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How to get piggy to drink Baytril?

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Wheeky

Wheeky

Teenage Guinea Pig
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The vet prescribed Baytril because Manny was squeaking when pooing. He dispensed the Baytril mixed with water and told me to put 20ml of the mixture in their water bottle every day (on it's own, no further diluting).
The pigs won't touch it and just chose not to drink anything for 2 hours, so I gave up and put regular water in and they drank that down happily.
Now I'm stuck with this big bottle of very diluted Baytril and I don't know how to get the pigs to drink it. I've been syringing tiny bits but the syringe only holds tiny quantities and it would take hours to syringe them the right dose.
I can't afford to just go and get a new, undiluted bottle.

What should I do? Syringe as much as I can? Mix it in with pellets and make a mash or something? :{
 
Baytril is about as foul tasting as you can get and won't ever get a piggy to drink it voluntarily! I made the mistake to lick spilled bit from my hand once - I won;t do that EVER again!

The best way is to syringe as much as possible and insist on the undiluted stuff next time round. Putting meds into piggies' water is NOT a good idea in the first place as you cannot control the intake anyway.

PS: You can get bigger syringes (5ml) from your pharmacy.
 
How silly yes, its vile they simply wont drink! You need to syringe that directly in...
 
It's never going to happen! like Weibke says there is NO way you will ever convince any piggie to drink Baytril. To be honest, and I don't mean to offend you here, but I would be deeply suspicious of any vet that would prescribe an anti-biotic in water. I think you'll have to go back and ask for the Baytril neat which you will have to administer orally with a little syringe.

If it were my piggie I would be keeping a very close eye on it and if it looked as though it was not improving fast enough, or if there was any thing I was not 100% happy with, I would be seeking a second opinion, and looking around for another vet, because any vet who would prescribe an anti-biotic in water would not fill me with confidence in his abilities!

I'm really not trying to be mean here, nor am I having a go at you, but I know how easy it is to be fooled into thinking that anyone with a vet qualifications MUST know what they are doing, sadly it is not always the case! and I feel it only fair to say so now rather than say nothing and risk your piggies well being for fear of offending.
 
oh dear.....

as the others have said, it just wont happen.
Calmly wrap up Manny in a small towel pop on lap and then syringe the baytril into the side of the mouth..... you can follow up the baytril with a little treat say a fav veggie or a tiny piece of fruit. Another way is to meausure out the baytril and then dip the end of the syringe into some juice or a piece of fruit so it tastes of the fruit/juice first :)
My girls have no issues with baytril as they've learnt that syringes can have yummy stuff too! one of my girls will just sit on my knee at the moment whilst i give her three different meds!

and yes baytril is bitter :)>>>
 
As others have said it's never going to happen... Can't believe the vet suggested it. Best way to get a piggie to have baytril is to give it undiluted in a syringe as quickly as possible.

I would go back to the vet and get the correct dossage of undiluted baytril to finish the course of antibiotics and syringe Manny this.
Treacle is particulary bad when it comes to baytril. I hold Treacle tightly on a table top so she can't get a grip with her paws to push off and fight and Rach gets the syrigne into Treac's mouth and it's done in seconds.
 
we always add dilute apple juice to the syringe to hide the taste makes it a tad easier
 
The only time I have had to put Baytril in the water bottle was for one of my gerbils years ago.

I can't believe your vet suggested it really :(

Please be careful giving apple juice as it can be quite sugary
 
I am so angry .... I just rang the vet and said that they won't drink it mixed with the water, an he pretty much told me off for giving in and giving them regular water after they didn't drink anything for 2 hours. He said I should leave it all day and they would get thirsty and have to drink it. I think that's a terrible idea, surely if he has a bladder infection I shouldn't be restricting his water?
He refused to swap the Baytril because he insisted that most guinea pigs will drink it in water but said I was welcome to buy some more if I wanted. mallethead
 
That attitude is appalling.

I'd buy more baytril if you haven't already - it's not very expensive.

You're right about not restricting water, especially if he's being treated for a bladder infection.

Another reason not to put it in the water bottle, is because of other animals sharing the water. Great way to create bacterial resistance mallethead

What I do with baytril (tastes foul, I've tried it :)>>>) is give them something really yummy via syringe afterwards, firstly to take the taste away and "wash it down", and secondly so that they don't come to associate the syringe with foul tasting substances! I tend to use this (or any other pure fruit/veg ones!), goes down very well with my guys! http://www.ellaskitchen.co.uk/ellas_product/the-red-one/
 
Wheeky said:
I am so angry .... I just rang the vet and said that they won't drink it mixed with the water, an he pretty much told me off for giving in and giving them regular water after they didn't drink anything for 2 hours. He said I should leave it all day and they would get thirsty and have to drink it. I think that's a terrible idea, surely if he has a bladder infection I shouldn't be restricting his water?
He refused to swap the Baytril because he insisted that most guinea pigs will drink it in water but said I was welcome to buy some more if I wanted. mallethead
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What a joke and a disgusting attitude. I'd definately get a new vet.. Witholding regular water is an obscene sugestion. Hope Manny gets better soon.
 
Wheeky said:
I am so angry .... I just rang the vet and said that they won't drink it mixed with the water, an he pretty much told me off for giving in and giving them regular water after they didn't drink anything for 2 hours. He said I should leave it all day and they would get thirsty and have to drink it. I think that's a terrible idea, surely if he has a bladder infection I shouldn't be restricting his water?
He refused to swap the Baytril because he insisted that most guinea pigs will drink it in water but said I was welcome to buy some more if I wanted. mallethead
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This really is not only a disgusting attitude, but a dangerous one! :a19:
Any animal with an infection needs water to flush their system especially a bladder related one, not to mention that is against an animals rights to be denied fresh water to drink mallethead.

Wheeky said:
PS: I'm looking for a new vet
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I'm very glad to hear this, have you tried the list of recommended vets in the stickies on here?

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38481

This should be a link to it, but I'm not always good at these :red
 
OMG, what an ignorant vet! I would buy some more baytril if I were you and give to him via a syringe. I also suggest you give him a probiotic as baytril can upset the tummy. If you haven't got any at home already or you are worried about asking your own vet, this is ok to use from pets at home. This does have to be put in the water though http://www.petsathome.com/shop/proc-probiotic-100gm-by-vetark-15796 but it will not harm other piggies and it doesn't make the water taste bad (yes, I am sad enough to have tried it!)
 
Claire W said:
OMG, what an ignorant vet! I would buy some more baytril if I were you and give to him via a syringe. I also suggest you give him a probiotic as baytril can upset the tummy. If you haven't got any at home already or you are worried about asking your own vet, this is ok to use from pets at home. This does have to be put in the water though http://www.petsathome.com/shop/proc-probiotic-100gm-by-vetark-15796 but it will not harm other piggies and it doesn't make the water taste bad (yes, I am sad enough to have tried it!)
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I resorted to adding a small (I bought a 75ml mouse bottle) water bottle with this in when both my pigs were on antibiotics and I was working 12 hours a day, so couldn't give them their probiotics during the day. They loved it! They did have a normal bottle of water to drink too :)
 
Amanda1801 said:
I resorted to adding a small (I bought a 75ml mouse bottle) water bottle with this in when both my pigs were on antibiotics and I was working 12 hours a day, so couldn't give them their probiotics during the day. They loved it! They did have a normal bottle of water to drink too :)
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At the time I only had two piggies and gave a separate water bottle with normal water too. Eliza decided to drink the probiotic one with her friend who needed it :))
 
I'm having great success with pro-biotic mixed into a little ella's kitchen apple and banana, given with a 1ml syringe, about 2 hours after giving Maisie her Baytril. She has been getting this combo for almost 2 weeks now with no sign of tummy troubles at all, and it has the added bonus as someone else pointed out of letting them know that not everything that comes out of a syringe is horrible.
 
I cannot believe your vets attitude! Guineapigs are well known for refusing to eat or drink through illness or stress or bullying to point that they would starve or dehydrate them selves to death!
 
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