Ok, stupid question, but how do you give Oxbow Daily C tablets?

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Teejay

Teejay

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Hi all......please feel free to mock me mercilessly, but how on earth do you give Oxbow Daily C tablets to a piggie?

Bit of background....I thought I'd try to boost the vitamin C intake of Darklis, my special girl, to see if it'll help in her recovery, so I splashed out on some Oxbow Daily C tablets. I'd read a bit about them before buying them, and I got the impression that they were just fed by hand, like a treat.

So, when they arrived, I was surprised to find that they're just like human vitamin C tablets.....quite big, round and white. I broke one in half and tried to tempt Darklis to have a munch on it, but she wasn't in the slightest bit interested (can't say I blame her!)

So, apart from dissolving it in the drinking water, what are my options?

Just as a side note, the piggies have loads of vitamin C in their diet, with two veggie meals every day - I use the Ratewatchers diet for them. But I wanted to boost Darklis' intake specifically, as she's been unwell recently, bless her.

Any tips gratefully received! Tracey x
 
I believe the best method would be to dissolve the amount you wish to give Darklis, and syringe Darklis the solution. ;)
 
You can also crush the tablets up and sprinkle the powder on some food for her. One thing to mention though is that this particular brand of vit. c contains added calcium - so might be something to watch out for if she has bladder sludge or is prone to stones. I'm lazy and bought a big tub of powdered vit. c from Holland & Barrett!
 
Thing about sprinkling it on food is that you have no idea how much they are getting. What I did when I had to give them to an unwell piggy was to break them up a bit into more manageable bits and put it in the side of their mouth with a finger towards their molars where they usually just chew it up.

See http://www.guinealynx.info/tips.html#pills
 
I just gave it to Patrick and he took it like a treat :).. silly question I know but have you tried just offering it to her?
 
:(|) Flintstones

Teejay said:
I broke one in half and tried to tempt Darklis to have a munch on it, but she wasn't in the slightest bit interested (can't say I blame her!)
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:) I missed it the first time too.
 
Guinea-pigGaga said:
I believe the best method would be to dissolve the amount you wish to give Darklis, and syringe Darklis the solution. ;)
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I was hoping to not be getting into a syringe-feeding situation, bearing in mind that this will definitely be long-term.

To be honest, there's no real veterinary need for me to be increasing Darklis' vit C intake, but I just want to do everything possible I can to help keep her happy and healthy.
 
Little Pig said:
One thing to mention though is that this particular brand of vit. c contains added calcium - so might be something to watch out for if she has bladder sludge or is prone to stones.
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I didn't realise the tablets contained calcium - that's pretty bad from a company like Oxbow that specifically caters for small animals!

Darklis isn't prone to sludge or stones, but I'd rather not increase her calcium intake, just in case!

Tracey x
 
Abi_nurse said:
You could do the above. Or Ive mixed it into critical care food before. Depends if your giving your girl critical care.

Get well soon little one.

x
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Hi Abi, no she's not having Critical Care. Here's the link to my previous post that explains her problems http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=80908

She does have daily Metacam, which she adores, so maybe I could give her some dissolved vit C in water at the same time.

Tracey x
 
daftscotslass said:
Thing about sprinkling it on food is that you have no idea how much they are getting. What I did when I had to give them to an unwell piggy was to break them up a bit into more manageable bits and put it in the side of their mouth with a finger towards their molars where they usually just chew it up.

See http://www.guinealynx.info/tips.html#pills
Click to expand...

If I sprinkle it on food, I tend to put it for example, on one bit of lettuce and then watch them eat it. Not an exact science, but close enough for me anyway.
 
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I left it too late to re-edit my last post, but just wanted to add one more thing.

I would never advocate sprinkling prescribed medication (e.g. antibiotics or pain meds) on food, but with something like vitamin c or probiotics, where 100% accuracy is not quite so important, I feel comfortable doing this. For prescribed medication I would always use a syringe.
 
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