# how to make Baytril palatable?



## SnowyShiloh (Jan 13, 2010)

Ugh. Rory is on Baytril twice a day for the next 2 weeks, and so far I have succeeded in giving him half of a dose! Last time he was on Baytril, it was beef flavored (bizarre choice by the vet, but whatever) and he loved it. I could just hold the syringe out and he'd hop over and take it. I tried doing that this time, and he joyfully bounced over, but only swallowed about 1 drop before running away and washing his face vigorously. He won't come anyway near me now. 

Next week classes are starting up and it's going to be really hard to wrangle an angry bunny at 5 am every day. His cage is built so that I can't even reach him if he sits in a certain spot, so I can't just haul him out when it's medicine time. I think the best option would be to make the medicine taste better. Plus, if the medicine tastes good, he may actually let me pet him this month. He is good at holding a grudge and will most likely want nothing to do with me for AT LEAST a month if I make him take this nasty medicine.

So, can I mix his medicine with one of those flavored coffee syrups? His dose is .1 CC which is only a couple drops. I know those syrups are very sugary, but would .1 CC (or even .05 CC) twice a day be okay? I'm afraid mixing it with juice won't work since the medicine tastes so strong and I'd have to use a lot of juice to dilute it. 

Thanks!


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## slavetoabunny (Jan 13, 2010)

I've gotten Baytril flavored with sweet stuff like Pina Colada. Maybe a pharmacy could help you with this.


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## jamesedwardwaller (Jan 13, 2010)

*SnowyShiloh wrote: *


> Ugh. Rory is on Baytril twice a day for the next 2 weeks, and so far I have succeeded in giving him half of a dose! Last time he was on Baytril, it was beef flavored (bizarre choice by the vet, but whatever) and he loved it. I could just hold the syringe out and he'd hop over and take it. I tried doing that this time, and he joyfully bounced over, but only swallowed about 1 drop before running away and washing his face vigorously. He won't come anyway near me now.
> 
> Next week classes are starting up and it's going to be really hard to wrangle an angry bunny at 5 am every day. His cage is built so that I can't even reach him if he sits in a certain spot, so I can't just haul him out when it's medicine time. I think the best option would be to make the medicine taste better. Plus, if the medicine tastes good, he may actually let me pet him this month. He is good at holding a grudge and will most likely want nothing to do with me for AT LEAST a month if I make him take this nasty medicine.
> 
> ...


beef flavored,yuk...my vet did that too,,ran out of the regular stuff..,i just ground it up and added a bit of sugar,-for theone cc syringe..,the rabbit seemed to like it.//.then,later i found it was for dogs..i felt bad as this product is also sold in strawberry flavor.//.of course that was when i first got into the rabbit business-,,i now order meds online from a pharmacudical in mexico.//.holding a grudge,yea..these are great for that,,their memory is pretty good,,they know when to run---something for flavoring,,maybe vanilla extract/but taste it first,,might be worse...the dvm can call your local pharmacy and order good stuff too/not tablets/liquid baytril-flavored...yea-this might be the best thing to do...sincerely james waller:wave:


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## SnowyShiloh (Jan 13, 2010)

Patti, there is a pharmacy that compounds meds, but they're 20 minutes away and the hours are the exact hours my fiance works so we wouldn't be able to get there until Saturday. Plus this medicine cost $30, what a waste! Plus the price of new medicine. 

I would just as soon use the medicine I already have. My friend told me that Baytril is very caustic and it probably hurt his mouth when he swallowed it straight  

I would prefer mixing it with something that I can store already mixed up, rather than having to mix .1 mL of Baytril with juice or something twice a day. That sounds very inexact!


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## Runestonez (Jan 13, 2010)

We let it soak in pineapple juice for a few minutes until it breaks down, suck it up in a syringeand then give it to the bunns as a "treat"...they don't know the difference and LOVE it, drink it right up!

Danielle


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## slavetoabunny (Jan 13, 2010)

*Runestonez wrote: *


> We let it soak in pineapple juice for a few minutes until it breaks down, suck it up in a syringeand then give it to the bunns as a "treat"...they don't know the difference and LOVE it, drink it right up!
> 
> Danielle


Good idea. Some bunnies prefer cranberry juice. Pineapple juice can be a little too acidic tasting for some picky bunners.


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## kirbyultra (Jan 13, 2010)

I mix any and all meds into a tablespoon if canned plain mashed pumpkin. They slurp it up! But I will say beef flavor is rather terrible for a bun


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## Runestonez (Jan 13, 2010)

We must be a little paranoid but we try to cultivate at least one "craving" in our bunns so when we need to give meds we can fall back on the things we know they'll gobble without a second thought! 

For our youngest boys the pineapple juice works best, Zoe and Daphne and the rest of the crew will eat meds wrapped in cranberries...feed them one and hold a second infront of them and they gobble the first to get to the second...

Ourfirst bunn loved the taste of Baytril...after 2 or 3 days of wresting with her I was scratched from head to toe and had finally reached the end of my rope...I was holding out the baytril in my fingers and begging her to just eat it...the bugger hopped right up and grabbed it...never had to wrestle with her again!:shock:

I wish it was that easy all the time!

Danielle


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## rosalie68 (Jan 14, 2010)

i had this prob with baytril. my old vet was telling me to hold my bunny and syringe it in his mouth. well, needless to say my bunny barely got any medicine and i got all scratched up. i was mashing the pill with baby food and putting it in a syringe. anyways my new vet showed me the easiest way ever to give a bun medicine. hopefully i can explain it pretty good this way since i cant show u )

put a towel on a table

put your bunny on the towel facing away from u

stand behind him and make sure his butt is up against your stomach

put one hand sort of on his head and under his chin (like with your hand in a c shape)

hold his chin up a little bit and put the syringe in the side of his mouth

then just squirt the meds in


he might try to back up but he wont be able to bc his butt will be in your stomach. i was so relieved when i tried this with my bun after fighting with him to give him medicine. this literally takes me seconds to do. its not stressful for me or him. you shouldnt have to mix it with anything if its already liquid and you give it to him this way. buns cant spit it back out once its in. i say squirt it all in and then give him a treat. good luck and let me know if this works for you.


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## SnowyShiloh (Jan 14, 2010)

Rory just got his second dose of Baytril. I mixed it with plum pear baby food. I think he almost hated it MORE this way because he had to eat 10 times as much (since even 1 CC of baby food is a very small amount). I'll have to try something else tomorrow. Thanks for all the replies!


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## JimD (Jan 14, 2010)

I had the best results mixing the Baytril with banana baby food.


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears (Jan 15, 2010)

Baytril Beef flavored is the normal flavor as Baytril was originally made for Cats and Dogs. 
Any time my buns got a med that was cats and dogs we added an apple flavor, they also had cherry.


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## ra7751 (Jan 15, 2010)

Happened to see this. First, Baytril is pretty much ineffective. But if you are going to use it....it works better if it's injected rather than given orally. It can damage the beneficial bacteria in the gut. The beef flavor is the "taste tabs" as this drug is labeled for dogs. If you must use oral Baytril, use the injectable version and flavor it. You can buy products at pharmacies (I have a product called "Flavor It) and your vet should have the capability of ordering flavoring from a company called FlavoRX. If nothing else, dissolve some saccharin or sugar free artificial sweetenerand mix it in to give a sweet taste. Some juices, grapefruit and pineapple come to mind, will sometimes interfere with oral antibiotics. Maybe one day vets will attend enough CE classes to learn that Baytril should be put in the history books....and left there.

Randy


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