tips on how to administer medicine?

[texmac]

did a search and got no hits.

so need to administer very small amounts of liquid medicine to a tiel.
using syringe vet gave me; VERY small amounts of meds
but tiel aint cooperating - refuses to drink, turns head and shakes head so most meds not going in
she is not eating so cant put it in food

any tips?

 

[KatherinesBirds]

I use an eyedropper and securely hold the bird in a soft cloth or towel with my fingers on the sides of the head (gently). I would put the end of the syringe or dropper into the right side of the beak angling the tip to the left so it goes down easy. Give the meds slowly drip by drop. She will wiggle and refuse but if you go real real slow with the head upright, you will get it down her. Remember to go very slow and give her a break during this so she swallows. You will be able to see her swallow each drop. I hand fed for many years. This always worked for me on very young baby birds with the thin formula. I would follow the meds with a little water.....just a couple drops to wash it down. Then tilt the head back and you can try stroking the neck area.
Katherine

 

[ThatDarnBird]

When I was treating my budgie I found this guy:

DoctorRossPerry's Channel - YouTube

There are tons of videos and some of them show how to give medication. They were very helpful, I was having a lot of trouble try to give the meds the way my vet's tech showed me.

Here's the one on how to give a tiel drops:
http://youtu.be/dP--1dDa52k

 

[Chantilly Lace]

Well for the future, do "syringe training" and give the birds sweet juice, hand feeding formula, or organic apple sauce through a syringe, so they actually WANT to eat from a syringe. Mine love handfeeding formula, and I make sure to give them some every month at least.

 

[all4stvoyager]

I put the dose of med into a tiny piece of bread and then dunk the bread in peanut butter. Mister will work with a target, but attacks syringes :0

 

[Wasabisaurus]

I wish I could be there to try to help you. My one tiel has taken meds for a long time. He is very crabby and he bites the syringe, so it is easy. He takes some meds amounting to 0.05 ml and the smallest is 0.03ml. It's tricky to tell if he's swallowed such a small amount or if it ended up on my shirt. Good luck.

 

[waterfaller1]

I had to give the same amount as Terrie for two weeks to Sheba. I used the small syringes{she never even broke it!} and made sure it went from right to left, just as if she was being handfed. I did have the meds compounded though, at a compounding pharmacy, which cost a lot more. Meds like baytril taste terrible I was told, and I could tell from her reaction. The pharmacy made the meds into tuitti fruitti.
Holding the bird properly is half the battle.

 

[Wasabisaurus]

Yup, tutti fruity here too. It tastes pretty good for a medicine. I didn't try it on purpose, though. Just happened that way.Thank God for compounding. Sashimi squirmed away from me tonight and ended up on my shoulder. I got him before he bit me.

 

[crzybrdldy]

I am giving meds now and they all hate the syringe but will take their meds from a spoon, they know I eat from a spoon most times so they think I am giving something good.

It's worth a try.

 

[Paula]

I use an eyedropper and securely hold the bird in a soft cloth or towel with my fingers on the sides of the head (gently). ... She will wiggle and refuse but if you go real real slow with the head upright, you will get it down her.

The fingers-on-the-side-of-the-head trick is right-on, although (in my case) easier said than done - lol. As my vet explained it, you want to put slight pressure on each side of what would be the "jawline" on a human, farther back than where the upper and lower mandibles meet but lower than the ear area. Texmac, you have my sympathy -- administering oral meds can be so stressful.

Renee, thanks for posting the link to Dr. Perry's Youtube account.