Tildipirosin for Ox: Uses, Dosing & Side Effects

This information is for educational purposes only. Never give your pet any medication without your veterinarian's guidance. Dosing, frequency, and safety depend on your pet's specific health profile.

Tildipirosin is a prescription macrolide antibiotic used in cattle. In the United States, it is marketed as Zuprevo 18% and is labeled for subcutaneous use in beef and non-lactating dairy cattle. It is not a routine at-home medication. Your vet uses it when an ox has, or is at high risk for, bovine respiratory disease (BRD).

Macrolide antibiotics are valued because they concentrate well in lung tissue and inflammatory cells. That makes them useful for respiratory infections, where drug levels in the lungs matter more than blood levels alone. Tildipirosin is a long-acting injectable, so treatment is designed around a single labeled dose, not repeated daily injections.

Because oxen are food-producing animals, this drug also comes with important residue and handling rules. It is Rx-only, has a 21-day slaughter withdrawal, and should not be used in female dairy cattle 20 months of age or older. A withdrawal period has not been established in pre-ruminating calves, so it should not be used in calves processed for veal.

If your ox has fever, cough, nasal discharge, fast breathing, depression, or reduced feed intake, see your vet promptly. Early treatment decisions can affect recovery, labor needs, and overall herd health.

Tildipirosin is labeled for the treatment of bovine respiratory disease associated with Mannheimia haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, and Histophilus somni. These bacteria are common contributors to shipping fever and other lower respiratory infections in cattle. In practical terms, your vet may consider it when an ox shows signs such as fever, dullness, cough, nasal discharge, increased breathing effort, or a drop in appetite after transport, commingling, weather stress, or other disease pressure.

It is also labeled for the control of BRD in cattle at high risk of developing disease. That means your vet may use it strategically in groups or individuals with known risk factors, such as recent arrival, long transport, auction exposure, or mixing from multiple sources. This is a herd-health decision that should be made within a valid veterinary-client-patient relationship.

Tildipirosin is not a broad answer for every fever or every cough. Respiratory signs in oxen can also be linked to viruses, parasites, aspiration, environmental irritants, or advanced pneumonia that needs a different plan. Your vet may pair treatment with temperature checks, lung auscultation, ultrasound, anti-inflammatory medication, hydration support, and monitoring of response over the next several days.

Because antimicrobial stewardship matters in food animals, your vet will weigh whether tildipirosin is the right option for the situation, whether another labeled drug fits better, and how to document treatment and withdrawal times clearly.

The labeled cattle dose for tildipirosin is 4 mg/kg body weight, which corresponds to 1 mL per 100 lb of body weight, given once by subcutaneous injection in the neck. The maximum volume is 10 mL per injection site. This is the approved U.S. label dose for Zuprevo 18%.

Because this is a concentrated, long-acting injectable, accurate body weight matters. Underdosing may reduce effectiveness and can contribute to antimicrobial resistance. Overdosing increases the risk of tissue reaction and other adverse effects. Your vet or cattle health team should use a current weight, proper restraint, clean technique, and the labeled route.

Tildipirosin is not intended for repeated daily dosing unless your vet specifically directs otherwise under a lawful treatment plan. If an ox does not improve, the next step is usually re-evaluation, not automatically giving more. Your vet may reassess the diagnosis, check for complications like severe pneumonia or pleuritis, and decide whether supportive care, a different antimicrobial, or additional diagnostics are needed.

For food safety, cattle treated with tildipirosin must not be slaughtered within 21 days of the last treatment. It should not be used in female dairy cattle 20 months of age or older, and it should not be used in calves to be processed for veal because no withdrawal period has been established for pre-ruminating calves.

The most important side effect to watch for is injection-site swelling and inflammation. With tildipirosin, this reaction can be marked and may persist for weeks. Local tissue changes can remain beyond the slaughter withdrawal period and may lead to trim loss at processing. Mild swelling is not unusual, but large, painful, hot, or worsening swellings should be reported to your vet.

Some cattle may also show short-term discomfort after injection, including sensitivity in the neck area, reluctance to move normally, or brief stress related to handling and injection. As with many injectable antibiotics, any ox that becomes more depressed, stops eating, develops worsening breathing effort, or fails to improve should be rechecked promptly. Those signs may reflect progression of the underlying disease rather than a medication reaction alone.

Severe allergic-type reactions are considered uncommon, but any collapse, facial swelling, sudden breathing distress, or extreme weakness after treatment is an emergency. See your vet immediately.

Human safety matters too. Accidental self-injection requires immediate medical attention. The product label warns against using automatically powered syringes without an added protection system because accidental injection can happen quickly during cattle handling.

Published cattle-specific interaction data for tildipirosin are limited, so your vet should review the full treatment plan before use. As a macrolide antibiotic, tildipirosin is generally used thoughtfully alongside other antimicrobials to avoid unnecessary overlap in spectrum and to support antimicrobial stewardship.

In practice, your vet may be cautious about combining or closely sequencing tildipirosin with other macrolides unless there is a clear reason. Macrolides share similar mechanisms, and bacterial resistance within the class can overlap. If an ox has already received another long-acting respiratory antibiotic, your vet may factor in timing, expected duration, and response before changing drugs.

Your vet will also consider the whole animal, including dehydration status, severity of pneumonia, pregnancy status, intended market date, and any other medications being used for pain, inflammation, parasites, or supportive care. In food animals, treatment records and withdrawal tracking are part of safe medication use.

One critical species warning: do not use tildipirosin in swine. Fatal adverse events have been reported following its use in pigs. That warning is especially important on mixed-species farms where medication storage or syringe mix-ups can happen.