating dairy/veal (label)
• has or has had: Withdrawal compliance; antimicrobial-stewardship context for macrolide-class use in food animals

• is pregnant, nursing, or used for breeding
• is taking any other medications, supplements, or flea/tick products, including:
  • 50S competitors (chloramphenicol/lincosamides)
  • Other macrolides

Storage and handling

Ready-to-use injection; single-dose convenience = the marketing and the compliance story.

Good to know

• Pharmacokinetics as product design: an 8.75-day lung half-life converts a macrolide into "metaphylaxis in one injection" — the Vd-plus-tissue-binding lesson in commercial form.
• Resistance-era honesty: "not a major problem" was true at publication — macrolide stewardship in food animals has tightened since; stewardship framing belongs in the file.
• Draxxin vs Nuflor one-shot comparison: both single-visit solutions, different classes — tulathromycin macrolide-kinetics vs florfenicol phenicol-kinetics.