RatCreature (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ratcreature) wrote2011-03-19 01:02 am
ratcreature) wrote2011-03-19 01:02 am
epic struggles
I still feel like an ogre trying to get the meds into Leo. So far they don't yet work either, but it's not five days yet, so I still have some small hope. At least his breathing hasn't gotten worse in any case, and he's still eating and playing.
This evening after some struggle with him constantly turning his head away, wriggling or getting a paw between the syringe and his mouth, I finally got the syringe in his mouth, and at the last moment he yanks away, so I squirted the meds into his fur and on my hand. Then I cursed at my poor rat quite loudly, because I was so frustrated with him. I hope that my neighbors didn't hear me cursing about rats late in the evening, thinking me crazy (or vermin infested -- I'm not sure they know I have pet rats). So then after we both calmed down I had to get another dose and try again. (I predict by the end of this, if the antibiotic does work after all, and I'll have to give all twenty doses, I'll have to get some extra antibiotic from the vet, because I didn't remember to ask for extra, calculating in the med loss.)
It is really hard to fixate a resisting rat, its head, and its paws with one hand, while having a syringe in the other. I even tried wrapping him in a towel first to handle the paw problem, but rats don't really have a neck smaller than their head, so without strangling him I don't seem to be able to get the towel tight enough that he can't draw his head back or wriggle out of it. So I abandoned that technique. I finally managed, but I had to be really rough, grabbing him tightly and then use quite a bit of force with the syringe too, to compensate for the head movements so that it got in back far enough that he could spit out as little as possible. Of course afterwards he frantically tried to get rid of as much as possible, trying to wipe his snout and such, but I think I got most of a dose into him.
I was even nice enough to wipe the spilled earlier dose off his fur, because he seemed so miserable, trying to get this stuff out of his fur, and Linus who was curious and coming over was completely disgusted when he licked Leo. Perhaps I should have left it so that he'd have to lick it to get some more into himself, but well, I got the other dose into his mouth, and it's probably better if the others can't lick any antibiotics off of him. And I tried to spare him as much of the awful taste as possible.
It's a wonder he hasn't bitten me by now during the twice daily drama, but he's really a very well socialized rat who's never been aggressive or scared off humans, and as long as you don't hold a syringe he's very docile and tolerates all kinds of handling. I don't want to imagine giving meds to a shy or scared rat.
This evening after some struggle with him constantly turning his head away, wriggling or getting a paw between the syringe and his mouth, I finally got the syringe in his mouth, and at the last moment he yanks away, so I squirted the meds into his fur and on my hand. Then I cursed at my poor rat quite loudly, because I was so frustrated with him. I hope that my neighbors didn't hear me cursing about rats late in the evening, thinking me crazy (or vermin infested -- I'm not sure they know I have pet rats). So then after we both calmed down I had to get another dose and try again. (I predict by the end of this, if the antibiotic does work after all, and I'll have to give all twenty doses, I'll have to get some extra antibiotic from the vet, because I didn't remember to ask for extra, calculating in the med loss.)
It is really hard to fixate a resisting rat, its head, and its paws with one hand, while having a syringe in the other. I even tried wrapping him in a towel first to handle the paw problem, but rats don't really have a neck smaller than their head, so without strangling him I don't seem to be able to get the towel tight enough that he can't draw his head back or wriggle out of it. So I abandoned that technique. I finally managed, but I had to be really rough, grabbing him tightly and then use quite a bit of force with the syringe too, to compensate for the head movements so that it got in back far enough that he could spit out as little as possible. Of course afterwards he frantically tried to get rid of as much as possible, trying to wipe his snout and such, but I think I got most of a dose into him.
I was even nice enough to wipe the spilled earlier dose off his fur, because he seemed so miserable, trying to get this stuff out of his fur, and Linus who was curious and coming over was completely disgusted when he licked Leo. Perhaps I should have left it so that he'd have to lick it to get some more into himself, but well, I got the other dose into his mouth, and it's probably better if the others can't lick any antibiotics off of him. And I tried to spare him as much of the awful taste as possible.
It's a wonder he hasn't bitten me by now during the twice daily drama, but he's really a very well socialized rat who's never been aggressive or scared off humans, and as long as you don't hold a syringe he's very docile and tolerates all kinds of handling. I don't want to imagine giving meds to a shy or scared rat.
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