Giving meds to rabbits ... tractor?

[debthaven]

Calling tractor and anyone else!

Our bunny has bad ears (he has a tendency towards that). Buns officially belongs to DD. So I told DD that she has to be here to give him his meds. DH and I have a LOT of trouble doing it. And this time, it's TWICE per day for a week. The week started yesterday.

DD has done it ONCE so far. They hired a new person at her hotel who is either not doing his job / walked out (not clear) and long story short, it's up to DH and I at least part most of the time.

Usually I hold Buns and DH administers the meds. Yesterday the little Shite bit me, hard! It's the first time he has EVER bitten anyone (he's 7)! But he's VERY hard to handle. Even the VET has to have TWO people help her when she has to actually do anything to him, ie clean out his ears or give him a shot (usually her assistant and DD).

This morning DH and I switched roles ... DH held Buns (swaddled in a towel as always) and I gave him his meds. It went much better.

Tonight I decided to try on my own (because DH is not home yet and I wanted to get it over with. Can you tell I'm dreading it?!). Buns saw the towel, and ran for the hills. As soon as I put the towel down he came back lol.

The vet said "put it on a berry or a banana" but 6 ml is WAY too much liquid for that.

Any suggestions?

ETA: He's generally The Sweetest Bunny in the World. He follows us around, loves on us, and spontaneously hops on the couch and cuddles with us like a cat or dog. But NOT if you're trying to force him to ingest any medication ...

[dannylion]

Poor bunny!

If it's too much for 1 piece of banana or 1 berry, can you put a little on a few small slices of banana or a few berries and give all of it that way?  I used to rabbit-sit a friend's bunny who looooved bananas, but she was only allowed to have a small amount each day because they caused digestive issues, so maybe the bunny shouldn't have a lot of banana all at once. 

Figuring out how to give liquid medicine to a rabbit is challenging.  Does the medicine come in any other form? 

Bunnies have sharp teeth!  I hope you can come to an agreement with the rabbit about its medicine so you don't get bitten again. 

 

[debthaven]

Oops .. meant to post this on YMOT. Very sorry! Can a mod please move it? Thank you!

[debthaven]

Exactly Dannylion, they are not supposed to have too much fruit, because of digestive issues and because of weight gain.

After 3 days he will go down to one med and 4 ml of meds and I would try that on fruit, but two meds (6 ml) is too much liquid for the amount of fruit he's allowed.

Also, it's warm here so he spends a lot of time out in the garden munching on grass, so he's much less hungry (ie attracted to fresh food) these days than he is in winter.

ETA: No other form, believe me I asked! I'd do better shutting his mouth with a pill inside and forcing him to swallow if I had that option, I'm used to doing that with dogs. I also asked about slow-release shots (since there was a video advertising them for cats and dogs on in the waiting room). Alas, those are not (yet?) available for rabbits.

[billisonboard]

Jun 2, 2017 14:12:01 GMT -5 debthaven said:

...
Our bunny has bad ears ...

Sorry, bunny has bad ears just sounded funny. Couldn't resist looking for something.  Found this one.

Hope Bunny gets better.

[debthaven]

LOL billisonboard. That actually made me laugh because Buns has two favorite positions ... Sphinx, and Playboy Bunny.

[debthaven]

OMG I did it!!! All by myself!!!

I grabbed him, swaddled him and he took 2/3 of it. Then he escaped. I grabbed him again.

He didn't bite me, but he did crap on the kitchen table LOL.

It doesn't help that he's all black and it's very hard to find his mouth. (You have to insert the syringe into the side of his mouth, it's not that easy to find in a jet black rabbit.)

Off to scrub down the kitchen table! I prefer that!

[tractor]

Sorry, I'm not much help. I've never had to give our bunny any meds. The closest we came was to force feed him water/food through a syringe for a few days when he stopped eating. He actually took it pretty well. Our bunny is a Holland Lop and he's pretty tame. It sounds like you're doing it right though, keep him from running away with the towel, then squirt it down his throat.

[Jaguar]

Jun 2, 2017 14:23:33 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Oops .. meant to post this on YMOT. Very sorry! Can a mod please move it? Thank you!

I'll move it for you. DONE!

[debthaven]

Thanks Tractor, I've been hoping you'd respond! Ours is a Holland Lop too, and he's generally very tame too, EXCEPT when we have to give him meds ... so I was hoping you might have some suggestions.

[debthaven]

Thank you Jag!

[debthaven]

We're out of banana but I gave him a big chunk of apple (less fattening) and a piece of lettuce. Alas, rabbits are not smart enough to figure out, you take your meds, you get a treat.

Two days down, just five more to go ...

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

No advice but just wanted to say that, with your new avatar, you and Bonnie are twins now. ;-)

[Jaguar]

Jun 2, 2017 16:09:13 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

No advice but just wanted to say that, with your new avatar, you and Bonnie are twins now. ;-)

Different hair color and different top color, everything else is the same. Now I'm wondering if we have sisters on here.

[debthaven]

Bonny's was there first so I'll try to tweak mine this weekend.

ETA: There you go ... no more twins lol.

[Jaguar]

You're looking good there debthaven, thanks.