Pledge a Pound

This is just my way of doing things and I am not a qualified vet or anything..

...before syringing a bunny's medicine, I first gently run my finger across the side of the buns mouth to feel where the corner of the mouth opening is- around this point you can generally feel a gap in the side teeth (take care not to be bitten)- I usually put the tip of the syringe into this point of the mouth,(taking care not to hurt the tongue), and only put a small amount in at a time, withdrawing the syringe each time.

Sometimes my bun prefers one side of the mouth to the other,( though I try to alternate sides of the mouth if medication is long term as the frequent insertion of the syringe at the same spot can sometimes make the mouth sore).

I found if I needed to give the pro-biotic "Biolapis" my bunny would not drink the water when Biolapis was added to it but would lap it up if I mixed the Biolapis in a little warm water and added to HIPP red fruit baby puree, the puree replacing some of the water to make the same Biolapis powder:water ratio. I generally used just half a sachet of Biolapis at a time.(Of course this depends on how your bun tolerates fruit products as some get sticky bums from them).

Sometimes buns prefer one size of syringe to another. When feeding critical care food replacement, although the end nozzle of the 5ml size syringe was the same size as the end nozzle of the 1ml syringe, my bun hated the 5ml one but would take the 1ml one Ok. Again he didn't like the fatter nozzle of the 15ml size syringe.

I found the 15ml syringe useless anyway despite the larger end nozzle,as it seemed to squeeze out the water content leaving half the critical care mix as a hard "plug" in the syringe- has anyone else found this?

(I have no buns here on medication at the moment)
sue

I gave up using the critical care - it always bunged up whatever size syringe was used - I ended up just smearing the feed on the bunnies front and feet and letting them groom it off! Nowadays for a syringe feed I'd crush their own pellets and mix them with water instead

Another tip is to save all the small pieces that are in the bottom of the bag, it's already fine enough to mix with baby food

That's a good tip Sue I never thought of that All bunnies that I have ever tried to feed the critical care food to haven't liked it either and I also use baby food (usually apple & pear) and water down SS pellets.

I also find it much easier with the 1ml syringes either for medication or syringe feeding, it goes in bunnies mouths easier I think as it's smaller especially if you have smallish rabbits (with smaller mouths) like my 3 Dutch.

Ellas kitchen is a good baby food to use, as it's organic and does some rabbit friendly flavours http://www.ellaskitchen.co.uk/ellas_pro ... -parsnips/

Saving the fine granules from the bottom of the bag is better because it's what the rabbits already used to, and so won't upset it's tummy, I know the recovery and CC are supposed to be good, but why give them something they're not used to, and it's expensive

Totally agree about the larger syringes. I get on better with 1ml syringes for syringe feeding.

Hunnybunny2007 wrote:Ellas kitchen is a good baby food to use, as it's organic and does some rabbit friendly flavours http://www.ellaskitchen.co.uk/ellas_pro ... -parsnips/

Saving the fine granules from the bottom of the bag is better because it's what the rabbits already used to, and so won't upset it's tummy, I know the recovery and CC are supposed to be good, but why give them something they're not used to, and it's expensive

Thanks Sue will definitely save mine from now on instead of throwing away, like you say you know the bunnies like it and it doesn't cost loads to buy something they're not used to and don't like much.

I have also used fruit teas (cold) for bunnies in the past when syringe feeding water, they like it much better

do the fine granules not clog up the syringe like the critical care does, then? sue

sdf76 wrote:do the fine granules not clog up the syringe like the critical care does, then? sue

I use a syringe with a large nozzle, I also make it very sloppy, so the rabbit gets some moisture as well as nourishment

sdf76 wrote:do the fine granules not clog up the syringe like the critical care does, then? sue

The Hay Experts sell a syringe which is suitable for feeding critical care
https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Health+ ... e.733.html

If I have a poorly bun I use the fine powder from the bottom of the packet of SS to disolve in water and syringe feed or use an old coffee grinder and grind down their normal pellets so that they dont get a change in diet when they are at their most vulnerable. I usually put a pinch of probiotics into the water to try and optimse everything.