Difficulty syringe feeding

[joanne marie]

Hi all, my poor mollie is very unwell not eating and has a suspected uti and also respiratory Infection. She has been on 1 weeks worth of baytril 0.50mg per day with no improvement whatsoever. She is currently with my vet who is giving her a stronger antibiotic, painkiller and fluids. My question is regarding syringe feeding, I have tried all of the ways on videos I have been able to find but she still just will not let me and gets very stressed when I try to feed her. It breaks my heart to see her so unwell, does anyone have any tips on how to syringe feed my guinea that will be less stressful for her? She just constantly moves her head around even wrapped in a towel, Also She is 3 years old.

 

[joanne marie]

Just to add I know the syringe needs to go at the side of the mouth behind the teeth

 

[Pantalaimon]

When you say syringe feeding, do you mean syringe feeding her her medication or a liquid food? If it is a liquid food could it be that she really doesn't like the taste and you could try a different brand/flavour? Most guinea pigs hate the taste of Baytril, it even smells horrible and sadly there is no way around it.
Sorry I can't be of much help as I am not an expert, I am sure someone who knows more will respond soon. I hope Mollie starts to improve soon.

 

[joanne marie]

When you say syringe feeding, do you mean syringe feeding her her medication or a liquid food? If it is a liquid food could it be that she really doesn't like the taste and you could try a different brand/flavour? Most guinea pigs hate the taste of Baytril, it even smells horrible and sadly there is no way around it.
Sorry I can't be of much help as I am not an expert, I am sure someone who knows more will respond soon. I hope Mollie starts to improve soon.

Thanks so much, it's for the syringe food, I think she associates the syringe with baytril I think that could be the problem. I am just waiting to hear from the vet if she has improved at all I'm worried sick x

 

[Tigermoth]

Does she need it by syringe? You could try to see if she will nibble it from a spoon.

 

[TheLittlePig]

I’m not an expert but I do believe they’ll add some mashed banana to make it taste better

 

[Pantalaimon]

Something I used to syringe train my guinea pigs was putting a bit of 100% apple apple juice on the tip of the syringe.

 

[joanne marie]

Thanks everyone she is not eating at all so she wouldn't eat from a spoon unfortunately, it's so important as she has not been the toilet and even the vet said she got extremely stressed when she tried to syringe feed her half an hour ago it's awful seeing her suffer like this

 

[TheLittlePig]

Thanks everyone she is not eating at all so she wouldn't eat from a spoon unfortunately, it's so important as she has not been the toilet and even the vet said she got extremely stressed when she tried to syringe feed her half an hour ago it's awful seeing her suffer like this

I am so sorry to hear this, I know this must be very stressful for you too, sending positive vibes