Rat
Rescue :: Guinea
Pig Healthcare
Guinea Pig Healthcare
Administering medicines.
One of the bones of contention between myself, and many other
people who have found it necessary to treat their own rodents,
and the veterinary profession, is in the administration of medicines.
The biggest bone of all is that of the matter of putting of
medicines in water bottles or sprinkling over food. That the
drug companies do not seem to care about this method of administering
their products convinces me that they are either complacent
or far too fearful of upsetting their prime customers, the veterinary
surgeons.
Both the veterinary authorities and the drug companies constantly
justify the high price of animal medicine because of the high
cost of testing each drug for individual species. One of the main
factors of this is in getting the dosage correct. Yet how many
times are owners advised to put the medicine in the drinking water
of sprinkle it over the food by their veterinary surgeons!. You
don't need professional qualifications to see the utter stupidity
of this practice, or perhaps you do!. It is glaringly obvious
to any average person that there is no way that the animal is
going to get the measured amount of drug that all this research
and money was expended upon to work out.
Perhaps, if you watched the patient for twenty four hours a
day, checking it's intake of both water or food and them somehow
managed to measure it coming out the other end in urine and
pellets, you could get some where near working out if it had
taken the proper dose, but I'd like to see anyone try it!.
The only time I add anything to the water is perhaps if the
vegetable matter I am feeding is not up much or is in short
supply, say in winter if there is a freeze up. I supplement
the vitamin C with Rodoxen, effervescent, one tablet per litre
of water.
I shall therefore explain just how each type of medicine is
administered as I go.
Most tablets and pills can be powered down with a pestle and
mortar and mixed with a small amount of water then syringed
into the mouth. Very small tablets can be put into the mouth,
well back onto the back teeth, if the jaws are held open, see
photo. Be sure to have a syringe of water, or a nice juicy piece
of cucumber handy to follow it up with to 'help the medicine
go down.'
A general point. When syringing fluid to a guinea pig. Put
syringe well into the mouth, about an inch, but at an angle,
push plunger slowly and give a little at a time. However, if
the animal is very weak, or has difficulties swallowing, only
put tip of syringe into front of mouth and dribble in.
WHENEVER GIVING MEDICINES, OR EVEN NEW FOOD
FOR THE FIRST TIME, ALWAYS CHECK DROPPINGS WITHIN A FEW HOURS
AND IF THERE IS THE SLIGHTEST SIGN OF DIARRHOEA STOP THE MEDICINE
OR FOOD.
