Syrine Feeding Medicine

[AdamM]

Hello,

I have a guinea pig who has a possible URI. I took her to the vets who has prescribed some medicine and a syringe, so that I can give it to her by mouth twice a day.

She's quite a difficult guinea pig to do this with and I was wondering about squirting the medicine onto her favourite food (cucumber) in small amounts and hand feeding it to her, ensuring none fell off the food?

Can anyone tell me if this is ok to do, and if not, why not?

Thanks for your help.

 

[CandyFloss]

Hi,
Hopefully someone with more knowledge will be along soon but for what its worth I dont see why not, if you're confident she will eat the cucumber...
Good luck
x

 

[nutmeg]

I'm not sure about that. I have had very difficult and traumatised guinea pigs to syringe feed and done ok with a good towel wrap and some perseverance. I know what you mean though it is not always easy. xx

 

[AdamM]

I'm not sure about that. I have had very difficult and traumatised guinea pigs to syringe feed and done ok with a good towel wrap and some perseverance. I know what you mean though it is not always easy. xx

I agree that it can be done, as we've been doing it ever since, but I wanted to know if there was any reason not to put it on their food to avoid all the stress, both for us and the guinea pig!

 

[nutmeg]

Maybe try a dose and see if you feel your guinea pig is taking in the full dose. Will be interested to hear how she does. xx

 

[Suzygpr]

Hello

By putting it on their food you cannot be certain they are getting the full dose. I would advise adding some veg juice or cranberry juice to the meds once in the syringe to make them more palatable - most of my poorly pigs chase the syringe when it's meds time.

Suzy
http://guinearescue.blogspot.com/

 

[Wiebke]

Have you been prescribed baytril? I made the mistake once to lick a bit off my finger that had been spilled - and it is without doubt the most horrible thing I've ever tasted! Since then, I can't blame any piggy for doing their utmost not to get it in their mouths!

Have you tried to mix the baytril wiht other fluids like cranberry juice which is high in vitamin C?

Here are tips on how to wrap your piggy. Please make sure that the head and chest are always a bit higher.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36533

 

[Freela]

I would try mixing it with liquid in the syringe to mask the taste... if you give it on food, it's harder to tell if it's all getting into the pig. If it's in with juice or something like that the pig might like and it will be easier to deliver the full dose. With one of our pigs we had good success wrapping her up in a towel and syringing medication to her that way. One other pig would sit upright on my lap facing outwards and would just let me stick the syringe into the side of her mouth between her front and back teeth without any fuss at all, but in that case the antibiotic she was on (chloramphenicol) smelled very sweet and I think she probably liked it!

 

[PiggiePal]

Hi there, if your piggie has been prescribed baytril please give probiotics too as baytril can upset the gut flora and sometimes cause diahorrea. good luck with the wrapping and syringing x

 

[AdamM]

I would try mixing it with liquid in the syringe to mask the taste... if you give it on food, it's harder to tell if it's all getting into the pig. If it's in with juice or something like that the pig might like and it will be easier to deliver the full dose. With one of our pigs we had good success wrapping her up in a towel and syringing medication to her that way. One other pig would sit upright on my lap facing outwards and would just let me stick the syringe into the side of her mouth between her front and back teeth without any fuss at all, but in that case the antibiotic she was on (chloramphenicol) smelled very sweet and I think she probably liked it!

The idea is to hand-feed her, syringing the correct amount onto each slice of cucumber one-by-one (it's only a small amount of medicine). So therefore we could guarantee that it was all going into her, as opposed to just putting it over some food and leaving her to it. If this system works, it must surely be easier to achieve for most people, rather than syringing by mouth.

We have also been given probiotics by the vet, so we've been adding that to their vegetables each morning.

 

[lauralucy]

my vet suggested putting the medicine into a small piece of apple.

 

[Guinea Slave]

This is a little sneaky but it works for me.......

With the syringe suck up the desired amount of medicine (for example 0.4ml) then make sure you wipe the tip clean with no trace of medicine, suck up some tomatoe or veg juice and keep the juice on the tip as well. They will have no idea there is any medicine in the syringe, try to syringe into their mouth as quickly as possible (without risk of choking) and there you have it rolleyes

If your guinea is not used to syringes. try just putting juice in it first so they view the syringe as something thats nice and tasty. Also give a little with no medicine after as a reward.

Sadly one of mine now knows the routine and has got wise to it, but others have not ! Hope that makes sense?rolleyes

Hope that helps!

 

[Freela]

The idea is to hand-feed her, syringing the correct amount onto each slice of cucumber one-by-one (it's only a small amount of medicine). So therefore we could guarantee that it was all going into her, as opposed to just putting it over some food and leaving her to it. If this system works, it must surely be easier to achieve for most people, rather than syringing by mouth.

We have also been given probiotics by the vet, so we've been adding that to their vegetables each morning.

I'm sure that would work too, as long as it's a small amount of antibiotic in the dose. The last time one of my pigs was on antibiotics it was a big syringe full twice a day so there is no way I could have gotten that much food into her at each sitting!