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Injecting Bunnies...help!

biscuitblossom

biscuitblossom

Warren Veteran
Ive been giving Angel penecillin injections for the last 2 weeks...every other day.

Shes showing a great improvement in terms of her snuffles which is great but my problem is that shes started to tense up when I try to give her the injection.

I had to give up this morning and Ive retried this evening ,shes had about two thirds of her dose and that wasnt easy.
I'm finding it difficult to pull up loose sking when she tenses and she jumps when the penecillin goes in which doesnt help matters at all.

Any suggestions as to what I could do to make it easier?
 
I have found that a tasty treat works with eddie, he is so busy scoffing that he doesn't even notice the needle going in :)
 
I also feed mine whilst injecting, grated carrot is a favourite. Another tip is to rotate the area you use and not go into the back of the neck all the time as the skin gets tender which is often why they tense when you touch it, and then you are more likely to get a local skin reaction. :)
 
i agree to both! bribery and distraction is always a good idea. If you are injecting under the skin, try further down the back if she's comfortably on all 4s, or just infront of the hindleg. Try to do the injection in one move, i.e. push the needle through the skin holding the barrel in finger and thumb and depress the plunger with the palm of your hand by bending your fingers. Its all over and done with quicker then and no wiggling the needle around!
 
Sooz said:
I also feed mine whilst injecting, grated carrot is a favourite. Another tip is to rotate the area you use and not go into the back of the neck all the time as the skin gets tender which is often why they tense when you touch it, and then you are more likely to get a local skin reaction. :)
Click to expand...

I did wonder if she might be getting sore...troule is at the moment its taking several stabs to get it done.....I do try to use different areas but when shes tense its just so hard to get hold of skin to do it in.
 
biscuitblossom said:
I did wonder if she might be getting sore...troule is at the moment its taking several stabs to get it done.....I do try to use different areas but when shes tense its just so hard to get hold of skin to do it in.
Click to expand...

Is it lack of practice do you think or has she maybe got 1. tough skin or 2. could your needles be blunt or the wrong gauge? If she has tough skin that could be to do with the skin thickening in response to repeat injections.

I found with Lexie, who has very thick fur, clipping some around her scruff helped me get a more accurate shot by exposing the skin. :)
 
Angel is a rex so shes got fairly dense fur....not sure about skin thickening....I'm having to use a green needle because the blue ones block with the penecillin and I'm using a new one every time so I can't see they would be blunt?
 
biscuitblossom said:
Angel is a rex so shes got fairly dense fur....not sure about skin thickening....I'm having to use a green needle because the blue ones block with the penecillin and I'm using a new one every time so I can't see they would be blunt?
Click to expand...

Are you using a different needle to inject through to the one you drew up with? I personally couldn't inject through the greens (because they wouldn't go in) and moved to blues, found them much easier TBH but had to hold the needle on to the syringe just to be sure it wouldn't pop off under pressure.
 
Sooz said:
Are you using a different needle to inject through to the one you drew up with? I personally couldn't inject through the greens (because they wouldn't go in) and moved to blues, found them much easier TBH but had to hold the needle on to the syringe just to be sure it wouldn't pop off under pressure.
Click to expand...

When they were showing me how to inject the needle blocked every time with blue needles,at the time we were using green to draw it up and then changing to blue to inject but now I'm using the same green one to draw it up and inject.
 
biscuitblossom said:
When they were showing me how to inject the needle blocked every time with blue needles,at the time we were using green to draw it up and then changing to blue to inject but now I'm using the same green one to draw it up and inject.
Click to expand...

You should really always switch needles between drawing up and injecting, I believe it's to minimise the risk of a local skin reaction by depositing antibiotics in the upper dermal layers.
 
I always inject with a new needle, drawing up the meds blunts the needle which is why it may be taking several attempts to get it in. Trying to inject with a blunt needle is probably quite painful which is why she is tensing.
 
Don't feel bad, its only a "recommended to" lots of vets dont do it etc, it is mostly for animals being constantly injected or bottles being repeatedly drawn from. if it saves you on needles you can leave one through the rubber on the bottle, as long as the bottle is kept in a clean place, and just use one to draw it up, keeping the fresh needles for injecting. massage before hand also sometimes helps, to make them relax, as does warming the syringe in warm boiled water, which makes the drug slide better in the syringe.
 
Hey, don't feel bad. I had to give Flora penicilin injections for 8 weeks:shock: Fortunately, I had a good batch of penicilin and only had one or two needles that blocked. I didn't change needles for drawing up and injecting and I didn't have any problems - neither did Flora seem any the worse for her ordeal.

In future though, after reading about the swapping of needles on the forum, I would use one needle to draw up the fluid and another to inject. You live and learn as you go along.

Good luck with the rest of the injections and hope your bun gets better.
 
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