Medication help (administration)

[ametropia]

The more days that Mrs. Brisby is on medication, the more ways she finds to NOT take it. I'm running out of options and need some help getting the Doxy and Baytril into her. I need suggestions.

The first days, we were able to flip her over and squirt it in her mouth. Then I tried putting a little on something I knew she'd eat and she ate it. The not too long after that, she started rejecting the food covered in it.. urgh. So we had to go back to flipping, but she now struggles more than ever to get away from it.

Then we had to add Baytril :gaah: which is a SECOND dose.. and she loathes the Baytril and fights even more now.

When I do manage to get it in her mouth.. she refuses to swallow it! anic: She actually holds it in her mouth without swallowing. We just have to hope enough gets in to help her. She is showing definite improvement at least thank gawd ... But we're still in this for another week at the very least.

Like I said, I've tried a variety of foods and liquids which no longer work. To the point where I can't afford [quantity wise] to waste any more meds putting it on foods she won't eat because I won't have enough of her medication left if I waste it like that (they gave me extra but trust me we've been blowing through it thanks to this)

Now we're just holding her on her back and trying our best (two person job usually) to get it into her mouth but even then more Baytril gets on me than in her mouth because she struggles so much..

My question: Do I have to scruff her? I really, really don't wanna have to do that, but I'm running out of options. Holding her free-hand, she can almost always find a way to knock it out of our hand or squirm and turn herself around.

And aside from scruffing, how firmly can I hold her when trying to administer it? I have to admit I might be able to hold on to her more tightly but I'm just petrified of hurting her.

Help?

 

[temblabamomo]

I know you don't want to risk wasting any more meds by her rejecting them while hidden in something yummy...but if you haven't already perused this thread (viewtopic.php?f=21&t=4656), you might find something that works. There's some pretty creative concoctions listed.

My only experience with scruffing a rat to administer meds was a failure - he allowed us to inject the meds into his mouth, but once his mouth was full up he refused to swallow and the stuff would just dribble out the sides :/

Meh, sorry not to be of more help.

 

[ametropia]

S'ok. In all honesty there is no medication to spare at this point so I really don't want to keep trying it :\ We may just have to keep putting it in her mouth and hoping for the best. Her dose of doxy is so tiny that as long as it hits her tongue she's probably gotten enough. The Baytril is a bit more but not much more.

The one thing I haven't tried is baby cereal.. but in all honesty if it failed, we'd be risking not having enough medication to complete the whole med cycle, and that seems just as bad as shoving it into her mouth and having it dribble out.. at least the latter she gets some on her tongue :\

 

[ametropia]

I just found something in my office that might work.. a can of vanilla slimfast :lol:

I used to drink these at work when I just had no time to go out. I'll try her on some of it without meds first to see if she'll even take it.. Mrs. Brisby is a very picky girl.

 

[ametropia]

well everything was a bust I tried NUMEROUS things and while she downs the substances sans-medication, she refused with the medication added to them. In addition, she is now REFUSING treats from me of any kind! WITHOUT medication on them

I'm at a loss. All I ended up with was a rat covered in numerous substances and my hand and chest are scratched so badly I'm bleeding like I walked through a glass door (without opening it). Next time I'm wearing a jacket.

In the end I had to hold her firmly and hope she wouldn't struggle to the point of hurting herself. That didn't work out so well either, she was willing to do anything to get away. I got a lot of medication in her mouth and when we got her in the cage I immediately gave her a pea so she'd swallow. The final medication was in a chocolate substance so she then cleaned herself off so she got SOME of the medication..

.. but that was JUST the baytril

Then I had to do the doxy and at this point she was having none of it.

In the end I had to bathe her in the sink for being so sticky, and then we had sofa-bonding time. She didn't seem afraid of me at least and happily set up shop in my shirt for awhile..

But I just don't know how much longer we can keep doing this. She still has sneezes, even though she shows a lot of improvement. I Won't know how much until she calms down, I'm sure the stress increased her porphyrin..

ugh what a miserable evening.

 

[jenniferkelley]

Giving my girl her meds was a very hard thing to do for myself aswell and she always squirmed away but what I found to work is wrapping them up in a facecloth, and giving her the meds quickly then putting her down and letting her lick it off of her lips. When I first tried the facecloth way I held her after and she kept spitting the meds out but when i just put her down after and let her do her own thing she seemed to take it.

Hope this helps!

 

[ametropia]

I like the facecloth idea a lot. I think I'll give that a try.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

What are your meds mixed with? I know this won't help now but in future it is a great idea to train your rats to take stuff out of a syringe. The best way to do this is to fill a syringe with ensure (strawberry is a fav here) and offer it to your ratties and it shouldn't take long for them to be fighting over the syringe. (credit to Shelagh for this idea, it's awesome)

 

[ametropia]

Bris won't take anything from a syringe. The rest of the gang? Would take the Baytril probably straight up not even cut with anything straight from the syringe.. but nope, not Brisby ><

In the liquids department my primary tries have been chocolate syrup, yogurt, fruit juice, and two flavors of slim-fast (which is just a meal-replacement drink). These are all substances she'll lick off my fingers and sometimes will take out of a syringe, but once I add the medication? Hell. no. She won't do it.

She's a smart one -.-

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

So the vet has given you just straight liquid baytril and doxy mixed with water? No flavouring? No wonder she doesn't like syringes if all she gets is nasty tasting baytril from it :giggle: And now that she knows the smell and taste of the baytril it's going to be very hard to mask...sorry I have no suggestions.

I have all my meds mixed up with equal parts of water and Nesquik and my ratties go nuts for it.

 

[ametropia]

Yep it's just the Baytril with no flavoring. The vet's office is mostly a cat/dog office. The Exotics vet only comes in on Wednesdays. I think this contributes. The doxy supposedly tastes like chicken though.. she doesn't care for it but her sisters would bowl her over to try to get it :doh: Her dose is so small though I can rub it on an animal cracker piece and she usually eats it.

It's ok, we're just going to wrap her in a nice facecloth and do it the hard way. It'll get done fast this way, and she's sounding a whole ton better these last couple of days

 

[ametropia]

The facecloth method worked! It took just a few seconds to get both syringes into her and then I let her go and she seemed no worse for wear. Thanks <3

 

[jorats]

The tech at my vet's office showed me how to hold the rat to administer meds. You put the rat on your chest, scruff the back of his/her neck, place the syringe in the side of his/her lips and squirt a bit at a time. It's worked for us with our stubborn ones.

 

[lilspaz68]

We all have our methods and mine is below...

But here's another little trick for the wee ones who hold the meds in their mouth...put that syringe in deep...they may act like they are gagging, but as soon as you remove the syringe they will swallow and just give you dirty looks...they really aren't dying. That flap of skin at the back of the throat (that stops them from vomiting) you have to get the syringe past that for stubborn beggars.

I put the rat in my lap facing forwards and butt against my stomach. I then lean down and at the same time lift the rat up to my torso so they are pressed against it, and my stomach (can't go backwards now). Then I lift up with ratty firmly pressed against my body, but hind feet still on ground. I am right-handed so with my left hand i have the forefinger above their paws on their chest, and the rest of the fingers behind and around their torso. That forefinger keeps those paws from pushing the syringe away from their face...

Once we are both ready (or not!) I use my thumb and move that forefinger to either side of their head/muzzle to keep it still, then pop the syringe into the side of their mouth at a 45 degree angle and pop it in

 

[jenniferkelley]

The facecloth method worked! It took just a few seconds to get both syringes into her and then I let her go and she seemed no worse for wear. Thanks <3

No problemo, I had the same problem with my girl. Even all the people teaching me how to hold her didn't her she would still squirm away. Glad it worked for you too!