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How do you give oral abx to a bunny...

GrahamL

Wise Old Thumper
...who wont touch something if its 'not right'?

:?

Biscuit has had his first septrin today and it was a nitemare. He ran away from the syringe, then when i finally had to corner him (i felt awful :() i managed to get it into his mouth but he really struggled and it went everywhere, but he groomed himself and its all gone so i assume it all went in.

I know i have to be careful that he doesnt aspirate it, but he HATES being medicated :(

I can try crunchies, basil etc, but he wont then eat the treats he normally loves if they are laced, i remember from when he had baytril post neuter.

What do i do?! RU Wisdom please.
 
My fail safe is to sandwich the meds between 2 thin slices of banana. Its the only thing Mimi will eat with meds on/in :wave:
 
You're gonna have to force it down him :(
I find the best position is to kneel up with the bunny between your legs and just squirt it down as quick as you can. When I perfected it with Charlie it only took me a few seconds to get it down him and then I'd give him treats as a reward for it
 
You're gonna have to force it down him :(
I find the best position is to kneel up with the bunny between your legs and just squirt it down as quick as you can. When I perfected it with Charlie it only took me a few seconds to get it down him and then I'd give him treats as a reward for it

i would do this, but handling Biscuit is a NO GO area. I will lose each limb, i guarantee it :(

I just want to give him his meds to make him better :(
 
Bunny Burritto and syringe.Sorry youre having such a rough time, but if these meds are gonna do any good then its force feed time if youve tried everything else.
 
i would do this, but handling Biscuit is a NO GO area. I will lose each limb, i guarantee it :(

I just want to give him his meds to make him better :(

Not so easy then!
I wonder if something wet would fool him, like porridge?
He wouldn't be able to guess it was there from the texture then?
 
As the bunny mummy of a kung-fu bun myself, there's only one thing for it - a bunny burrito...

Get a big bath towel (bigger the better) put it on the floor, pop bun on it, then flip the back end over their bum then one side over the top then the other side over the first, making sure it goes right round underneath (by now you will be able to pick them up as all legs in towel) then you've got 3 options:

Pop the burrito on a table or worktop (they tend to freeze for a minute, bit like being at the vets)

Tuck them under your arm while you are kneeling down

Straddle them with your ankles crossed behind their bum so they can't reverse and escape)

As much as it feels horrible to do, it is for their own benefit, so you can't muck about, i've tried being all nicey nicey and it just prolongs the agony for the pair of you, it just needs getting down them, and while they will stamp and be huffy for a minte or two if you follow up with a noserub a kiss and a treat they are soon back to their normal selves ;)
 
Drop a blanket/towel over him, wrap him up while he's still wondering what the flip happened, and syringe it directly into the corner of his mouth. i know it sounds harsh but it's for his own good.

Or, you could slit open a raisin and squirt the abx inside it. I tried this with my awkward chinchilla Tim but he got wise quickly :roll: and I had to resort to the blanket trick.
 
Yep - bunny burrito here every time!

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It's awful isn't it? :( I had to get my OH to pin Olly down while I opened stuck the syringe in his mouth and squirted the Zithromax in, he hated it :( we felt horrible doing it to him and my OH was not the best at holding him down, he escaped frequently :( good luck!
 
It's not very healthy but what about a tiny piece of wholemeal bread? I've found that sometimes works.

I must admit that when I have a bun or cat who is difficult to medicate orally I have asked the vet to draw me up some syringes and I have injected the meds. I find that a lot easier.

I've now bought a sort of bag thing from the vet which they use and I am hoping to use that next time I have to give meds by mouth. You put the bunny (or cat) inside the bag and then open the relevant zip part according to the part of the animal you want to get to. I guess it's like a bunny burrito - but more secure. I found my buns wriggled out of one of those as I am on my own so have to hold and medicate.

Good luck, Gray.
 
It's not very healthy but what about a tiny piece of wholemeal bread? I've found that sometimes works.

I must admit that when I have a bun or cat who is difficult to medicate orally I have asked the vet to draw me up some syringes and I have injected the meds. I find that a lot easier.

I've now bought a sort of bag thing from the vet which they use and I am hoping to use that next time I have to give meds by mouth. You put the bunny (or cat) inside the bag and then open the relevant zip part according to the part of the animal you want to get to. I guess it's like a bunny burrito - but more secure. I found my buns wriggled out of one of those as I am on my own so have to hold and medicate.

Good luck, Gray.

I use wholemeal bread for baytril, it gets gobbled up instantly! :lol: but its no good for larger quantities, ie. I couldn't put zithromax in it cos had to give a whole 1ml, Would've needed a bigger piece of bread which wouldn't be good!
 
I guess you don't have the paediatric septrin then? My two loved this stuff and went just as mad for it as they would pellets, its banana flavour.

I second the bunny burrito technique.
 
Septrin smells and supposedly tastes like bananna anyway so I'm thinking hiding it in there might be the way to go. Hopefully he won't suss. Bluebell loved the septrin, he kept trying to eat the syringe. :lol:
 
My way of doing it is spearing a small bit of banana on the end of the syringe. I let them eat it a few times then when they are taking the banana I squirt it into their mouth. I then give them a couple of bits with no med so it will work the next time.

I had a bun on Baytril long-term and i could give it without picking them up. The minute the syringe appeared they were straight over for the banana.
 
Have you tried basil? that was the only way I could get Autumn to take it, even though he pulled faces and stuff.
 
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