How to give rats metacam

[oasisandbambi]

My girls will spit it out and just completely freak out when they touch it. I tried cat food, chocolate syrup, peanut butter, babyfood and oatmeal. Help?

 

[Vicki]

I’ve heard mashed up avocado works well but haven’t yet tried it myself... may be worth a shot!

 

[SQ]

I just measure out the correct amount in a syringe and put it into the side of the mouth so it does not go down into the lungs as I found that mine will not eat anything that smells like it … maybe adding a small amount of organic maple syrup? ….. good luck

 

[oasisandbambi]

I just measure out the correct amount in a syringe and put it into the side of the mouth so it does not go down into the lungs as I found that mine will not eat anything that smells like it … maybe adding a small amount of organic maple syrup? ….. good luck

I had to mix peanut butter, maple syrup, oatmeal and chocolate syrup...super unhealthy I know, she just wouldn't take it any other way. Ill have to find a better way tomorrow. I tried putting on the side of the mouth but she would just struggle so much kick and twitch loads and I had to stop cuz it was messing up her stitches/glue.

 

[oasisandbambi]

I’ve heard mashed up avocado works well but haven’t yet tried it myself... may be worth a shot!

I could give it a shot but dont think it will help much unfortunately. I already tried all their favourite treats and one of them just hates it with passion.

 

[Luna&Ralph]

I’ve had this issue too, unfortunately. I ended up losing more doses than he actually got, which was extremely frustrating considering how little there is in a dose and how expensive it is, not to mention that they’ll miss an entire day’s dose if you can’t get them to take it.
My boy has an issue with his paw where it gets inflamed, the vet and I are thinking it could be arthritis, and he took metacam for about a week with no results. He was still climbing well and seemed to not be in too much pain until about a month ago when I noticed that the bump was getting bigger and he was in a fair bit of pain. At this point, I’ve been giving him children’s Motrin once a day (I started with twice a day, every 12 hours) and it’s back to almost normal. Motrin will help with pain and inflammation and is a much larger dose than Metacam so it’s not the end of the world if some of it ends up on your rat, you, or wherever else it might go that isn’t in their mouth. It’s also way cheaper than Metacam, so my advice would be to switch to that depending on what you’re using it for, but if your rat is missing doses, then getting any medication for pain is an improvement. My current boy hates both of the flavours I’ve tried, but I’ve had the most excitement about the grape flavour.

 

[oasisandbambi]

I’ve had this issue too, unfortunately. I ended up losing more doses than he actually got, which was extremely frustrating considering how little there is in a dose and how expensive it is, not to mention that they’ll miss an entire day’s dose if you can’t get them to take it.
My boy has an issue with his paw where it gets inflamed, the vet and I are thinking it could be arthritis, and he took metacam for about a week with no results. He was still climbing well and seemed to not be in too much pain until about a month ago when I noticed that the bump was getting bigger and he was in a fair bit of pain. At this point, I’ve been giving him children’s Motrin once a day (I started with twice a day, every 12 hours) and it’s back to almost normal. Motrin will help with pain and inflammation and is a much larger dose than Metacam so it’s not the end of the world if some of it ends up on your rat, you, or wherever else it might go that isn’t in their mouth. It’s also way cheaper than Metacam, so my advice would be to switch to that depending on what you’re using it for, but if your rat is missing doses, then getting any medication for pain is an improvement. My current boy hates both of the flavours I’ve tried, but I’ve had the most excitement about the grape flavour.

Thanks ! I think ill keep trying metacam tho cuz its only for 4/5 more days! But thank you so much thats a lovely alternative if I ever need to give them painkillers/anti-inflammatory for a longer time!

 

[Luna&Ralph]

Fair enough, you already paid for it after all. In that case I would mix it up with other liquid to try to bulk it up so you don’t lose a whole dose at once. I know you’ve already tried this but maybe there is a liquid you haven’t tried? Baby food, strawberry syrup, and maple syrup are favourites for my little guys so they could be worth a try. Good luck to you, I know how frustrating it is!

 

[oasisandbambi]

Fair enough, you already paid for it after all. In that case I would mix it up with other liquid to try to bulk it up so you don’t lose a whole dose at once. I know you’ve already tried this but maybe there is a liquid you haven’t tried? Baby food, strawberry syrup, and maple syrup are favourites for my little guys so they could be worth a try. Good luck to you, I know how frustrating it is!

Mapel syrup plus oatmeal are doing the trick for one of my girls, the other one, peanutbutter and oatmeal!

 

[Luna&Ralph]

Also, don’t feel bad about putting anything in that helps them eat it. The extra calories will help them heal and it won’t hurt them if they’re only getting it once a day. Anything you find that works, stick with it. You probably need to use a lot to mask the smell and taste of metacam. They say that it’s supposed to taste good but I have yet to see that reaction.

 

[oasisandbambi]

Also, don’t feel bad about putting anything in that helps them eat it. The extra calories will help them heal and it won’t hurt them if they’re only getting it once a day. Anything you find that works, stick with it. You probably need to use a lot to mask the smell and taste of metacam. They say that it’s supposed to taste good but I have yet to see that reaction.

Thank you! That made me feel better !

 

[Charlize]

My girls were real fussy with all sorts of meds. Mashed avocado worked quite well. The big guns for me are natural peanut butter mixed with avocado oil. It gets gobbled up.

My girls take a lot out of sweet potato as well. If it's really nasty, I'll mix avocado oil into the sweet potato. This seems to help.