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Eolith

Active Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Messages
35
Location
United States
If anyone here has happened across my thread in the Introductions section, you'll know that I've taken in a stray rattie who is struggling with some abscesses and infection right now. I took him to the vet and was given antibiotics to give him.

I haven't had a chance to make friends or gain trust with this fellow... I've been having to drag him out to wrap him in a towel and stick a syringe in his mouth twice a day. I'm afraid that he'll never want to trust me even when he gets better, and I don't like having to stress him out like this. So... I've been trying to do all of my reading up on rat care and such, and I found something about how to get your rats to eat their vitamins by mixing it in with a little cream cheese and peanut butter. Is it possible that if I mix his antibiotics in to something like this, he might eat it? Is it worth a try?

I would much prefer being the nice person giving him a tasty treat... not the evil person dragging him out of his cage and sticking a syringe in mouth. :?
 
Mixing meds with something tastey is the only way to go.
Calicum (dairy, etc) shouldn't be given withing two hours of antibiotics, especially doxy, as it will make the meds less effective.

I add a couple of drops of strawberry quik to meds in order to sweeten them. Then I add a bit of water and mix in a bit of baby cereal to thicken it. (Idea from Godmother.) Sometimes I also add a drop of olive oil. My rats think it is a wonderful treat.

Other people have recipies for mixing up meds that their rats love.

If you use peanut butter, make sure it is very diluted. Since peanut butter is very thick and sticky, it can get stuck in the throat and kill rats. (It is on the forbidden foods list because of this.)
 
Its definitely worth a try, turning his meds into a treat. A lot of rats though, are wise to our trickery but some do take to it.
Diluted peanut butter might do it. A word of caution with peanut butter, it's very thick and sticky and rats are known to choke on that stuff so be sure to water it down to a liquid.
 
There's a whole thread on this forum listing what people have found success with in "masking meds".

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=4656&hilit=masking+meds

I actually sat down with a ton of different things, a few spoons and dishes, and mixed only .1 cc at a time with something until i found the things that worked for my kids. 'though it changes in time, at the moment, it's a dab of margarine and a dab of cool whip!
 
Thanks for the link to the thread and the tips! There's so many options that it's hard for me to have any idea where to start... I don't know what my boy would find most appealing. I'll figure it out... maybe I'll offer him "samples" of a few different things and see what he's most keen on. He's so shy at this point though, I hope he'll just be willing to try.
 
Also something to note, different rats like different things. I used to use coolwhip, baby cereal and meds on a spoon and it worked wonders until my current crew (well a few of them). One rat in particular I could not get her to take anything so it become a chore because I had to shoot it down her throat sadly.
 
most of mine liked the strawberry syrup or baby food cereal (esp bananas!)
but one girl would only take her meds on a lightly toasted tiny cube of bread

she adored bread! I always toasted it because I heard they could choke on fresh bread.

I mixed meds with the juice from a can of oysters one time but I am not sure that was a good thing to do, having read about the calcium caution- I think shell fish have a fair amount of calcium?

the vet said it (calcium) was ok with most antibiotics but not the doxy.
 
Petunia said:
the vet said it (calcium) was ok with most antibiotics but not the doxy.
Click to expand...

My vet says the same, but I found info that indicates calcium effects the absorption of baytril too. Further info on this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=24050

So, IMO, if possible, it's better to stay clear of calcium when combining meds and food..

But if the only way rattie will take baytril is with ice cream, well then, better to have it than not!
 
Success!

I tore off a little section of multigrain bread, squirted Johnny's antibiotics onto it and let it soak in, then doused it with strawberry syrup. I gave it to him, and kept an eye on him to see how he responded to it. He picked it up and ate maybe two thirds, then set down the rest. He groomed himself, sat there for several minutes... just as I was starting to consider what else I might need to add to make the rest of it more appealing, he picked it back up and finished it off! I'm a proud mommy. :D

Hopefully he'll continue to enjoy his strawberry bread treats (and the meds I add in). ^_^
 
I'm going to try to get a couple of pictures soon. Hopefully I can coax him out of his hideout... he's still a little leery of us humans after having his meds given to him with a syringe the past few days. Now that we know he'll eat them on his own with enough goodies though, hopefully he'll become a little less cautious.
 

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