Metacam

[DaisyMae]

My Bun hates to be held, and she was just spayed on Tuesday.  The Vet gave us the liquid Metacam to give her once a day for 7 days. This morning, we tried to see if she would just take it because it’s a bit sweet, but no go, so my husband tried wrapping her in a towel so I could give it to her and she kicked and squirmed to the point we had to stop because I don’t want her to injure herself.  The second time we tried, we finally got her to be still for 5 seconds but when I tried to put it in her mouth she started throwing her head around and flipping out again .. even when I tried to cover her eyes.  Finally, out of desperation, I just decided to drip it on her dry food that she loves and she ate it after about 10 minutes.  It’s a bit thick, so it sticks to the food.  Does anyone know if the medicine is effective once it has dried on top of the food?  If not, any other suggestions? She doesn’t eat bananas or strawberries, so I don’t have anything to hide it in. 

[Bam]

I think it would be fine to put it on top of food, if she eats it after 10 minutes (it may not be effective if you let it dry for hours). If it’s not effective, you would see signs of pain returning (pulling at her stitches, possibly teeth-grinding, sitting in a hunched-up position, refusal to eat and drink etc.) Then you’d have to make a new plan for getting it into her.

[BarbaraC]

I recently had to give my bunny pain meds due to liver torsion and he reacted much the same way as yours. It was extremely stressful since he also wasn’t eating. However, I was able to take a small piece of banana and inject the meds into that. Since he loves bananas he ate it right up. My vet was fine with this as long as I was sure he was getting the full dose. The risk of putting it in with pellets is that you can’t be sure she is getting the full dose and it is not as effective if she gets it over a longer period of time.

Good luck!

[kirstyol]

Try a tiny bit of blackcurrant juice mixed in with it, that was my vets recommendation when he was given medicine that apparently tasted horrible. Bramble hates taking his medicine too, but will eat banana so I mash it up in that and put it in a tiny dish for him, he usually eats it. You could do this with other things too, lots of people use sugar free baby food (obviously a flavour a rabbit might like, fruit or veg really) others just put it on a bit of veg and hand feed their bun that. I have had some success in syringing ranitidine in between the stalks of broccoli, its thick and syrupy so it sort of stays there for the most part

[DaisyMae]

Thanks for the suggestions!  This morning when I was sure she was really hungry, I put a very small amount of her dry food in a dish and dripped all her medicine on top of it.  She ate it all right away!  I’m sure she got the entire dose, and I feel better that she ate it right away, and it didn’t sit in the dish for 10 minutes and get dry like it did yesterday.  It’s so helpful to read your suggestions because once she’s feeling better, I can try seeing if she will eat some of the foods you all mentioned .. like the baby food in case she ever gets sick and the method I’m using now doesn’t work.  I wasted some of the medicine yesterday by trying different things, so it will be good to know what does and doesn’t work with her.  I am going to try reintroducing a piece of banana too.  Last time I tried it, she wanted nothing to do with it, however, I noticed when she was in heat, she would get even more picky.  Now that the medication problem is solved, I just need to stop letting her pull on my heartstrings because she wants to go in the living room and play!

[Bam]

Base, little girl doesn’t understand she has to rest Mashed up pumpkin or canned pumpkin (not pie filling, just plain unsweetened pumpkin) is another thing many bunnies like. It has good fiber so it’s good for them as well as being yummy.

[Samicles]

If she doesn’t like to be picked up I would try to avoid that entirely. I just had to give my bun some meds and he really wasn’t in the mood. I was down at his level and had a hand behind his head, keeping him still. Then put the syringe in the corner of his mouth. Its important to take breaks every couple of mL or so. Pet your bun, keep her relaxed. And reward her once you’re done giving her the meds. So she views the medicine as a good thing and not a bad one.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

As long as she’s getting it down should be OK. Could you put it on her paws? Rabbits are as clean as cats and will clean themselves quickly, and metacam is usually very small doses -I think that might work.

[jerseygirl]

It’s good she ate it right up the 2nd timd. Sounds like she got a taste for it. It could have been the syringe she didn’t like. Metacam is supposed to be given with food anyway. As in, make sure they have eaten before or after. So you’re on a winner this way.

@BarbaraC if you’re reading: what were the symptoms your bunny experienced with liver torsion? Sounds painful! I hope it resolved.

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