I feel horrible.

[IsabellaRobyn]

I wasn’t really sure where this should go but It’s pretty care related.  Belle needs antibiotics and as i’m sure a lot of you know she hates being picked up.  I tried to bunny burrito her but she kept jumping away before I’d even done the first wrap so I had to just grab her really firmly and flip her over.  She managed to wriggle away so many times and I had to just keep catching her and trying again.  I feel horrible she looks terrified now that it’s over and I don’t even know how much of it actually went in her mouth.  I tried to put it behind her teeth but she wriggled and a lot of it dripped on my hand.  I wiped it up with some of her pellets and fed her them with some of her other normal ones.  She flopped out on her side panting while I gave her them and then I had to pick her up again and give her the rest.  I feel so cruel.  She’s just lying on her side in her cage now flat out.  I thought you guys would understand that’s why I’m writing about it here.  I’m so upset, she trusted me and then I just did that to her.

[peppypoo]

Aww, don’t be too hard on yourself…you’re only doing this because you care about her. Do you know what kind of antibiotic was prescribed? A lot of the time, they’ll be specially flavored so that the bunnies don’t have a problem taking their medicine, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. You’ve got the right idea with combining the medicine with pellets, but try mashing up some banana + medicine instead and see how she takes it.

[rexanater]

You’re doing it for her benefit, don’t be so hard on yourself. I was a bit scared when the vet prescribed antibiotics for my bunny, but it turned out to be banana flavored and her loved it xD Good luck with your bunny, hope she gets better!

[IsabellaRobyn]

It’s baytril. She’s only just come out of her cage now and I’ve had the door open the whole time. I don’t think it is flavoured because the vet said I could mix it with some fruit juice so she would like it but we don’t have any in right now, I think I’ll buy some tomorrow and try it. I know it is for her sake but I still feel so guilty about it. She’d just started to love me and would lie with me and let me rub her ears. She’s only 13 weeks. I’m scared it will take another 5 weeks to build up that trust again after the next five days is over .

[Monkeybun]

Having to give Monkey meds awhile back actually helped me bond with her. After the first few days of eye drops, she must have figured out whatever Mommy was doing was helping her. Now she trusts me completely

[LittlePuffyTail]

Try giving her a tasty treat after to cover the yucky taste, like banana. My bunnies know that after something unpleasant like medication or grooming, they get a treat. It makes me feel less guilty too.

[bunnyfriend]

Awhhh don’t be hard on yourself, you are doing the best you can. Lots of vibes for Belle and good luck with the antibiotics!

[IsabellaRobyn]

Thanks for all the words guys it’s helped quite a lot. I’ll buy a banana too when I’m at the shop tomorrow so I can give her some of it after like you said LPT and try make her associate the meds with good things. I’ve not given Belle a treat yet so this should be interesting… only time will tell.
Monkeybun – I hope the same happens here, the thing is I don’t even know if anything is wrong with her – the meds are for the “just in case” side of things. At least I’ll know it might be helping her!!

Sorry for all the dramatics I was just feeling really guilty at the time (over emotional 18 year old? Yes.) and I do know that it is for the best and while it might upset her just now it will help her in the long run – might even make her get a grip and let me hold her from time to time!! Probably not, she’s probably going to associate holding with traumatic experiences she had as a young bun forever now

[tanlover14]

Don’t feel so bad… It’s for her health and safety. Just give her lots of love and attention afterwards even if it is just sitting with her so she doesn’t not trust you. My buns HATE the bunny burrito and I can never even get them into it pretty much at all. When I had to do one of our new buns nails — he FLIPPED and bit me pretty hard and I thought he’d hate me to but after a ton of treats and lovin’ he was fine. He just didn’t like it at the time.

[IsabellaRobyn]

Glad I know other peoples buns don’t like it either – I was reading all the comments about it and they were all like “omg this is great” and stuff. I was like whyyyy haha!! How did you manage to do his nails I’m dreading having to do Belle’s.

[tanlover14]

We actually only got about 7 of them done… and that was by my boyfriend shoving cilantro under his nose for a good 15 minutes straight while I tried just pulling his toe out lightly and getting it. He has a vet appt soon so we gave up and are waiting for the vet to do them. :X LOL. I don’t know what it is but for the life of me I cannot hold my bunny still. When I hold him hard we all start freaking out and then everyone gets stressed and then he bit me really hard when he got his head around. Quite the time..

[Bella and Lola's Human]

My bunny Bella also hates taking medicine. It was traumatizing for both of us too, she acts like she’s being tortured and I feel really guilty the whole time and start to feel like giving up.

Even when I can restrain her there’s no way I can hold her still and get all the meds into her (half of it ends up on my hand or the towel).

So I tried a couple of methods that you might consider trying.

1. I read that if you put drops of the meds on their feet with the syringe they would lick it off (to groom themselves). I tried this and it worked for a couple of doses…but then she got wise to me and would run away when she realized what I was doing and it was impossible to get to her feet. When I could get to her feet the meds would sometimes run off her foot before she licked it off.

2. After that I started mixing the meds in with carrot baby food in a bowl or on a plate and just giving it to her and letting her eat it at her own pace and that seems to work the best for her. You just have to find something that your bunny really likes. Juice, canned pumpkin, baby food, mashed banana are some options. This way was definitely less stressful for me and my bunny; you just have to make sure that your bunny will eat every drop so that she gets the full dose of medicine.

Hope this helps, just know you are not alone and it is definitely a frustrating process. Good luck!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

They luckily forgive us after we are such terrible people as to give medications I always follow meds with treats, so that at least there is some positive association. Even better, follow meds with treats and out time. This will encourage them to tolerate the meds for the pleasure of treats and out time. And don’t be hard on yourself, the meds will help and bunnies don’t have a very long memory.

[IsabellaRobyn]

Thanks for your suggestions guys! I think tonight I’ll try giving her her meds mixed in with some mashed banana and see how that goes.

[Elrohwen]

My favorite technique is leaving the bunny on the ground and holding them between my knees. I put one hand on their shoulder to keep them still, then insert the syringe with the other. The picking up part is so stressful for some bunnies and they can be more cooperative if you leave them on the ground. Then again, some struggle even more when they have all four feet on the floor, so try different methods and see what works best!

[FooFoosMommy2]

We have to give Foo meds starting again for five days on the 8th. The first dose we had to give her, by the end she got used to it. Ryan would either bunny burrito her (she actually likes being picked up this way) or sit with her between his knees and I would give her the meds. It does make it easier if you have someone to help you. After he was holding her, I gave her the meds (3ml) in all in small squirts instead of trying to go all at once. She seemed calmer that way. Ryan read somewhere that stroking the bunny’s ears and singing to them or talking helps to calm them as well, it worked on Foo. And like others said, you’re doing it to help her, not to be mean.

[IsabellaRobyn]

Thanks foofoo Belle only needs to get 0.5ml of a diluted solution so at least I can give her it quickly.

I tried feeding her some mashed banana today (before I put her meds in) and she wouldn’t eat it. She licked my finger about two times and then just ran away and when I offered her the bowl she sniffed it then just gave it the bunny but so I never mixed in any meds because she wouldn’t eat it. I grabbed her today and then she wriggled away and then the second time I got a better hold on her, lifted her little mouth and squirted the meds straght in and that was it. It was SO much easier today. Maybe she’s realised that if she just lets me do it things will go down much smoother. She went and hid in her box straight away but I hand fed her a little drop of pellets and gave her greens straight away and now she’s fine and hopping around (none of the lying flat out and panting that happened yesterday). I’m so happy it didn’t go down like last night .

[TH004]

I also put my rabbit between my knees while I squat over him to give him meds. I do it super fast, which helps. He can’t stand being flipped over. For my first rabbit, I mixed meds with various juices and my rabbit would happily take it, willingly! Her favorite, crazy enough, was blue gatorade and strawberry margarita mix (no alcohol in it!). My vet later put some kind of cherry flavor in there, which she liked.

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