Tips for administering medication to small pets

When our small furry friends become sick, often a vet will prescribe oral medications due to this being the easiest form of medication to give to small species. 

Of course, being smaller, more delicate and harder to handle than cats and dogs, for example, when it comes to medications, we can struggle. Knowing how to properly handle and restrain small pets is vital when giving medication to prevent stress and injury. Having our pets become used to being handled in such a way can help significantly as when pets are poorly, they are more agitated/prone to stress. Weekly health checks with our small furry pets in the burrito position can help. 

The burrito position:

“burritoing” is a position in which anxious pets are swaddled in a towel/blanket. This position means we can safely restrain our pets whilst also providing a pressured wrap to reduce stress.

To burrito our pets, lay a small blanket or towel on a table or floor and lay your pet in the center of the fabric, ensuring their head and neck are sticking out past one end. Then, wrap each side over their body firmly, one by one, folding the end of the fabric upwards over their back to secure their back legs. The burrito wrap needs to be firm, otherwise our furry friends can wriggle out or feel unprotected.

How to administer medication

Rodents have large incisors located at the front of the mouth for gnawing, chewing and cutting through hay and foliage, this can make it difficult to give oral medication. It is easiest to give oral medication through a syringe in the side of the mouth. At the side of the mouth there will be a small gap that a syringe can fit through, between the incisors and molars, sometimes you may need to assist in opening your pets mouth to get this in, in our experience we have found gently placing and pressing your thumb and finger at the sides of the mouth in the corner will usually have your pet open their mouth, allowing you to guide the syringe in this gap.

Some tips

Sometimes oral medication can be mixed with palatable treats or tasty food, however, it is important to be able to track that our pets are taking the full dose. Mixing or putting medication on top of food can mean that some medication is easily missed if your pet decides to not eat all their food at once or at all, it is also harder for pets in pairs or groups, to ensure just the pet needing the medication is the only one consuming it.

 Mulching down some of their everyday nuggets with some hot water, left to cool and drawing it into a syringe with oral medication in, is the second most effective way after direct medication into the mouth. Practicing this method often, with unmedicated mulched pellets through a syringe, can come in handy and make things easier if our pets actually become unwell. This form of practice can also be useful if we ever have to syringe feed our pets critical care solution.

Critical care and GI statis

When poorly, rodents such as rabbits, guineapigs and chinchillas for example, can go down hill very fast due to their intricate digestive systems. These species are “hindgut fermenters”, their digestive system relies on constant, high-fiber food intake to keep their digestive tract moving. When our small pets have a decrease in appetite or stop eating completely , there is typically an illness/condition causing them not to eat but they hide it very well and we only start to notice once they have stopped eating or going to the toilet as often. If they were to not intake any food for 8-12 hours, it may lead to a rapid, life-threatening condition called gastrointestinal (GI) statis, a condition in which the digestive system slows down or completely shuts off, leading to painful bloating and potential organ failure.

When the digestive systems stop, dangerous bacteria thrive and produce gas, causing severe pain, making them even more so, less likely to eat, worsening the statis.

Symptoms of GI statis include:

• Refusal to eat favourite treats, or any food at all

• Lethargy, hunched over or sitting in a tense position

• Small, hard or no fecal pellets

• Teeth grinding (though not always a sign of pain)

If you suspect your furry friend might have GI statis, it is essential to see a vet immediately.

This is one of the reasons why it is handy to have critical care available at all times.

Critical care is a premium powdered, recovery food. For rodents, this is made primarily of timothy hay, it is high in fiber to maintain healthy gut motility and digestion in strict herbivores. As rodents cannot go without fiber in their diet for long, it is recommended to feed them every 2-4 hours. Critical care food is mixed with water to create a thick paste that can be given through a syringe. It can be given to pets while in the burrito wrap method, or if your pet has gotten used to syringe feeds, through the bars of their cage, which ultimately is less stressful for them. When giving critical care in the burrito wrap method, it is important to have your pet lay on their front rather than their back, as when administering medication or any form of liquid, can cause aspiration. Critical care can be bought in most pet shops, over the counter at the vets or purchased on amazon and typically comes in a few palatable flavours.

Giving oral medication to reptiles and birds

Giving oral medication to reptiles requires extreme care due to their delicate mouths and where their airways are located, you must be careful to avoid stress, injury and aspiration.

If you don’t have someone available to assist you in holding your reptile, you can wrap them up snug in a small towel or pillowcase to avoid scratches or resistance.

• Open the Mouth: Never force the jaw to open.

• For Lizards/Turtles: Gently apply pressure to the skin under the throat (gular region) or use a soft, blunt tool like a padded tongue depressor to gently pry the lip and jaws apart.

• For Snakes: Use a soft, smooth spatula or guitar pick to softly nudge the mouth open.

• Administer Medication: Place the syringe tip past the front of the mouth and the tongue. Slowly drip the medication into the side of the mouth, allowing the reptile to swallow at its own pace.

• Avoid the glottis: Never inject fluids blindly into the front of the mouth. The glottis (the airway opening) is located near the base of the tongue, and medication must bypass this entirely to prevent aspiration

Giving medication to birds also requires patience to ensure your pet is stress free, using safe restraint methods, aiming medication to the side of the mouth and following up with a treat.

• Use a Towel: Wrap your bird securely but gently in a small hand towel or face cloth, tucking the wings against its body. This reduces stress, prevents flapping, and protects you from bites.

• Hold the Head: Place your thumb against one side of the bird's cheek and your forefinger under its chin/jaw to keep its head steady.

• Maintain Upright Posture: Always keep the bird upright to prevent medication from going down the trachea