Getting meds into your bun

Hiya :wave:

Still with Beau's ongoing wound treatment troubles :roll: He is now on Metacam and Baytril, and had stopped chewing his wound, so I thought the meds were working. I tried giving it with pineapple juice which he LOVES, but that didn't work. So I put it on his veg, which worked the first day, cos he ate all his veggies. But yesterday he didn't eat all his veg, or this morning, so I don't want to put it on his dinner in case he doesn't eat it all.

So today we've had to put it direct into his mouth. This involved cornering him, wrapping him tightly in a towel and poking the syringe in his mouth, all of which stressed all three of us out, and a fair bit went on his paws and chest. There's got to be a better way?!

brown bread

Alvin wont eat it when its still wet, but if you dose up the bread and make a roll then leave it out overnight till its crunchy.... sorted

eta- thats not explained very well is it

donnamt said:

brown bread

Alvin wont eat it when its still wet, but if you dose up the bread and make a roll then leave it out overnight till its crunchy.... sorted

eta- thats not explained very well is it

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I have to say it did make me go "'ey?" So just spread it on a piece of brown bread, leave it out overnight so it goes stale, then give it to him? I think that may be an acquired taste :shock:

Lib_n_bunny said:

So today we've had to put it direct into his mouth. This involved cornering him, wrapping him tightly in a towel and poking the syringe in his mouth, all of which stressed all three of us out, and a fair bit went on his paws and chest. There's got to be a better way?!

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It is a bit of a nightmare, they're very good at out manoeuvring :shock: you could try and guide him towards a pet carrier/hutch then lift it onto a table. I was dreading it when my vet first said needing to give metacam daily to Scratch for arthritis but now he mostly goes along with it and even readily accepts the syringe in his mouth. I don't pick him up, he just hops out, I then gently rest my hand on his back put the syringe in his mouth then he lets me pick him up and pop him back on the floor. It takes seconds now rather than minutes! Good luck!!

Lib_n_bunny said:

I have to say it did make me go "'ey?" So just spread it on a piece of brown bread, leave it out overnight so it goes stale, then give it to him? I think that may be an acquired taste :shock:

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check hell eat a bit of brown bread first or youll just waste the medicine

i need to put 0.8ml onto bread so i take of the crust, split the slice into 3, flatten the piece im going to use and make the edges into little walls, put the baytril along the length let it sink in a bit then carefully roll it like a sausage roll, seal the end with some water and tadarrrrrrrr i nice little bread treat which over night goes hard and crunchy and even with drugs soaked in.. irrisistable

if i had a less dose id use less bread...

pearl then gets the hardened crusts so she dont steal the drug treat

ariadne said:

It is a bit of a nightmare, they're very good at out manoeuvring :shock: you could try and guide him towards a pet carrier/hutch then lift it onto a table. I was dreading it when my vet first said needing to give metacam daily to Scratch for arthritis but now he mostly goes along with it and even readily accepts the syringe in his mouth. I don't pick him up, he just hops out, I then gently rest my hand on his back put the syringe in his mouth then he lets me pick him up and pop him back on the floor. It takes seconds now rather than minutes! Good luck!!

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ooooooh on a table.. i never thought of that.. if i ever have to give a drug alvin wont take in brown bread ill try the table trick.. brilliant

Its not easy getting medication into them is it. We have a bunny that suffers from EC and he hates having his meds After trying everything to get stuff into him we now just wrap him in the towel and put it into his mouth I hope you manage to find a better way though since ive been giving Roo meds he doesnt seem to like me very much

just watch he doesn't make a run for it and leap off! You'll find a way that works for you and it will get easier.

ariadne said:

just watch he doesn't make a run for it and leap off! You'll find a way that works for you and it will get easier.

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he does that at the vets all the time... thinking its not such a good idea after all :lol::lol::lol::lol:

My trick for Panacur liquid is to inject the required amount into a mini shredded wheat, leave overnight until it dries out and then they take your hand off for it in the morning! You have to cut their regular food down though coz the shredded wheat's are quite large, even though they're 'mini'.

Why don't you ask for injectable baytril?Most buns like the taste of metacam so its not so hard to get down them

donnamt said:

he does that at the vets all the time... thinking its not such a good idea after all :lol::lol::lol::lol:

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ha! yes little escape artists :lol: you could try it with a top opening pet carrier?

ariadne said:

ha! yes little escape artists :lol: you could try it with a top opening pet carrier?

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Even if I have hold of him, how do I get the meds into him, he boxes me and clamps his mouth shut :?

not sure about baytril, but metacam normally comes with a small syringe? Just poke it gently into his mouth, normally they try to bite it to start off with. You'll need to just gently hold him still with one hand while you squirt it in his mouth with the other.
Just to add, if he's trying to box you he may then back into a corner of the carrier, so make sure you have the syringe ready in your right hand and try stroking down his back just to reassure him before you then gently hold him still, afterall you need it to be as nice an experience as possible if you're going to have to repeat the process the next day but they also need to know who's boss!

Be firm, you are the master he is the pet!

First put a folded towel on the end of the kitchen table, if you are right handed put the loaded syringe to the right of the towel, take hold of bunny and place him on the table with his bottom to your tummy, hold him still with a hand over his shoulders, lean forward so you are sort of over him which will stop him from rearing up, spread your left hand and lay it over his head which should be low and close to the table, with your thumb lift his top lip, take the syringe in your right hand instert it in to buns mouth and squeeze meds in allowing him time to swallow but don't relax, keep hold of him, your tum is stopping him going back, your body from going up and your left hand from going forward. If you have a helper to hand they can help watch out for any escape manoevers. Praise bun, maybe offer a treat - I doubt he'll take it:lol: and release him carefully to the floor.

I've heard of some people having success hiding the meds in banana. And my buns loooove banana.

However, my Eddison is very picky, and when I had to give him Bactrim twice a day, I had no choice but to force him. My best tactic involved letting him dash to the corner where he felt safe. He also couldn't back up or get away, and it saved him the stress of being wrapped in a towel. So I would wait till he dashed to the corner (which didn't take long when he saw the syringe :roll, then gently pet him a bit. Then, I would gently put my hand over his eyes and pull back his lip with my thumb, and feed a little at a time.

That seemed to stress him out the least, and it was the quickest method as well, so minimal horror all around.

Good luck!

For my bunnies i had to throw a towel over them, wrap them up so they feel secure, and hold them under one arm (i had them on the table whilst i was sat down on a chair, so my arm was just keeping them in place and the table acutually supporting them), then hand over eyes, pull upper lip, put in syringe, squirt, then let thm go for a play and give treats. I tried squirting on food before with no success, but one bun would take baytril (which apparently doesnt taste great) just smoothered on some cabbage! She loved the veg and practically chomped my hand off to get it, and the medicine didnt seem to bother her.

However, my older bun HATES it! Shes had fibreplex, supreme mix (i cant remember the exact name, the vets use it for a nutriontal replacement when they arent eating, to force feed them), baytril, metacam, i think thats it...She has a MASSIVE dewlap, and she just manages to hide her chin in it, shes very strong, its a nightmare when the vets have to check her back teeth (shes a dental bun).

Anyway, with her, i actually have to put her on her back, but you have to be very careful as they could choke, but this is what i do...shes fine at being handled so i just pick her up, i sit on the stairs and turn her onto her back so her heads on my knees, i stroke her for a bit so shes calm, then hand over face and eyes, open mouth, put syringe in he mouth, making sure its not pointing to her throat, but to the back of her teeth, squirt, then quickly up so she can swollow. Works fine for small medicines, she was 0.7ml of baytril, but the food takes a lot more patience. She has biten through many syringes however, no matter what way i do it, and also gave me my first nosebleed when she decided to kick me full pelt with her back legs on the last dose of about 6 weeks of metacam! So maybe consider putting a towel over the bun too, avoid that mistake!

Good luck, its very hard i know, if they dont want it, then wont have it!lol.

But if they like things like the bread, thats a great way of doing it, or you could try on veg, try a very small amount first, it works best if theyll eat out of your hand so you know theyre definately getting it

Aw thanks guys, loads of different suggestions there, I'll try a few different things and see what works

The thing that struck me was the consistency of "hand over eyes, use thumb to lift upper lip". My vet didn't tell me to do this, should I have worked it out for myself I have zero common sense, it's really quite embarassing!!

Metacam tastes quite sweet (apparently), so most rabbits quite like it. I give it to Inky on a piece of dried apricot (organic, sulphur dioxide is not for my babies) and he always takes it.

With baytril, which has a bitter taste, I either have to corner him and syringe it or, my preferred method, squirt the dose onto a front paw and they lick it straight off. Medication in with minimum of fuss!

FriskyClover said:

Metacam tastes quite sweet (apparently), so most rabbits quite like it. I give it to Inky on a piece of dried apricot (organic, sulphur dioxide is not for my babies) and he always takes it.

With baytril, which has a bitter taste, I either have to corner him and syringe it or, my preferred method, squirt the dose onto a front paw and they lick it straight off. Medication in with minimum of fuss!

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Yeah, most of it accidentally went on a paw, and as you say he licked it right off, never occured to me to put it there on purpose!!