taking liquid medication

[charlotte]

hi,

would like some advice i had to take my bun to the vet yesterday as he had not been eating.

All is well, the vet gave him an injection for colic and we have to give him prebotatic every moring in a syrine.

i got home yesterday from work and he had eaten and had a poo.. so i felt alot happier..

now.. my darling bun has relised if he does not swallow his medication it will feel his mouth and it will just come out of the side of his mouth. The vet made it look so easy yesterday. brian just gets so distressed by the whole thing

has anyone got any ideas of how to get his medication down him without him spitting it every where. i just don`t want to cause to much stress on him.. he hates it.

my parnter and i thought about putting it in his water bottle but the medication needs to be diluted in 50ml of water and then we have t ogive a 5ml syrine full, but if we put it in his water bottle i am worried it will be diluted too much and he is not going to drink all ofit one day.. we have another three sachets to give so that is another three days to go through.. and the medication needs to be made up fresh daily

please help.. i thought i would ask you guys before i phoned the vets.



many thanks

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

One of my rabbits Millie hated taking liquid food when she wasn't eating. The best thing I found with her was to take my time and only squeeze in a little bit of the formula at a timeand give her a few seconds to swallow it, then squeeze abit more in. If your bun is refusing to eat any of the formula I'd put him down, give him a break for a few minutes then try again. I found with Millie that the more I fed her the more she wouldn't swallow any,but if I gave hera little break I could get her to eat some more. I hope this helps and the little guy gets better soon.

 

[Kristinpsc]

hello, im actualy on my way to the vet right now because max is not eating too. Im sure she will have the same thing. Im worried about that feeding through the siringe too, i cant even cut her nails. Charolette, maybe the vet will show me and i can try to give some insite. good luck

I hope its just a matter of liquid food and theres nothing really serious with max, this not eating is scarY!**fingers crossed**

 

[jordiwes]

Here is a thread with some really good advice on syringe feeding your bunny:

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11658&forum_id=16

 

[charlotte]

i am sure he will be fine.. honestly.. brian had no sound in his gut so the vet told us..but as soon has he has hi injection and the first lot of his medication he was fine.. i got home and he had eaten lots and had a poo.

please let me know how you got on.. everything will be fine.

 

[charlotte]

thank you all so much for helping, the next lo the needs to take is in the morning so i will try again with the advice you have given and we will see how we go.

i will keep you all posted x

 

[charlotte]

how did it go?

 

[JimD]

Bunnys_rule63 wrote:

One of my rabbits Millie hated taking liquid food when she wasn't eating. The best thing I found with her was to take my time and only squeeze in a little bit of the formula at a timeand give her a few seconds to swallow it,

:yeahthat

Make sure you get the tip in behind the front teeth and after syringing a little bit move the tip of the syringe around a little to prompt her to swallow.

We had the same issue with our S'more and this was the only way to make sure she got all of her meds. Took a while longer to administer, but was a lot less stressful for both of us. She like her simethicone and would actually sit in her cage and take it almost willingly without even having to pick her up.

 

[Kristinpsc]

HI im home from the vet but max did not come home with me. The vet wasnt sure what was wrong with her, her belly sounded good, her teeth were fine. So she wanted to do all these tests costing lots of money.

We let max down to hope around and hoped she would pee and she did and it was not the right color. So the vet thinks its a bad urniary infection. they are going to keep her over night to monitor her and sringe feed her and start antibiotics. Poor little max. im glad shes going to be monitored all night though. Ill hear more tomorrow. thanks for listening!!!

 

[charlotte]

Kristinpsc wrote:

HI im home from the vet but max did not come home with me.The vet wasnt sure what was wrong with her, her belly sounded good, her teeth were fine. So she wanted to do all these tests costing lots of money.

We let max down to hope around and hoped she would pee and she did and it was not the right color. So the vet thinks its a bad urniary infection. they are going to keep her over night to monitor her and sringe feed her and start antibiotics. Poor little max. im glad shes going to be monitored all night though. Ill hear more tomorrow. thanks for listening!!!

i am sorry to hear that.. i am saw that she will be fine she is with the best person now.

let us know how all goes!

 

[Kristinpsc]

hi. well max is now home. So i have to feed her the liquid food and a med twice a day, another 3 times a day and another every other day, yikes she must be really sick. BUT on a lighter note she seems to be doing better all ready.

The siringe feeding is NOT easy though. So far wraping her like a burito in a towel has worked OK. Charolette hows your brian?

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Last week Iwas syringing Pebbles twice a day for ten days withantibiotics.

It is easier to havetwo people, (one holdingher wrapped in a towel and theother to feed the medicine.)

I found it was easierto insert the tip of thes yringe from the side ofPebbles mouth, instead ofdirectly in front (which she would reject it).

Once in her mouth, Iwould hold the syringe in placeand wait until shestarts licking and swallowing.Only then I wouldslowly squeeze small amountsin her mouth.Going too fast, wouldonly have themedicineleak down hercheeks and make a mess.

If she stops orrejects the syringe,I would take it outand use a second syringefilled with applejuice. I wouldonly give her a little applej uice to wet hermouth and wash down themedicine, before I go backto the medicinesyringe. Only until Ifinish the medicine, Pebbles would get the rest of the apple juice. Andto finish the session,I give her atsp. of low fat plain yogurt.

Here is Pebbles wrappedup, and waiting for themedicine.

One with the medicine and theother with applejuice. Instead ofapple juice, you coulduse yogurt.Like the song, "Justa spoonful of sugar,helps the medicine godown.... the medicine go down."

Eventually Pebbles was notafraid of the syringe, and sheeagerly looked forward totaking the medicine andfoods from the syringe.
Unfortunately, medicine is finished andshe is betterand doesn't requirethe syringe any more.

Rainbows!

 

[charlotte]

Kristinpsc wrote:

hi. well max is now home. So i have to feed her the liquid food and a med twice a day, another 3 times a day and another every other day, yikes she must be really sick. BUT on a lighter note she seems to be doing better all ready.

The siringe feeding is NOT easy though. So far wraping her like a burito in a towel has worked OK. Charolette hows your brian?

well i ma pleased she is at home now and she is looking better. my little boy is back to his normal self and is digging holes in the garden.

he took his medication no problem this morning.. and the last day is tomorrow. the syrine feeding gets better as it goes on i think brian has given up fighting now and just takes it.

good luck with it all

 

[Kristinpsc]

hey thanks for the pictures. Im have major problems getting max to sit still. I cant even get to wrap her in the towel she fights and kicks too much.

I feel like the she will take the meds but i cant get her to calm down for the 3 seconds it takes to wrap her in the towel, she HATES to be picked up!!! ahhhhhh i need to give her these meds though

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

My BunBun was like that, he didn't like to be picked or wrapped up. Can you try either when he's laying down or get him tolay down and then syringe into the side of his mouth behind thefront teeth? That might be your best bet. Worth a shot, then he'll be relaxed and won'tfeel pressured. Good luck.

Oh, and if that doesn't work, you could put the meds into some applesauce or pumpkin, and wrap that into some greens.

 

[Kristinpsc]

so mix the liquid med into some applesauce and then put the applesause on some lettuce???? That would be okay?

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Yes. If that's what it takes for the bun to take the meds. I used mustard greens, since they can be kinda big, I could wrap the meds mixed w/ applesauce inside, tucked inside, and my bun would eat it. Of course then hegot smart and would eat around it :foreheadsmack:.

Edit to add: What does Max like as far as a leafy green?I'd use that, It'll coax her to eat it. Sorry,earlier for calling her a him, oops.

 

[Kristinpsc]

thats for the advice!!! I mean if it was just one med id feel better but its 1 med 3 times a day, another 2 times a day and another every other day! so its a lot to give!! But im going to try the applesause idea with some romaine lettuce. thanks again

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

You're welcome! I know how hard it can be w/ a resistant bun! I hope it works. She might get smart after the first few times and not eat it, but I hope not.

 

[Kristinpsc]

Hi just wanted to tell you the applesauce in the romaine lettuce worked. it sat in her cage untouched for a while but eventually she ate it!!

Also whats werid is that she will not stay warpped in th burrito but im holding her when we give it to her, VERY weird, hey whatever works eh.thanks for all the help!