Substance Administration - Recommended Volumes (Informational Sheet)

Recommended Volumes for Administered Substances (Informational Sheet)

Informational Sheet: The Office of Animal Resources has provided a set of guidance documents (Policies, Guidelines, and Informational Sheets) for use when planning animal procedures at the University of Iowa. This Informational Sheet provides the current guidance on recommended testing of research biologics for pathogens.

Purpose:

This document provides information about administration volumes and needle sizes for commonly employed routes of fluid administration in various animal species. The volume limits are consensus figures based on published literature and are set up to maintain animal welfare and prevent potential complications, such as muscle damage with high volume intramuscular injection, or aspiration & pulmonary injury with high volume oral administration.

Procedures:

Give injections at a constant flow rate
- No resistance should be encountered during injection
- Do not apply overt pressure on the syringe’s plunger
See below for maximum recommended volume and needle size
- Compare the weight in the table to the weight of the animal being used in the procedure and alter dose accordingly
- Max limit with oil-based vehicles should be half the listed max limit and may require a larger gavage needle
- Always use the smallest needle size (largest gauge) that is applicable to the procedure

Precautions:

Do not inject into inflamed or damaged tissue unless medically indicated
Injecting relatively large volumes of solutions that are below body temperature may lead to hypothermia
Inject separate drugs/compounds at different sites to avoid cross reaction of chemicals
Limit subcutaneous administration to 2-3 sites per day
Limit intramuscular administration to 2 sites at one time
Intravenous volumes listed are for slow injection over 3-10 minutes. Bolus volumes should be less, typically 10-50% of the slow injection volume.
Exceptions apply when medically indicated or scientifically justified, consult with Office of Animal Resources (OAR) veterinary staff for guidance

Recommended Maximum Volumes and Needle Sizes per Route, per Site, and per Species

recommended maximum volumes and needle sized per route, per site, and per species
Species & weight	Per os (oral)	Subcutaneous	Intramuscular	Intraperitoneal	Intravenous
Rat 200g	4 ml 20 ml/kg 16 G	1 ml 5 ml/kg 20 G	0.2 ml total/site - 21 G	4 ml 20 ml/kg 21 G	4 ml 20 ml/kg 23 G
Mouse 25g	0.5 ml 20 ml/kg 18 G	0.25 ml 10 ml/kg 20 G	0.1 ml total/site - 23 G	0.5 ml 20 ml/kg 21 G	0.625 ml 25 ml/kg 25 G
Hamster 100g	2 ml 20 ml/kg 18 G	0.5 ml 5 ml/kg 20 G	0.2 ml total/site - 21 G	2 ml 20 ml/kg 21 G	2 ml 20 ml/kg 25 G
Guinea pig 800g	16 ml 20 ml/kg	4 ml 5 ml/kg 20 G	0.2 ml total/site - 21 G	16 ml 20 ml/kg 21 G	4 ml 5 ml/kg 23 G
Rabbit 3kg	60 ml 20 ml/kg	15 ml 5 ml/kg 20 G	1 ml 0.5 ml/kg up to max 1 ml 20 G	30 ml 10 ml/kg 20 G	30 ml 10 ml/kg 21 G
Cat 5kg	75 ml 15 ml/kg	25 ml 5 ml/kg 20 G	1 ml 0.5 ml/kg up to max 1 ml 20 G	100 ml 20 ml/kg 20 G	50 ml 10 ml/kg 21 G
Dog 10kg	150 ml 15 ml/kg	10 ml 1 ml/kg 20 G	3 ml 0.5 ml/kg up to max 3 ml 20 G	200 ml 20 ml/kg 20 G	100 ml 10 ml/kg 20 G
Pig 25kg	375 ml 15 ml/kg	37.5 ml 1.5 ml/kg 20 G	5 ml 0.5 ml/kg up to max 5 ml 20 G	500 ml 20 ml/kg 20 G	250 ml 10 ml/kg 18 G
Ferret 1kg	15 ml 15 ml/kg	5 ml 5 ml/kg 21 G	1 ml 0.5 ml/kg up to max 1 ml 23 G	20 ml 20 ml/kg 21 G	10 ml 10 ml/kg 21 G
Goat/Sheep 45kg	900 ml 20 ml/kg	225 ml 5 ml/kg 19 G	5 ml total/site - 18 G	450 ml 10 ml/kg 19 G	450 ml 10 ml/kg 18 G

Last Reviewed by the IACUC 6/14/2023