Toto Hates Thyronorm - any tips?

[KatieK]

Hi Eveyone - my little piggie Toto has been suffering with gut issues/weight fluctuations on and off for months and has now been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. He’s very used to taking meds - he’s been on Metoclopramide, Cisapride and Loxicom for months and has been really co-operative in taking these meds so it literally only took seconds. However, he HATES the Thyronorm which has been prescribed for his hyperthyroidism and I’m having to battle with him twice a day to get him to take it. He’s also going to be on this regime for the rest of his life. In fact he hates it so much he’s now suspicious of the gut meds too and now puts up a fight to resist them too! Has anyone else experienced this issue with Thyronorm or does anyone have any tips as to how to make it more palatable? At the moment once he’s had the dose I’m giving him a little piece of melon (his favourite) to wash it down but it’s such a struggle to get him to take it in the first place that it’s stressing us both out

Toto turned 5 on Saturday - with all the problems he’s had since last October it is a miracle he got here (plus a lot of vet trips and nursing!)

Thanks everyone!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

The best way of giving a cocktail of meds some of which do not taste nice is by starting with the nicest ones in terms of personal preference so you have cooperation for longest.

Don't make the mistake of trying to cover up the taste - piggies have double the amount of taste buds to humans and you hav got a lot more volume to get into an uncooperative piggy. It is more efficient to get the hated medication into a piggy in one fell swoop, follow it up with a little water to wash away they worst and then follow it up with a treat; thanks to the water interlude the treat (can be a favourite veg or part of the daily pellet ration) will taste as it should and completely erase the bad flavour.

Accompany that with plenty of praise and fuss; you can also commiserate about 'brrr doctor' but once a piggy knows that you are staying firm, they will generally accept it once it is only a minute or so of bad taste.

More how-to tips, pictures and videos on how to hold and del with uncooperative piggies in this link here: All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

All the best.

 

[KatieK]

Thank you @Wiebke - I will definitely follow your advice and hopefully (eventually) he will get used to it and know that we’re doing it to make him feel better!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you @Wiebke - I will definitely follow your advice and hopefully (eventually) he will get used to it and know that we’re doing it to make him feel better!

The important bit is to start with something nice and end with something nice and to give plenty of encouragement but to stay firm.