my piggie, matcha, has an abscess on her bum. She was prescribed 2 different antibiotics, both of which need to be syringe fed. One is once a day, for 7 days. The other is twice a day, for 14 days. As you can see, it’s a lot of syringe feeding! This has me particularly worried because she seems to hate syringe feeding. I did the first round of feeding this morning, which wasn’t too much of a struggle, so I thought maybe the 2 weeks to come wouldn’t be too bad. Unfortunately, I was wrong. When I came by her cage to do her second round of feeding, she ran right back into her dome as soon as my hand entered her cage. This not only made me unable to feed her her Medicine, but I also couldn’t even get her out of her cage for some lap/floor time. This has me extremely upset - I don’t want my guinea pig to hate or be scared of me! What can I do to make her less scared?
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Urgent! My Piggies Is Scarred From Syringe Feeding :(
- Thread starter Vivianhe
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Gem789
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My pigs are the same when they’ve had to have medicine or be syringe fed, they run away from me cos they know what’s coming when I go to get them out.Unfortunatly we have to be cruel to be kind and they will forgive you once it’s all over.I find it’s best to give them a treat straight after like dill or parsley and I always praise them once they’ve had it even if they’ve been very difficult taking it x
@Gem789 is right.
As hard as it is you simply have to be firm and get it done.
If she is running away to a part of her cage that means you can't catch her, then you might have to block that area off for the time being.
If she is on medication it is important that you don't miss any doses or the problem will become harder to threat in the long run.
I am currently syringe feeding one of our piggies and she makes no effort to hide that fact that she hates every minute of it. She starts squeaking angrily the minute I pick her up, but once it is done and I clean her up she will happily settle for a cuddle with DD1, and in the long term I know she will forgive me!
As hard as it is you simply have to be firm and get it done.
If she is running away to a part of her cage that means you can't catch her, then you might have to block that area off for the time being.
If she is on medication it is important that you don't miss any doses or the problem will become harder to threat in the long run.
I am currently syringe feeding one of our piggies and she makes no effort to hide that fact that she hates every minute of it. She starts squeaking angrily the minute I pick her up, but once it is done and I clean her up she will happily settle for a cuddle with DD1, and in the long term I know she will forgive me!
Merab
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I know the feeling.
Jemimah had 2 bouts with an abscess which meant it had to be cleaned twice a day.
I always made sure there was some favourite veggies for her when I caught her but she made it very difficult.
She still won’t let me catch her easily but is now happy to let me pet her in the cage,
In fact, just recently she has started coming to the bars asking to be petted.
Be patient and firm.
Hope your little darling makes a full recovery.
Welcome to the forum and do please let us see pictures.
Jemimah had 2 bouts with an abscess which meant it had to be cleaned twice a day.
I always made sure there was some favourite veggies for her when I caught her but she made it very difficult.
She still won’t let me catch her easily but is now happy to let me pet her in the cage,
In fact, just recently she has started coming to the bars asking to be petted.
Be patient and firm.
Hope your little darling makes a full recovery.
Welcome to the forum and do please let us see pictures.
Cavy Kung-Fu
Adult Guinea Pig
Oh you poor thing, I hope she gets better soon! She'll be okay in time, don't panic 
Any pigs that I've had to syringe feed or give medicine to have actually turned out to love me more in the end, although it doesn't feel like it at the time.
My most clingy pig Bella had to be treated quite a bit when she was younger and now she will crawl onto my hand and up my arm for a cuddle. Even though at the time she was wriggly, a bit bitey and refused to be caught when she had all her horrible medicines.
They do forgive us I promise!
Any pigs that I've had to syringe feed or give medicine to have actually turned out to love me more in the end, although it doesn't feel like it at the time.My most clingy pig Bella had to be treated quite a bit when she was younger and now she will crawl onto my hand and up my arm for a cuddle. Even though at the time she was wriggly, a bit bitey and refused to be caught when she had all her horrible medicines.
They do forgive us I promise!