# Medication : Converting mg/kg to cc/lb Thiamin, B complex dosage info also



## Sondra

I can't remember where I found this but have used it several times.

Converting mg/kg to cc/lb

Mg per Ml / Ml vs Cc? 
Let's look at a real life situation. You go out to feed in the morning and your $2,000 boer buck is laying on his side. Thiamine Deficiency [goat polio] or Listeriosis [circling disease]? Who cares? It's cheap to treat for both and he will die if not treated immediately. Penicillin is easy to calculate but the Thiamine is another story...

The treatment for Thiamine Deficiency is related not only to body weight but also to the concentration of the product you will be injecting. The dosage is 10 mg/kg every six hours for at least 24 hours. One kilogram equals 2.2 pounds so if your buck weighs 200 lbs, just divide 200 by 2.2 to get 90 kilos. So now we know that the 90 kilo buck needs 10 mg of thiamine per kilo or a total of 900 mg of thiamine every 6 hours. Seems simple enough until you read the label and discover that you have a 100 ml bottle of thiamine solution. "Nobody mentioned milliliters!"

Never fear. A simple equation will reveal the proper amount of solution to use. Now... My bottle of Thiamine Hydrochloride is 200 mg/ml. If I divide the required dosage by the concentration per ml I arrive at the number of ml (same as cc) to inject every 6 hours. Like this: 900mg/200mg = 4.5 ml which also equals 4.5 cc.

Let's try a harder one. 
Since thiamine is a prescription item, you might not be able to buy it right when you need it. But is a B vitamin and if you have B-complex on hand you can still save your downed buck using the same calculation. From above, we know that this 200 pound buck needs 900 mg of thiamine. Our B-complex solution label tells us that it contains 12.5 mg per ml. Our equation is: 
required dosage divided by solution concentration per ml = quantity to inject 
900mg / 12.5 mg per ml = 72 ml or 72 cc

Yep. You'll have to give him nearly 3/4 of a 100 ml bottle every 6 hours. 
Your local feed store may be able to supply you with B-complex when the 
Vet isn't around to sell you the Thiamine


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