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difficulty giving meds, I'm sure she will hate me...

Andie

Young Bun
My little bunny which I only had for 2 months is already ill and had to stay at the vet's over night with gut stasis. She just suddenly stopped eating and pooing. She returned this evening, she is at least eating though hardly pooing but they said it will take a couple of days to go back to normal.

But now I have to give her meds 3 times a day for 5 days. Tonight was the first try and though we got it into her in the end, it was a real struggle and I'm worried that she might hate me after the 5 days. I tried the towel method but I found it impossible to get her to stay still to even get it around her so I gave up and just held her with her back to me and my hands and fingers around her chest and front paws and pulling her lip down slightly with my thumb and my partner getting the syringe in but she was really fighting back so there must be a better way I'm sure. She is a Netherland dwarf so rather tiny (1kg) and very wriggly. Anyone has any tips on how to do this better please? I really don't want to stress her out, it might make her ill again as well I think...
 
The towel wrap method is usually the best way to safely restrain a very small Rabbit. But you do have to be 'firm but not rough' in your approach to doing it. If you give off 'I am stressed and anxious about doing this' vibes the Rabbit will pick up on them and struggle even more.

If you really cannot wrap him in a towel then you could try this

 
My little bunny which I only had for 2 months is already ill and had to stay at the vet's over night with gut stasis. She just suddenly stopped eating and pooing. She returned this evening, she is at least eating though hardly pooing but they said it will take a couple of days to go back to normal.

But now I have to give her meds 3 times a day for 5 days. Tonight was the first try and though we got it into her in the end, it was a real struggle and I'm worried that she might hate me after the 5 days. I tried the towel method but I found it impossible to get her to stay still to even get it around her so I gave up and just held her with her back to me and my hands and fingers around her chest and front paws and pulling her lip down slightly with my thumb and my partner getting the syringe in but she was really fighting back so there must be a better way I'm sure. She is a Netherland dwarf so rather tiny (1kg) and very wriggly. Anyone has any tips on how to do this better please? I really don't want to stress her out, it might make her ill again as well I think...

I usually clamp them sideways in the crook of my left arm, and use my left hand to steady their head whilst I syringe.

The problem with wrapping them in a towel is that most people don't do it tight enough. Of course you don't want to cut off their circulation, but swaddling them firmly like baby Jesus works best, I find :)

Good luck xx
 
Thanks for the replies. I did try and give out 'no stress' vibes, not sure that worked. :) This morning it went a bit better but afterwards she ran away and hid in the furthest corner in the smallest cardboard box she could find, I'm not sure she's going to 'talk' to me ever again. :)

I might try the towel approach again, sounds like I didn't try it tight enough, but she seems so fragile... I've read meanwhile to cover the eyes too, wouldn't that be even more frightening for a rabbit? Otherwise maybe I'll try that if that makes her keep still, ie less fuss to keep her still enough to get the syringe in the right place.

I might try the crook of the arm method too, although I'm not sure I'll be able to keep her there with only one hand, seems a two people job to me, despite her tiny size. :)
 
Thanks for the replies. I did try and give out 'no stress' vibes, not sure that worked. :) This morning it went a bit better but afterwards she ran away and hid in the furthest corner in the smallest cardboard box she could find, I'm not sure she's going to 'talk' to me ever again. :)

I might try the towel approach again, sounds like I didn't try it tight enough, but she seems so fragile... I've read meanwhile to cover the eyes too, wouldn't that be even more frightening for a rabbit? Otherwise maybe I'll try that if that makes her keep still, ie less fuss to keep her still enough to get the syringe in the right place.

I might try the crook of the arm method too, although I'm not sure I'll be able to keep her there with only one hand, seems a two people job to me, despite her tiny size. :)

Covering the eyes actually calms the Rabbit as his/her brain ceases to receive visual stimulation. That's why if an ill/injured Wild Rabbit has to be confined it is necessary to keep them in a darkened place.
 
My rabbit Thumper is prone to stasis and I have to swaddle her front paws and head in a towel mostly to stop her from biting me as when she's trying to bite through not wanting her meds, she can really bite ...

Thumper also legs it once she's had her meds but she soon comes back afterwards so I'm sure your bunny will forgive you too though it may take a day or so.

Have you tried to give the meds in food? Mashed banana, soak it into her pellets (if she has any). Mine don't fall for that so syringe is the only way I'm afraid.
 
When Meg stopped begging for her meds we had this same problem, and she was a MADAM who had absolutely no ethical issue with showing you exactly how miffed she was. But Jane is right, once I stopped worrying about it and got into a routine with the towel things got better. If you're having troubles with how tightly you're wrapping them it helps to hold their front paws in your hand through the towel, they don't fidget as much and are less inclined to leap up, but you have to make sure their back legs are good and supported first or they wriggle and obviously don't hold their front end too far off the ground or they back up, I would just get my hand underneath her front end, and hold her front paws with the back of my hand against the floor. It also helped with meg to keep her eyes covered by the towel until I had her held correctly and the syringe in hand.

She was never happy about it but we got to a stage where afterwards she would just flick her back feet at me and then snatch her treat out of my hand and 5 minutes later all was forgiven. They definitely sense your anxiety though so if at first you don't succeed take a few minutes to get calm and relaxed before trying again or it gets really stressful really quickly.
 
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Thanks for this, that's all great advice. (And good to hear that she might forgive me! :)).

I will try covering the eyes as well in that case. I've not tried to put the meds in food, I hadn't thought of that since the veg she usually gets are not exactly suited to this, so I'll try that as an option first since that would be the easiest. I have 2 different meds to give her, do you think the meds would still work when mixed and/or put in banana mash? Would I need to phone the vet first to double-check?
 
Thanks for this, that's all great advice. (And good to hear that she might forgive me! :)).

I will try covering the eyes as well in that case. I've not tried to put the meds in food, I hadn't thought of that since the veg she usually gets are not exactly suited to this, so I'll try that as an option first since that would be the easiest. I have 2 different meds to give her, do you think the meds would still work when mixed and/or put in banana mash? Would I need to phone the vet first to double-check?

I've never covered a bunny's eyes, but hey - if it works :)

As for meds in food - some people give their bunnies' meds on a malted shreddie ...

As for her running away from you ... my current little bun who I am medicating runs away from me at the same time each evening, even before I go to pick her up. She's too clever ;) I will have to start changing the time of day. Then she will run away from me full stop :lol:
 
Interesting, we have shreddies at home, so that's another thing to try, thanks. :)

Sounds a clever little bunny with a built-in timer. ;)
 
Putting it in mashed banana worked, hurray! :thumb:

Hopefully she'll like that for the next 4 days, that's so much easier, I wouldn't have thought of that, thanks very much!

I'll use the other suggestions when it comes to cutting her toe nails... :D
 
Yep..bananas works with our kids too..They think it's Christmas every day ...and love me for the few minutes it takes to get the banana to them😀
 
I hope she will continue to take her medicated 'nana !!

I think I must have the only Rabbits in the world who absolutely hate Banana !
 
So far so good, she is still eager on the med-anana. :) And as she thinks it's a tasty treat she seems to have forgiven me the earlier syringe meds as well. :D

I just took her to the vet for a check-up, she still doesn't poo much though, fingers crossed it will improve.

The vet suggested a small pile of grated carrot with the drops over it as an alternative, maybe you want to try that with your banana hating rabbit next time. :)
 
I'm glad you found a solution that works for you and bun, figuring out what works is the biggest hurdle! Also this whole thread is making me giggle. What strange creatures these rabbits are. Meg used to run circles around me for her meds cos she thought they were a treat. I used to call her my little drug addict because she would beg every time I picked up a syringe. Until the first time someone forced them down her neck for her (not their fault she was boarding and her carer did NOT have time to faff with her while she worked out that just because she was in a strange place didn't mean her meds weren't still yummy.) and then she wouldn't take them without the towel trick again. They didn't taste any different! Little freaks.
 
So far so good, she is still eager on the med-anana. :) And as she thinks it's a tasty treat she seems to have forgiven me the earlier syringe meds as well. :D

I just took her to the vet for a check-up, she still doesn't poo much though, fingers crossed it will improve.

The vet suggested a small pile of grated carrot with the drops over it as an alternative, maybe you want to try that with your banana hating rabbit next time. :)

That's a good move towards a bit more fibre! Lots more vibes for more poos!!
 
They are funny little creatures, aren't they? When she wouldn't eat she would take each pellet and anything else I tried to offer out of my hand and then put it down on the floor next to her, until eventually she turned around completely with her bum towards me, it was hilarious (apart from being quite worrying obviuosly). She probably thought I'm not very bright and can't be trained. ;)

I tried the meds on carrots and other veg, and soaked pellets too, but she will only eat it on banana, so I think I'll just carry on with that, with as little banana as possible, don't want to cause yet another problem...

I can't find that many of those tiny little poos she's been doing, I hope that means they are now bigger (since I can't tell which rabbit does which poos), and not that there aren't any at all. She is still eating and seems herself otherwise, she's due for another check-up on Friday, I hope it'll be all right by then, I wonder what caused this and how to avoid it happening again though...
 
They are funny little creatures, aren't they? When she wouldn't eat she would take each pellet and anything else I tried to offer out of my hand and then put it down on the floor next to her, until eventually she turned around completely with her bum towards me, it was hilarious (apart from being quite worrying obviuosly). She probably thought I'm not very bright and can't be trained. ;)

I tried the meds on carrots and other veg, and soaked pellets too, but she will only eat it on banana, so I think I'll just carry on with that, with as little banana as possible, don't want to cause yet another problem...

I can't find that many of those tiny little poos she's been doing, I hope that means they are now bigger (since I can't tell which rabbit does which poos), and not that there aren't any at all. She is still eating and seems herself otherwise, she's due for another check-up on Friday, I hope it'll be all right by then, I wonder what caused this and how to avoid it happening again though...

That's very funny :lol: She's obviously very much her own little person and she doesn't care how much she offends you!

I hope she continues to improve and the vet is happy with her progress on Friday. I know it's good to find the cause of these things, but oftentimes we just never find out and have remain watchful ......
 
Yes, she certainly is her own little person. :) She got the all-clear from the vet now, they don't know what caused it though, hopefully she won't have this again any time soon, but I'm glad she is all right. Thanks again everyone.
 
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