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Tips on administering Baytrill?

davemulheran

Warren Scout
Hi All,

I was given some baytril to syringe in to ralphs mouth to help cure his possible UTI

he hates it and i cant seem to get him to accept it. He throws a right old fit. I hold him, then with my back to the wall.. slide down knees bent and gently try to put him back first on my legs so I can slide the syringe in to the side of his mouth

he throws an absolute fit. I end up stopping because it cant be good for him

I've tried putting it on shreddies and leaves of spinach, but he wises up and stays clear of it

can anyone help? or advise on what to do that may help me to get this stuff in to the little fellow!?

thks
 
Try wrapping him tightly in a towel to stop him struggling then pop the syringe in the side of his mouth behind his teeth.

I don't think he will take if off any food as it does taste horrible.

Good luck
 
I put the Baytril on some pellets and then wipe up the residue, if there is any, with a grape, which they eat. I don't feed mine a great deal of pellets so they will eat a small amount with Baytril on, just to get them.
 
I kneel on the floor with the rabbit between my legs facing outwards. This way she cannot move backwards. I lean forwards so that my body is stopping her from jumping up. With one hand I gently squeeze her mouth at the sides, this causes her to pop open her mouth and with the other hand I syringe the liquid in! It took some doing to learn a good technique but its now quite easy. However I have found this only works with my bunny with sticky up ears (!), the lop eared rabbits have a different skull shape and they do not open their mouth when you press so sliding it in the sides works best.

Good luck!:D
 
Wrap him in a towel, and then sit on the floor such that you can lean against the wall and be comfortable. He'll have to be pretty snug in the towel, so that he can't back up or jump away. You may need to get a second smaller towel and tuck it around under his chin so he can't hide his head or bite your legs. Just be patient and gentle. Good luck!
 
I'm giving Ted baytril at the moment so know how you feel!

I get my other half to steady him (otherwise he wriggles backwards) then open his mouth like Alice's Mum described and pop the syringe in the side of his mouth. When my other half wasn't there it was a nightmare! I had to wrap him tight in a towel and clasp him under one arm -we both hated it!

I have found though that if I do it on the floor he's more likely to try to run off and gets worked up so now I do it on a table (with a blanket covering it so he doesnt slip) and its much better (Obviously making sure he can't squirm and leap off the table - other half's help again!)

My vet says it's quite bitter so I give him his pellets afterwards to cheer him up. I also squeeze it in in two/three spurts, giving him time to swallow after each but not removing the syringe between squirts.

Good luck!
 
Hello :wave: My tip, if they're eating well, is to ask the vet for Baytril in tablet form (I'm not mad - honest). I've always had more luck with the pills than with the liquid. If I'm lucky, I can slot a whole tablet into a raisen or piece of dried fruit such as dried apricot, and bunny will simply eat it. There's a fair bit of crunching that goes on but they don't seem to spit it out! If they won't eat it whole, I crush the tablet and then slice open a raisen like a book (so that the two halves are attached down one side) and I then dab the crushed tablet into the sticky sides of the raisen, close it back up and feed it to bunny. Sometimes you need to use a couple of large raisens. I suppose you could do this with the liquid but I find it's a bit messy and there seems to be more liquid to deal with than crushed powder. I hate having to deal with a writhing bunny who HATES you going near them with a syringe! Day one, they don't know what you're about to do, but by the 2nd or 3rd attempt, they've scarpered before you've opened the medicine bottle! Good luck!
 
Hello :wave: My tip, if they're eating well, is to ask the vet for Baytril in tablet form (I'm not mad - honest). I've always had more luck with the pills than with the liquid. If I'm lucky, I can slot a whole tablet into a raisen or piece of dried fruit such as dried apricot, and bunny will simply eat it. There's a fair bit of crunching that goes on but they don't seem to spit it out! If they won't eat it whole, I crush the tablet and then slice open a raisen like a book (so that the two halves are attached down one side) and I then dab the crushed tablet into the sticky sides of the raisen, close it back up and feed it to bunny. Sometimes you need to use a couple of large raisens. I suppose you could do this with the liquid but I find it's a bit messy and there seems to be more liquid to deal with than crushed powder. I hate having to deal with a writhing bunny who HATES you going near them with a syringe! Day one, they don't know what you're about to do, but by the 2nd or 3rd attempt, they've scarpered before you've opened the medicine bottle! Good luck!


I second using tablets! The only way I can get Smokey to take her papaya tablet is to hide it in an apricot.

Another trick I use with Inky (who hates Baytril liquid) is to squirt it onto his front paws, he licks them straight away and gets the medication.
 
My bun Smudge is on liquid Baytril at the moment. I wrap him up in a large towel going round his body about twice and sit him on top of my tumble drier in garage, even wrapping his ears in the towel, he's a lop. I then put the syringe in the side of his mouth, he refuses to open his mouth but this doesn't matter if you slide it in the side. I then squirt in about 3 or 4 goes and wait till he swallows between each squirt.
He used to really struggle at first and try and get out of the towel but after a couple of days he soon got used to it and just sits there now and lets me squirt away no trouble now.
I always make a great fuss of him afterwards too so he knows he has been a good boy:)
 
Fudge and I have had many a battle of him taking his baytril...:rolleyes:

With fudge I found that if I filled the syringe a little with fruit juice (diluted) then the drug then a little more diluted juice it would mask the taste and he would take it...although still with a struggle of I found that if I had managed to get him nestled on my thighs on his back wiht a firm but fair grip he would let the syringe go into his mouth...took some practice and i alwasy gave him a treat afterwards and lots of praise...bunny buttons worked wonders....

even the vet admitted it was a two person job but as a single bunny mummy I had to improvise....I found that if I got everything ready on the table on a plate then pcked up fudge and fussed him, sat on the chair and rested my legs at a bent angle on the other chair it worked quite well....

good luck and hope his UTI clears soon.x
 
Banana chips!!

I had to give Miffy baytril after she chewed at her injection site and made it all scabby. The vet recommended putting her in a towel etc, but she is a very wily (and fast moving!) bun and it took about 45 minutes every night to finally get it into her mouth. Every time we got her in the towel she wriggled out, despite two of us pinning her down!! After 2 nights of this my hubby squirted some baytril onto a piece of dried banana chip (she LURVES these and will knock the box out of your hand if she spies you have them!)... I didn't think it would work, but she merrily ate it! It took a few banana chips, but she got her recommended amount of baytril each night. Only problem was, squirting the syringe bit by bit was a nightmare... it wouldn't squirt then suddenly the plunger would shoot down and - a lot of baytril ended up on us and the carpet!!
 
Hello :wave: My tip, if they're eating well, is to ask the vet for Baytril in tablet form (I'm not mad - honest). I've always had more luck with the pills than with the liquid. If I'm lucky, I can slot a whole tablet into a raisen or piece of dried fruit such as dried apricot, and bunny will simply eat it. There's a fair bit of crunching that goes on but they don't seem to spit it out! If they won't eat it whole, I crush the tablet and then slice open a raisen like a book (so that the two halves are attached down one side) and I then dab the crushed tablet into the sticky sides of the raisen, close it back up and feed it to bunny. Sometimes you need to use a couple of large raisens. I suppose you could do this with the liquid but I find it's a bit messy and there seems to be more liquid to deal with than crushed powder. I hate having to deal with a writhing bunny who HATES you going near them with a syringe! Day one, they don't know what you're about to do, but by the 2nd or 3rd attempt, they've scarpered before you've opened the medicine bottle! Good luck!

Excellent advise. I didn't know you could get them in tablet form? It was a nightmare with my Penny. My vet advised me to put it in pineapple juice but it is horrible to have to force it to them and have them struggle, especially as they are not on top form anyway.

I will remember that for future reference. Also goo idea about squirting it on the bunnies paws.
 
Hi

Im doing this at the moment with my Doris as she has a UTI too. I've almost perfected the administering now.

- put bun on lap
-sit them in the crook of your arm so they can't move backwards
- place your thumb gently but firmly behind their head so they cant pull it back
-put one finger under their chin
-one finger over the top of the face - their head is now pretty much immobile
-slide the syringe under the lip and squirt.
-stroke bun and bribe with dandelion leaf or similar

If you apply pressure all over the bunny you shouldn't harm them, it's when you squeeze a particular area you might hurt them. If they wriggle just hold them tighter.
 
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