[rivx]

Hi!

Do you have any tips for giving a bird medication? She does NOT like being touched anywhere but the head, and she was very very upset with me giving her her first dose. I couldn't tell if she got any in her.

The vet recommended putting it in some juice but she's...scared of the juice. I have left some in the cage to hopefully get her used to it but until then, any ideas?

I've thought about putting some on a banana but I'm never sure if she'll eat it -- she's a nibbler.

 

[Janalee]

giving medicine

Oh, that is a tough one! So sorry you have to give your bird medicine; it is not easy and they hate it. I had to give my previous 'tiel liquid medicine and the only way I could get it into her was to hold her with a towel or other soft cloth and stick the tip of the dropper in her beak. Of course she struggled and squawked and I felt awful for doing that to her. My vet recommended OJ, too, but my thought was that it just increased the amount of fluid I had to get into her. I would dip the tip of the dropper in OJ before giving it to her, but I don't think that helped much. Give her some extra loving afterwards and maybe some special treat she likes. I hope she will be okay.

 

[adelpks]

I just recently had to learn to do the same with my Cockatiel Clover whi had a damaged wing and needed antibiotics twice a day by dropper. He did not like it one bit but I think he got used to it a bit, still complained no end. He would also bite hard if he could find my fingers in the towel. On the advice of the vet I used a towel to catch him, he has hated hands for years and I have just started this year getting him to take a sunflower seed from my fingers. I didn’t want to destroy to trust that had been developed. So I put on cotton gloves, it helped protect against bites and he didn’t recognise my hands so training with sunflower seeds continued successfully.

 

[rivx]

The vet recommended something like scrambled eggs, so that's what we've been using. It's ALL she'll take it on. I know she shouldn't really be having it much more than once a week, but do you think making an exception till she's off the meds will be alright?

We've toweled her a couple of times before but when we do, she hardly gets any in her. She wiggles her head and puts up an absolute **** of a fight. We tried different restraint methods but it was just more of the same, so we think feeding it to her is just more beneficial.

Is there anything similar to eggs that's maybe better for offering every day?

 

[rivx]

I wonder if we could use noodles...there's pieces cut up in her chop mix already, so I know she likes them. I just don't have big enough noodles to put them on right now.

 

[kat303]

The vet should have both demonstrated on how to hold your bird and then watched as you administered the meds.
I toweled my bird and held her between my 1st and 2nd finger, around her neck from the back, NOT squeezing hard. Do not hold or squeeze her chest. You should have a dosing syringe for the meds. Insert just the tip on the left side of her beak, You can use the tip of the syringe to open her beak up. very slowly give a tiny amount of the meds little by little, not all at once.
The info and pictures on this site might help you - http://www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/birdinformation/medicatingorally.php

You'll see the pictures at the very bottom of the page, ) Hope this helps

 

[rivx]

Thanks!

Her vet showed us -- and we looked at that site too -- we just can't seem to get it right. Somehow, she can always wiggle her head, and wiggle she does. She was scared and still sleepy from the anesthesia when she got her first dose.

She does get some of it when I towel her. It's not all of the already small dose, but it's probably enough to get by on should she have to. In the situation where toweling is 100% necessary, I could do it...but I find she gets more medicine for less trauma on food so far.

 

[Lindamary71]

I had to give my female an antibiotic and I mixed it in scrambled eggs and she loved it. I had to feed me healthy bird also so he wouldn't get jealous. So left hand fed the healthy one minus the antibiotic and the right hand the medication mixed in hers.