help for Minnie, please.....

[squillgurl]

Can somebody advise me on the best way to get a baby rat to take her antibiotics orally without seriously stressing her out? She won't eat anything so I cant mix it with food and expect her to eat it. I'm very worried about her and this med is in liquid form pre drawn into a 1cc syringe. Its .06 cc tmp/smz 2X daily and Im winding up with most of it on my fingers :shakehead
She struggles so, Im afraid of hurting her and I know she is totally stressed out, and yet still so sweet. I just want her to get better! :Cry
She trusts me, I can't let her down.....
I have tried burrito-ing her, but she just contorts herself where I cant get the tip of the syringe into her mouth.

[Pierre]

OK, try this. I have had great luck with this with my ratties who didn't want their medicine!

Get a little peanut butter and stir it with water until it is a little runny. Straight peanut butter is too sticky and can "clog" their throat. Once a bit runny, add something to thicken it. I used infant oatmeal or rice cereal, which most likely you don't have, but if you can crush any cereal down and add it that would be great. You are just trying to get it to stay together. Now, put a LITTLE on your finger [you want her to love it but not get filled up!] and see if she will lick it off. Don't waste the medicine yet. If she does, add the medicine to the mixture and hope the irresistible taste of the peanut butter masks it. Depending on how many ccs you need to give of the medicine, you might make the peanut butter mix a little thicker. You want the taste to be strong, but the peanut butter can't be in the sticky phase.

Sometimes those oral formulas are really hard to mask. I think grinding tablets are far easier to hide. You could try avocado instead of the peanut butter if you have no luck.

I think she is now petrified of the syringe, but LegoMom had a great idea that helped me get liquid Baytril into Gracie, and that was to mask it's horrific taste with frozen grape juice concentrate [the kind frozen in a can--I used Welch's]. Worked perfectly!! Really hid the Baytril taste, so much she wanted more!

Fingers crossed....... Let us know!

[gs1]

omg... i wish i could help....

i've no idea... maybe our rat people could help.....

i'll pm tiny paws and feeze....

:grouphug

maybe two people is better than one....

is there nothing she likes.... banana? yogurt ...i'm not sure what are considered healthy rat treats....

could you mix it in something that tastes better and syringe that ... but being very,very, very careful not to get it into her lungs....

i'm so sorry... i had this problem with a rabbit and it took two of us plus the burito... and we could barely get medication into the rabbit... dealing with a tiny rat...
omg...:grouphug

oh Pierre is here good!!! :)

[squillgurl]

Yay, Pierre! Thank you for the suggestion and I will definitely try it for the morning dosage. My concern is that I have only seen her eat once, the first night she was here. I know she does, because she has put on a little weight. She drinks well too. She just will NOT take anything from me. No way, no how! Maybe your suggestions will work. I'm willing to try anything. In the meantime, she just lays in her favorite spot in the crook of my arm and dozes and readjusts herself now and then.
Do they still sleep alot when they are young? I have no idea how old she is, but she really isn't active much at night either. Just content to lay around with me. Im sure some of it, if not all, has to do with her not feeling well too.
gs1...I'm not sure, I have only had her since Thursday, but Im going to go make a sample buffet now and see if I can find something she thinks is yummilicious :D .
Thank you so much for your help and suggestions :thankyou :grouphug

[Pierre]

Ratties are generally most active in the evenings and nights, and nap during the day. They adjust to your schedule though. It is not surprising she is sleepy today especially since she isn't feeling well. Sooo cute she just sleeps on your arm. Good bonding!!

Make sure you keep their cage clean--no ammonia smells as this irritates their lungs and no pine or cedar bedding.

Trim-Sulfa is good for secondary respiratory infections that rats get once down from mycoplasma. It is not effective against myco tho. I believe this will be ok since Minnie is a baby [right?]. The secondary infections are what kill them. If she were over 6-8 months old, she should be on baytril or doxy for the myco as well. I have to say that I am not a fan of baytril for myco in rats. There's a lot of resistance to it. She's a baby tho and let's see. I hope this is the way the vet was thinking---what worries me tho is that he/she might not have thought about myco at all... Did it come up?

If the above remedies don't work for her taking the medicine, you might have to go back and insist on the tablets to make into a powder and dose her that way. Try to make sure she drinks plenty of water.

Kiss her for me! Good luck with the med tomorrow morning!! Fingers crossed.... Sleep well Minnie.
:)

[TinyPaws]

Hi..the way I always give ABs to my rats is by mixing it with a little strawberry syrup, if that don't work then try chocolate..this is what most of the rat people I know do to give ABs...

Another way is to mix it with a little ice cream...Rats love sweets, so she may be tempted to take it...

If all else fails, you will need to hold her and put the drop into the side of her mouth..If she squirrms, try wrapping her with a little cloth..like a borrito...

If you need more advice, PM me and I will give you my phone#.....

[squillgurl]

Hi..the way I always give ABs to my rats is by mixing it with a little strawberry syrup, if that don't work then try chocolate..this is what most of the rat people I know do to give ABs...

Another way is to mix it with a little ice cream...Rats love sweets, so she may be tempted to take it...

If all else fails, you will need to hold her and put the drop into the side of her mouth..If she squirrms, try wrapping her with a little cloth..like a borrito...

If you need more advice, PM me and I will give you my phone#.....

Thank you, TinyPaws.
I tried many of the suggestions this morning but she doesnt want anything I try to give her...ANYthing. She will give me lots of ratty kisses on my hands any other time, but kisses! NOT gonna take meds from you, lady! Hehe
I gave this mornings dosing account on my other thread "Aw, Rats"
Thank you for your suggestion and phone offer, I may take you up on that yet! What part of Ohio are you from? I lived in Toledo and the Cincinnati/Dayton area for awhile before coming back here a couple of years ago. I miss it!

[TinyPaws]

I'm in Xenia, Ohio..

[squillgurl]

Oh wow! We lived in Wilmington for a couple of years, then went to the Hillsboro area. My then husband worked for Airborne Express. There's a sad ordeal :shakehead I really loved that part of the country. I would like to make my way back one of these days.....:)