Is Ceftazidime a controlled substance?

Ceftazidime is not federally scheduled in the US. Controlled-drug status differs by country — verify your local rules.

What are the side effects of Ceftazidime?

Reported side effects, adverse reactions, and contraindications for Ceftazidime: Must reconstitute before use. Monitor for hypersensitivity reactions. Adjust dose in renal impairment.

Ceftazidime

US brand names:Fortaz

Calculate dosage

Sourced from published veterinary references. Awaiting credentialed clinical reviewer — our editorial process.

Ceftazidime is dosed at 20 mg/kg IM q72h in ball pythons, per Lawrence K, Muggleton PW, Needham JR. Preliminary study on the use of ceftazidime, a broad spectrum cephalosporin antibiotic, in snakes. Res Vet Sci. 1984;36:16-20. doi:10.1016/s0034-5288(18)31994-5 — Verified against Carpenter's Exotic Animal Formulary, 6th Ed, p.213 (2026-08-01).. Verify against current literature before clinical use.

Drug Class

Antibiotic

Routes

IMIVSC

Indications

Empiric antibiotic (potential bacterial infection)Gram-negative bacterial infectionsGram-negative infectionsOutpatient gram-negative infectionspneumoniaPost-operative antibioticSevere gram-negative infectionsSevere gram-negative septicemiaSevere Pseudomonas and gram-negative infectionsSevere Pseudomonas infections

Mechanism of Action

Inhibits bacterial cell wall synthesis by binding to PBPs. Broad-spectrum with excellent gram-negative coverage including Pseudomonas.

Side effects & warnings

Must reconstitute before use. Monitor for hypersensitivity reactions. Adjust dose in renal impairment.

Species with Ceftazidime dosing data (16 dose rules)

African Grey Parrot Ball Python Bearded Dragon Cat (Domestic)Corn Snake Dog (Domestic)Eastern Box Turtle Guinea Pig Rabbit (Domestic)Russian Tortoise

Species references:All African Grey Parrot drugs All Ball Python drugs All Bearded Dragon drugs All Cat (Domestic) drugs All Corn Snake drugs

Evidence levels across 16 dose rules

Moderate×11Extrapolated×2Anecdotal×2Weak×1

Each ExoticRx dose rule is graded by the strength of its primary evidence — see the editorial process.

Backed by 13 published sources

· Carpenter's Exotic Animal Formulary, 6th Ed
· Cerreta AJ, Lewbart GA, Dise DR, et al. Population pharmacokinetics of ceftazidime after a single intramuscular injection in wild turtles. J Vet Pharmacol Ther. 2018;41:495-501. doi:10.1111/jvp.12500 — Verified against Carpenter's Exotic Animal Formulary, 6th Ed, p.213 (2026-08-01).
· Funk RS. A formulary for lizards, snakes, and crocodilians. Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract. 2000;3:333-358. doi:10.1016/s1094-9194(17)30105-6; Lawrence K, Muggleton PW, Needham JR. Preliminary study on the use of ceftazidime, a broad spectrum cephalosporin antibiotic, in snakes. Res Vet Sci. 1984;36:16-20. doi:10.1016/s0034-5288(18)31994-5 — Verified against Carpenter's Exotic Animal Formulary, 6th Ed, p.213 (2026-08-01).
· Funk RS. A formulary for lizards, snakes, and crocodilians. Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract. 2000;3:333-358. doi:10.1016/s1094-9194(17)30105-6; Stahl SJ. Pet lizard conditions and syndromes. Semin Avian Exot Pet Med. 2003;12:162-182. — Verified against Carpenter's Exotic Animal Formulary, 6th Ed, p.213 (2026-08-01).

Sample dosing (2 of 16 cited rules)

A dog/cat sample is shown here. Cited dosing for all 10 species — reptiles, birds, pocket pets, livestock, and equine — is free on the per-species pages above. Pro adds the weight-based calculator for every species.

Species	Route	Dose	Frequency	Evidence	Source
Dog (Domestic)	IM	25 mg/kg	q8h	Moderate	Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook, 9th Ed, Ceftazidime, printed p.220 (corpus p.247), DOGS item 2 — '25 mg/kg IM, SC every 8 hours'. Superscript 3 = Monfrinotti A, Ambros L, Prados AP, Kreil V, Rebuelto M. Pharmacokinetics of ceftazidime after intravenous, intramuscular and subcutaneous administration to dogs. J Vet Pharmacol Ther. 2010;33(2):204-207 (resolved in the Plumb's companion reference archive).
Cat (Domestic)	IM	30 mg/kg	q8h	Moderate	Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook, 9th Ed, Ceftazidime, printed p.220 (corpus p.247), CATS — '30 mg/kg IM every 8 hours'. Superscript 4 = Albarellos GA, Ambros LA, Landoni MF. Pharmacokinetics of ceftazidime after intravenous and intramuscular administration to domestic cats. Vet J. 2008;178(2):238-243 (resolved in the Plumb's companion reference archive).

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