Oral medicine administration help

[Ecotect]

I'm looking for some advice on how to orally administer medication and fluids. The whole process seems very stressful and I hate doing it, but if I have to I would like to learn the proper way to do it whilst minimizing stress and without causing harm like aspiration. I have another 12 days of baytril left to administer daily and 4 doses of panacure every 7 days. I figure with the panacure I can wipe it on a feeder as I can skip a feeding to make sure he takes it. But he will not take food every day and I shouldn't be feeding him every day as his last weigh in came in high. So the baytil I'm going to have to administer forcibly. I figure while I'm at it I should administer fluids as well. My cham is a terrible drinker and often the only liquids he receives is either in the feeder itself or by me spraying water on his tongue as he eats. Any help/tricks/tips here would be greatly appreciated.

 

[heartben]

what ive done so far in my limited oral med administration is give him a super and then in between bites ill put the plastic syringe (no needle of course) in his mouth and squirt it in.

even though you might not want to feed him full meals every day, you could probably give him one super or something that takes a bit longer to chew so you have time.

 

[jannb]

Have you tried injecting the meds into a feeder. For awhile just feed one feeder a day. Sometimes that works well.

 

[Hoj]

i inject the baytril into a piece of friut and then feed it to my cham, a small pc of kiwiw works well for me and provides hydration at the same time.
once my guy got a taste for kiwii, he never turned back, and it makes things easy.
hoj

 

[Ecotect]

what ive done so far in my limited oral med administration is give him a super and then in between bites ill put the plastic syringe (no needle of course) in his mouth and squirt it in.

even though you might not want to feed him full meals every day, you could probably give him one super or something that takes a bit longer to chew so you have time.

I wish I could, I'd have to be very sneaky about it, and I fear it would be too inconsistent. The only way my cham will fire up is to show him a syringe! He knows what they are and exactly what's coming next. I tried shooting it in there but unfortunately he would out wit me every time, turning away quickly or shutting his mouth until I back up far enough and then he would begin chewing again. I can’t be playing that game every morning I lose way to often lol. Thanks for helping though!

Have you tried injecting the meds into a feeder. For awhile just feed one feeder a day. Sometimes that works well.

I had speculated that this would be an effective method as well, when I mentioned it to the vet he disagreed. Simply stating it would be more effective if administered directly to the mouth. Do you think there is any merit to that school of thought? I rather prefer this method if possible; as I'd hate to have him associate me as the evil syringe bringer lol

 

[Ecotect]

i inject the baytril into a piece of friut and then feed it to my cham, a small pc of kiwiw works well for me and provides hydration at the same time.
once my guy got a taste for kiwii, he never turned back, and it makes things easy.
hoj

oops, I should of mentioned he's a panther cham. Regardless thanks for the response!

 

[Olimpia]

I think just about everyone injects it into feeders if possible, I don't see how it would make any difference in how it's digested. I've successfully treated an RI injecting feeders with the Baytril, so it works! I figure it's the same thing as taking Tylenol with a meal or not, it's digested the same, albeit a little slower.

Alternatively, if you find that you have to force feed it you can gently get their mouths open by making them gape. What I do it put my thumb and index to each cheek from behind and that will make them open wide, and then you insert the syringe (which you can also add water to) and put it as far back in their throats as you can.

 

[Ecotect]

Sound reasoning in my opinion. I'll give the injections a try, and if he refuses I'll resort to force feeding him. I find it exceedingly difficult to get him to gape and I hate pulling down on his jaw skin as the vet showed me, the cheek method sounds much more agreeable. I didn't know about moving the syringe as far back as possible, I've been putting it between his lips from the side. Out of curiosity then where do the dangers of aspiration lie? Also adding the water at the same time is a great idea! Very much appreciated Olimpia!

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

We put meds into feeders all the time. Your vet may not have been on board if you're guy isn't eating well. But as long as he is eating consistently then definitely try it as it is less stressful for you and him. A long as he gets the meds relatively soon after you inject the feeder (within an hour or two) there should not be any change to the medication. I would definitely try it.

 

[Chuck G]

Place a towel on your lap and lay him on his back with a branch to hold on to.
This always works for me to get them to open their mouth. Have someone else handle the syringe.

 

[Olimpia]

They have a little hole on the floor of their mouth towards the back but not as far back as their esophagus that they can breath with. My vet's always told me to put the syringe far back into the throat, but I bet they can hold their breath if they feel you squeezing liquid into their mouths slowly.

 

[kinyonga]

If you can get them to drink, when the mouth is open ease the meds in then. You can even put it a bit at a time between the teeth and the lips.

 

[Miss Lily]

Have you tried injecting the meds into a feeder. For awhile just feed one feeder a day. Sometimes that works well.

This is exactly what I have done for Tommy several times now. He is not the best eater, so I only offered one injected feeder to him every day to ensure that he would be hungry enough to eat it. I got the syringes and needles from the vet. It is far less stressful for all concerned doing it this way!

 

[Ecotect]

So I tried all the methods you all so generously offered with varying degrees of failure, humor, and finally success! Just about every attempt made to get him to open his mouth without excessive force failed. Even when I did get him to open up and get some fluids in there he promptly spit it all back out in my lap. Chuck's suggestion of turning him on his back had comical results, putting him into a sort of tonic immobilization. He would tense all his muscles and freeze up; if I flattened out my palm he would roll over like a toppled egg lol.

Finally I tried the feeder injection method, using trevo worms. I figured not only are they nutritionally sound but they would stay small enough for him throughout the 2 week administration interval (unlike horn worms) and wouldn't fill him up so he would be hungry enough to take another the next day (great tip guys!). So far he has taken one "med worm" every day without fail and occasionally another "water worm"!

I'm still having some difficulties sucking up the baytril into the syringe as it's so thick, do you guys think there's any harm in watering down the parent bottle a bit? Perhaps with distilled? I've given up on trying to administer fluids with a syringe as well so any extra liquid I could get in him would help. I have now resorted to playing swat team by busting opening the door to see if he is gaping and quickly shooting water into his mouth before he can close it... ALL CLEAR! Believe it or not this appears to be the least stressful way of getting liquids into him and by far the greatest volume. He's just like "smack* smack* what's this water huh, tilt the head"...my mornings are interesting to say the least. While I'm happy to do this while he is under the weather I have to come up with a better permanent solution to get him to drink on his own. Looks like some more research is in order lol.

Thanks to all for helping me out with this and any additional comments are of course welcome!

 

[Boricua]

The way I give my chameleon (Jackson’s) any oral medication is by wrapping him up tight in a hand towel, as that makes difficult for him to move and helps me have a better grip. Then, I use a wet q-tip and gently rub and press it against the side of his mouth until he opens it. Once he does, I quickly replace the q-tip for the syringe and shoot the medicine all the way back into the throat. It took me a few attempts to master it but now works great.

 

[Chameleomom]

Ummmm @Boricua this thread is from 2011