Urgent How do I medicate my cockatiel?

[Sonea]

Hello there. It turns out my tiel has some sort of bacterial infection. Her medicine is liquid and I have to make her drink it all with a syringe?
Well I think it is pretty traumatic for both of us. She is terrified of being wrapped with a towel. I am terrified of injuring her, she is so fragile. And I am terrified of suffocating her. I watched youtube videos but it doesn't help.
This is a very bad week for us. She lost her trust in me and I am devastated. She is the best thing in my life at the moment.
Do you guys have any advice or anecdotes for us?

 

[painesgrey]

Could you speak to your vet about possibly getting a flavoured antibiotic, or if a longer-lasting antibiotic via injection might be a viable alternative?

When Pippin was sick, he was given an antibiotic injection because he was regurgitating a lot and we weren't sure he was going to keep any oral medication down. Once he was able to keep medicine down, all his medication was apple flavored so he took it happily (even said "please?!") from the syringe like it was a treat.

 

[CheckeredTail]

The best advice I have is to first practice a few times picking up something that is fragile firmly but gently in a towel to be sure you're confident that you can hold her without hurting her, for example something like a tomato, or a light bulb, something that you need to hold gently. When you pick her up, hold from her back over the wings, and try not the press too on her belly or front of her neck, because they don't have as much protection for their lungs and they use the front of their body more in taking in breaths. Watch to make sure she is still breathing okay, if she's mad and trying to nip you or the towel, that's normal enough, watch for other signs of distress beyond just emotional. Watch a few more videos, practice on a stuffed animal even to get a good feel for how to hold and pick up.

And my second advice is that even if it makes her afraid, sometimes we need to be the bad guy. Sometimes as a parent, you need to give your kid a shot, even if the shot hurts and it makes them mad at you, because it's for the sake of her health. And her being upset with you is not as important as her health. If you can afford to and can get an appointment quickly, you can go back to the vet tomorrow and have them help you and show you but this is not a time to waffle. Obviously it's not going to be fun for either of you, but she needs you to be strong. You can always rebuild trust together later, even if it takes time, but if she gets too sick and passes away, you can't do that.

 

[enigma731]

You need to push through and do as the vet instructed. It sucks but it will get better for both of you. Give her a treat or some scritches after she takes her meds and make sure you're spending time with her apart from the meds so she doesn't only associate you with them

 

[lexalayne]

I usually need to remind my vet that we need the extra extra sweet flavored meds because my too became a pro at spitting it right back at me. Distracting her a bit can help too. And it’s not real easy but if you can get the syringe over her tongue, depress, and act happy she might get used to it if it doesn’t taste bad. I hate forcing mine to do anything like this and I’ll never trim their nails. Even distracting with her favorite treat might work. Acting happy has helped me convince previously punished parrots by being sprayed with water to enjoy being misted. If u have a 2nd person distracting can be a little easier.
I also love the idea @painesgrey mentioned about a longer lasting shot. That would be worth looking into. And I’ve gone back with the meds and ask please sweeten this up a bit more? And they do. I’ve also fed mine baby applesauce or something similar from the syringe then changed it to medicine. And remember they usually over prescribe the dosage knowing that some dribbles down their face. Or as in my case came flying back at me.

 

[Sonea]

Thank you all a lot for the advice!
@painesgrey @CheckeredTail @enigma731 @lexalayne

The medicine I have tastes pretty good actually. But still she won't let the syringe near her beak unless she is restrainted.

And thanks for the encouraging words. It eased my mind a little.

After giving todays meds, I took the advice and let her have a long treat session. And it worked! She let me pet her again! She didn't come near me yesterday so I am glad for the advice.

We only have 5 days left. It couldn't end sooner.

 

[rocky'smom]

Try a juice syringe, put a little unsweetened apple juice or pure pineapple juice, let her taste that, explore the syringe, find out that it's not so scary. I had do this with my tiel Rocky (my avatar) to get him to use to his pain meds.

 

[enigma731]

In my experience, cockatiels will pout a lot about being medicated but they don't hold grudges in the longterm. I'm sure your relationship will be back to normal in no time.