Administering Medicine

[mdith4him]

This morning, Crispin was making weird noises and sneezing quite a bit. He had some discharge from his nose, too.

[You can read the whole story and listen to his weird noises here.]

Anyway, we got some meds from the vet. We have to give it to Crispin through a syringe and he HATES it. We had to wrestle with him for 20 minutes tonight to get some of it in his mouth. We tried putting some on a red lettuce leaf, but he just ate the part of the leaf without the meds on it :X We're suppose to give him the antibiotic twice a day for two weeks! We need an easier way to do this.

Any suggestions? I thought tomorrow we could try mixing the meds with a mushed up banana or something.

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

I have the same problem with my bunnies. I've been told "you just have to hold them and sqirt it in their mouth." This is easier said than done

Mushed bananna sounds like a good idea. Fruit flavored baby food has been suggested to me as a way to get them to take medication. I haven't tried it but I have some ready in case I need it.

Good luck!

 

[majorv]

You can try putting the syringe on the side of their mouth just behind the back teeth. You can usually work their jaw so that they'll openenough for you to release the meds towards the back, where they have toswallow it.

 

[nc_bunnys]

It helps to have one person hold bunny, wrap bunny in a towel with feet in towel. Have person #2 gently open bunny's mouth enough to syringe in meds. If bunny is not swallowing, give a little at a time. All this sounds mean but bunny gets their full dose of medicine.

 

[mdith4him]

Thanks for the ideas! We did try the towel, too (the vet did that), but Crispin is able to kick his way out of it! I tried to do it as tightly wrapped as I could (not too tight, but you know what I mean).

We'll see how things go this morning...

 

[Mariah]

Did you manage to get the meds in? I had a really hard to syringe bunny too, and I had to hold him tightly and put the syringe in the side of his mouth and squirt little bits at a time. He hates me for it, but I had to do cause he was sick!

I'm lucky to have two bunnies now where I can just sit on the ground with them and put the syringe in front of their face and they gladly just take the meds...

 

[mdith4him]

This morning was horrible We hadn't had a chance to go to the store yet, so we only had the syringe. He bit both me and the hubby when we were trying to hold him (didn't break the skin, but I've got a nice little bruise on my arm now). We finally managed to get some of it down his throat after moving him into the bathtub. He was so mad at us, he wouldn't even take a grape when we were finished!

I bought bananas and baby food carrots and a apple/banana blend. They're organic, no sugar added foods so we'll try one tonight and see what he thinks.

 

[Blue eyes]

I just went through this with my Sapphire. I took a small amount of fresh banana and mushed it in a bowl with her medicine. I used just enough banana to somewhat mask the medicine. She did take it. I only used about a 1/2" slice.

After the initial hesitation, she began to look forward to it, and would eat it up hungrily each day.

Sapphire is my "impossible to hold" bun, so this worked out well.

 

[mdith4him]

The baby food worked!!

I mixed the medicine with a dollop of apple/banana baby food and Crispin licked the plate clean! I'm so glad it worked because two weeks of twice a day struggles was not going to be fun.

...and because I'm a softie I let Junie and Nibbles have a small taste of the baby food. They loved it, too

 

[missyscove]

It's a little late now, but this is why I occasionally syringe Timmy some juice so he gets used to taking a syringe and associates it with tasty things.

My usual technique is to pick him up and depending on how many things I'm syringing him, I may wrap him in a blanket. Remember that rabbits have a gap between their front incisors and back molars. I aim to get the syringe in that gap and then slowly but consistently push down on the syringe.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

What I've found is using a 1 mL syringe makes ALL the difference. They're literally kicking, fighting and trying to attack me and then when I switch from a larger syringe to a 1mL its like magic.

However, if the babyfood is working, that's great! I wish i had tried that when my one bunny was really sick who hated syringes. She'd bite and then hang on. ouch!

 

[majorv]

missyscove wrote:

It's a little late now, but this is why I occasionally syringe Timmy some juice so he gets used to taking a syringe and associates it with tasty things.

My usual technique is to pick him up and depending on how many things I'm syringing him, I may wrap him in a blanket. Remember that rabbits have a gap between their front incisors and back molars. I aim to get the syringe in that gap and then slowly but consistently push down on the syringe.

I agree that you should try to get rabbits used to syringes. Some meds may be best given alone...with food, or with certainfood, mightbe contraindicated in some.

 

[Ape337]

I had similar problems with meds too until my vet used grape flavoring. Now I have to hold tight onto the syringe or I'll lose it! Can your vet flavor it next time? Just a thought

 

[Imbrium]

I could use some help with figuring out how to syringe bunnies as well. I wanted to get some practice while they're healthy, so I gave it a try today with some OJ (well, 1 part OJ to 3 parts water) and it was an unmitigated disaster.

Gaz couldn't care less if I flip her over, hold her on her back, play with her little feetsies, rub her tummy, check her bum, trim her nails, etc... but it's WW3 if I attempt to check her teeth - always takes me a couple tries to actually get a good look at them. Nala's just as bad about being touched around the mouth enough that I can peek at her teeth, and again, that's with her flipped over.

having to try to get something in their mouth when they're NOT on their backs is proving pretty impossible >< I couldn't even get it in Gaz's mouth... managed to touch it to the gap between Nala's front and back teeth but couldn't push the plunger before she wriggled away.

any tips for dealing with bunnies that hate it it when you touch the side of their mouth (with fingertips or a syringe)?

 

[missyscove]

I don't syringe feed them when they're on their backs. Just when they're sitting normally or if I bunny burrito them they may be basically vertical sandwiched between my knees and my chest.
Just a thought, if she really hates you touching her mouth have you had her teeth checked out to make sure everything is okay in there? It could be a sign that that area is painful.

 

[missyscove]

I don't syringe feed them when they're on their backs. Just when they're sitting normally or if I bunny burrito them they may be basically vertical sandwiched between my knees and my chest.
Just a thought, if she really hates you touching her mouth have you had her teeth checked out to make sure everything is okay in there? It could be a sign that that area is painful.

 

[missyscove]

I don't syringe feed them when they're on their backs. Just when they're sitting normally or if I bunny burrito them they may be basically vertical sandwiched between my knees and my chest.
Just a thought, if she really hates you touching her mouth have you had her teeth checked out to make sure everything is okay in there? It could be a sign that that area is painful.

 

[Imbrium]

yeah, I would never syringe feed them on their backs, seems like it would be harder for them to swallow/easier for them to choke or inhale the liquid.

they've been to the vet a couple times since I got them (the last time about a week ago) and the vet looked at their teeth; I've checked them very recently as well. I think it's actually me making contact with some of their short whiskers that's making them flinch away, but the whiskers are pretty much everywhere, heh.

 

[LauraD]

I was told to always give fluids sideways, through the side of their mouth behind the teeth. If you shove it deep into their mouth or go from the front, it's easy for them to aspirate. Also, having them tilting their head back too much (if they're trying to get away, laying on their back, etc) greatly increases the risk.

I give my rabbit 3 different medications, twice daily, through the mouth. I just hold my rabbits front paws with her back to my chest, so she's kind of standing on my lap; then administer them with my free hand. Sometimes she's feisty and tries to get away, so I have somebody else hold her while I administer them.

My bun is crazy though, most of the time, I can give her her oral meds and then set her down and give her her injection without even holding her.. and then sometimes she's squirming so much I can't do it with another person helping! :/ Silly rabbits.

Good luck!