Help with getting meds into Optimus?

he has an abcess and they flushed it out and put him into an e collar (joy).

Gave me baytril to give him, twice a day, every twelve hours. I just tried to give him the baytril, he got out of his collar and I have not been able to pin the wriggly beast long enough to get the meds into him.

It's a syringe they want me to get in his mouth, and get him to take it. *rubs my face* I tried the towel but he just wriggles out of there and Im afraid of squeezing him too hard (don't want ratty to pop!).

Can anyone help me find a way to get the meds into Optimus? I'm so frustrated here Im in tears...Thank you guys

Update: I got it in him. But I had to pin him down and put some weight on him to keep him still long enough to get the syringe into his mouth.

Please, please tell me there is a better option! I'm in tears and upset that the next few days Im undoing ALL of my hard work of the last two weeks just to get him to this point.

You can try putting his back against you holding him firmly and injecting into his mouth that way. You can try just give him the syringe he may bat it away afew times and then put it in his mouth. Don't worry if he bites the tip off. You can try making a small treat - mix the baytril with a small amount of peanut butter and then add crushed up gerber puffs to form a small ball. You can try just hold him down firmly on a flat surfaces and putting syringe in his mouth.

As for the cone, as long as he is properly medicated for pain they aren't necessary and only cause more stress.

You can try his meds in a bit of baby cereal, or go onto YouTube under lilspaz68 and look for my video on how I syringe meds...I'll try to find it but I am on my phone

I will usually try mixing meds into baby cereal or yogurt in a spoon. I have had to go to strawberry syrup for the latest round, but I hate all the sugar.
If you have to force-medicate him, then sit on the floor with your back against something and your knees bent up. Then place rat in the groove formed by your legs and pin with your non-dominant hand around his chest, trying to get your finger above his arms so he can't push the syringe away. Then use your dominant hand to wiggle the syringe into the side of his mouth.
I usually have to reposition fingers and rat a few times before I can pin the arms long enough to syringe.
I also follow up with a favourite treat to encourage them to swallow instead of spending a lot of time spitting it out.
These days Tabi is getting a little piece of milk chocolate after her meds. I know, bad mommy, but if that's what it takes to get her to swallow instead of spit, then it's worth it.

Thank you guys, so so much. Omg I love you all.

I found pinning him, with the towel over his head and eyes worked this morning, *winces* But he did very well this time. I gave him a few treats until he bit my finger >.> Mr Bitey indeed.

YouTube under lilspaz68 and look for my video

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Ill look it up on youtube now!

mix the baytril with a small amount of peanut butter and then add crushed up gerber puffs to form a small ball

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I'll definitely will try that. He loves his yogurt puffs!

I know, bad mommy, but if that's what it takes to get her to swallow instead of spit, then it's worth it.

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I'll say it miss Joanne - if it helps our little ones get better, we're going to do it! And why not a treat after.

As for the cone, as long as he is properly medicated for pain they aren't necessary and only cause more stress.

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He's not going back into the cone...Hes on antibiotics....and rats do keep themselves rather clean. And he's not spending the week alone in a med tank either. My boys are in a 'need each other' phase.

They're right now on the bed grooming each other and bruxing....

Guys thank you so much! *Hugs for all!*

Good, as he will not bother his incision if his pain is controlled and separation from other rats just causes stress making rats more likely to become ill.

In terms of meds, baytril can be very bitter and rats hate being held and forced to take meds.
You might try this:
I measure out the meds into a tiny dish, add a couple of drops of strawberry quik, a couple of drops of water, and thicken with a tiny amount of organic baby cereal. Sometimes I also add a drop or two of olive oil.
My rats think this is a wonderful treat and gobble it down out of the dish.

Unfortunately the strawberry quik isn't healthy and will cause weight gain if used long term in chronically ill rats , but it works.

Good luck

I strongly dislike forcing medications into my rats. I think the amount of stress caused by forcing the meds is counteractive to any positive effects of the medicine. Here are a few of the recipes I use for making yucky medicine taste good: Recipes for Success: Making Pet Rat Medications Appetizing

Yeah, I don't really get the North American vets' insistence on using liquid Baytril when it tastes so horrendous and is so difficult to give... here in Aus I get tablets which I grind up and mix with flour, some sugar, and some butter (or in the case of Allergy Rat, rice flour and special non-dairy non-nut-oil vegetable spread stuff...) and make "cookie dough." Then you just divide the dough ball into however many portions needed (based on how many rat doses are in one dog-dose tablet). They think these are the BEST THINGS EVER and will throw themselves at the door and accidentally nip my fingers when it's medicine time... For short-term medicating, it's a breeze.

If you have to give liquid, I find that a bit of baby food mixed with a leetle dollop of NutriPet (the brown caramel-smelling goop-in-a-tube with all vitamins and such) covers the taste of almost anything. Failing that, fish oil could also be your friend (and is all healthful and suchlike, in correct dose). I tend to use a bit of "expired" yogurt to give metacam in, but I'm remembering that baytril shouldn't be given with dairy, so don't do that. Anything else strong-tasting and goopey/liquid could work, though - most things won't interact with meds.

I hate to see people chastising themselves for taking care of their rats - seriously, they're RATS, a bit of chocolate ain't gonna kill 'em, and they love it, for goodness' sake. There's no reason to feel like you're doing wrong by them for allowing them to eat anything besides some "Organic" Free-Range Sustainably-Farmed Fair Trade Cruelty-Free Not Tested On Animals Gluten-Free Soy-Free GMO-Free Rainforest Superfood(c) Boring-Ass 2% Protein Diet(TM).

Thanks aboutpetrats. They are great ideas. My boys are 7 months old now, and touch wood, no illnesses yet. But it's always in the back of my mind that at least a couple of them will be on meds at some point in their lives and I dread giving meds because they hate it so much. This is a weight off my mind. Thanks for sharing!

Optimus was given a clean bill of health yesterday and he's no longer on the baytril. He's so much happier for it but now he expects his yogies like clock work whenever we pass the cage - but an unexpected side effect? He gets wrapped in the towel and he hides, curling up in it. *pouts* Well, what else do you expect when you're wrapped up like a burrito and fed like that? I am definitely going to keep the recipes on this thread for the next time I have to medicate either of my boys. It'll be less stress on them, me, and the boyfriend (I'm slowly turning him into a rat person!)

Thank you, everyone! This has been such a fun fun ride so far even with the momentary bumps!

http://i.imgur.com/hGekQXE.jpg

Here is an image of the boys I loaded to Imgur as Rat Tax for you all!

Awww, sweet sleepy head :heart:

Sekhet said:

Optimus was given a clean bill of health yesterday and he's no longer on the baytril. He's so much happier for it but now he expects his yogies like clock work whenever we pass the cage - but an unexpected side effect? He gets wrapped in the towel and he hides, curling up in it. *pouts* Well, what else do you expect when you're wrapped up like a burrito and fed like that? I am definitely going to keep the recipes on this thread for the next time I have to medicate either of my boys. It'll be less stress on them, me, and the boyfriend (I'm slowly turning him into a rat person!)

Thank you, everyone! This has been such a fun fun ride so far even with the momentary bumps!

http://i.imgur.com/hGekQXE.jpg

Here is an image of the boys I loaded to Imgur as Rat Tax for you all!

Click to expand...

Such sweet ratties! Glad Optimus has been given a clean bill of health!