• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Tips on giving baytril?

Lymaine

Lymaine

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jul 4, 2017
Messages
172
Reaction score
116
Points
305
Location
Denbighshire
First dose from me this morning. Piggy and I were both upset. He HAtED it! He acted like I was trying to put poison in his mouth! I tried softly softly, quickly, wrapped in a towel, hubby holding him, me holding him and finally on a table. He got a basil leaf afterwards but now he is sulking! Help! How do I make this easier on him? It’s 2 a day for 5 days!
 
Lymaine said:
First dose from me this morning. Piggy and I were both upset. He HAtED it! He acted like I was trying to put poison in his mouth! I tried softly softly, quickly, wrapped in a towel, hubby holding him, me holding him and finally on a table. He got a basil leaf afterwards but now he is sulking! Help! How do I make this easier on him? It’s 2 a day for 5 days!
Click to expand...

Hi! Baytril is by far the most foul tasting medication that you can give to a guinea pig.
(Please don't try it yourself, it is harmful to humans! Even a tiny bit can make you ill. )

There are basically two ways:
- Use piggy whispering to tell your piggy that you love it, then assert your authority, tell you love it again (but it needs to behave), hold it like shown in our medication section for uncooperative piggies and get the syringe in sideways in the gap between front and back teeth, deep enough that the cannot spit it out again and push the plunger. Then you give plenty of praise, commiseration and fuss and something strong tasting like ribena fruit concentrate followed by a little veg or dry forage treat.

- Suck up as much ribena as baytril in your syringe. Do the whole routine with love/authority/love. Then give the lot in two portions (0.3-0.5 ml is about a mouthful) to make sure that it is not going down the wrong way. Plenty of fuss afterwards and a little treat.

Personally, I find the first way more efficient as you have to struggle to get something bad tasting in only once and it is easier to get the whole dose in one go, but you have to find which way works better for you - either method has its adherents. The piggy whispering can help to ensure your piggy that you still love it, but that you are in charge and make it a bit more cooperative.

It is a matter of practice to a good extent as a piggy will submit more easily when it feels that you know what you are doing and that you are in control of it and the situation. Practising sryinge feeding and medicating while a piggy is healthy can help give both of you the practice and good associations. Once you are practised and your piggies trust you, many will take the baytril without the need to manhandle them. ;)

Please have a look at these illustrated guides here:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
Administering Medications And Syringe Feed
Syringe Training Before The Need For Medicating
 
You have my deepest sympathies.
Ruby was also on Baytril for 2 weeks, and it was not a fun time for her or for me!

In the end I found that the best thing to do was just slip it in between her syringe feeds (which consisted of recovery formula, water, herbal teas, and fruit purees). At each feed we would get throgh about 10 syringes of a mixture of the above, and I would just give her the Baytril at a random time in between everything else.

It is awful, but her 'Baytril Face' used to make us laugh - poor Ruby.
 
Thank you for all the help! I utilised a lot of the tips and it went much easier tonight. Hopefully that’s a good sign.... especially as I got kisses off him later :love:
 
You poor thing and your piggie! Christian was on Baytril for a week but as I had been giving him other meds for about 2-3 weeks and had to syringe feed him for 3 days too he just took it. He looked a bit surprised when I first gave it to him though! It was a "What the :cen: was that disgusting stuff Mum?" look. It was swiftly followed by Metacam so then he forgave me and took it grudgingly for the next 6 days as he knew he would get the nice stuff afterwards!
 
He fought me more this morning but I’m getting better at it lol. I’m mixing it with a bit of low sugar cranberry juice and once we get it all in, we follow up quickly with mint leaves and a lot of cuddles and kisses! It must taste awful though poor baby! Why couldn’t they make it taste of apple or something?!
 
Swissgreys said:
You have my deepest sympathies.
Ruby was also on Baytril for 2 weeks, and it was not a fun time for her or for me!

In the end I found that the best thing to do was just slip it in between her syringe feeds (which consisted of recovery formula, water, herbal teas, and fruit purees). At each feed we would get throgh about 10 syringes of a mixture of the above, and I would just give her the Baytril at a random time in between everything else.

It is awful, but her 'Baytril Face' used to make us laugh - poor Ruby.
Click to expand...

Awww lol I just watched it! It made me laugh too poor girl :))
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top