Medicating chinchillas

[AnnieHank]

My two chinchillas are sneezing and the vet says they have kennel cough. She gave me antibiotics for them but I'm having trouble administering the medicine. I have a syringe and am trying to get it in their mouths but they keep on wriggling and trying to get away. They're fairly skittish and I don't really hold them alot. Does anyone have advice on how to make this process easier? It's especially difficult as one of them is pregnant, I don't want to be too rough with them.

[jbcstratton]

If you wrap them in a towel it helps calm them and makes it much easier to control them, getting the medicine down may be another ordeal.  Just try to be gentle holding the pregnant one.

[dianah]

my chinchi was on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories for two months. he didn't like to be held at all and baytril tastes terrible.

what i did was prepare all my medicines so they were ready to be administered and put them within my arm's reach. i sat down and put him on my lap with him facing away from me - i was holding him around his middle with my left hand (i'm right handed) and then pretty much stuck the syringe in his mouth and got the meds in. in theory, they should bite into the syringe when you stick it in their mouth and then it's your time to shine but i found this didn't happen every time and some days were easier than others.

i found that as long as my lap didn't move, he was ok. if i forgot to put something close enough and had to stretch, he tried to make a break for freedom.

good luck! it's not pleasant for either party involved!

[AnnieHank]

Thanks for the advice, the towel made a bit of difference but it was difficult to arrange initially, she nearly got away from me! I'm still finding it difficult to steady their heads though, they keep turning their heads away from the syringe. I suppose I'll get a bit better at it with practice. I can't wait until they finish their medicine, they won't let me pet them anymore!

[Lori Ramsey Earle]

I've had good luck mixing antibiotics with rasberry syrup(Smuckers brand - look in the supermarket where ice cream toppings are kept). For example, if I had a dose of .3 cc antibiotic to give, I'd mix .3cc of syrup with the antibiotic in a cup, and then suck the mixture up into the syringe.Wrap the chin in a hand towel, firmly but gently. It also helps if you dip the end of the syringe in the syrup so they taste the sweetness right off the bat. After the dose, give a 1-2 cc's of water to help wash it all down. Baytril especially is very bitter - you really need to doctor it up(so to speak). Once your chin finds that this is palatable, they'll stop struggling and take the meds ok.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Yes wrap them just like babies, nice and snug.

[Courtney]

Yes, that's what I do, is wrap them in a towel. It even helps calm them down. That should help you. Im sorry they are sick, I hope they get well soon. What antibiotics were given?

[smokie]

I had same problem, got a chinchilla that's an adult and had been badly handled previously so is terrified of being held, and had to give her anti Bs. Not good.  I tried dressing it up too with jam, cheerios, raisins.  None of it worked and she refuses to touch raisins to this day.  Anyway, I ended up sneaking the dose into cranberry juice and she drank that.

I must say though, the vet was totally clueless and gave me antiBs just so she was doing something, if I thought my chinnie actually needed AntiBs I'd go for the towel/syringe in mouth tactic.

[AnnieHank]

I was giving Baytril to the male and Septrin to the female. The vet said Septrin would be safer for the kit/ kits. I tried the towel method but to be honest, I just found it to be an extra complication trying to wrap them and they almost got away a few times. Maybe it was the way I was doing it but they really hated that towel and seemed calmer without it. I tried a few other things too including trying to sweeten them up with the odd raisin but that didn't seem to make a difference either and they became a bit mistrustful of raisins and stopped taking them from my hand for awhile!
In the end, we found the easiest way was for my boyfriend to hold them as gently as possible to not hurt them but secure enough they couldn't escape while I got the syringe in their mouths. It took a few tries as they are very good at wriggling their heads away from it but I managed in the end.
They were a bit awkward around my boyfriend and myself after and wouldn't even let us pet them for a few days. I'm happy to report that they have finished their antibiotics now, they've stopped sneezing and are back to their perky selves again, thankfully. They are also letting us pet them again so all good.
Thank you to all for your advice, I really appreciate it

[Courtney]

Hpw are they doing? Are they getting better?

[Jo Ann]

    Glad to hear they are much better now.   

     But ... you need to figure out what made them sick, so it is not repeated ... the second time around can be worse than the first.

Is there a draft on them?  Vent, fan or window?
Has there been a cat around (inside or out)?  Have either of you petted or held a cat then come home and handled the chins?
Have you cleaned the carpet lately? (chemical pneumonia)
Changed your laundry detergent?
Used a new perfume or cologne?
Used an air freshener?
Brought any flowers inside?
Had visitors in?
Sprayed for bugs?
Used anything that has any odor to it at all that is new?
Any of the above could be the culprit.
Hope this helps.

   Jo Ann

[AnnieHank]

They seem fully recovered now, back to their usual selves.
As for what caused it? I can't be sure, I haven't changed anything or used anything new or with a strong odour around them. The vet said that there seems to be a particularly virulent dose of kennel cough around this year. I don't have any other pets but she said it's possible to carry it in from outside. I don't think there's anything I can do there but hopefully because they've had it once, they won't get it again.