# What to mix with amoxicillin?



## thepumpkinrat (Oct 30, 2016)

I'm going to be mixing a 250mg capsule into 7.5mL of liquid, but I'm not sure what liquid/flavoring to use. Any recommendations? Would blueberry kefir be okay?


----------



## Asiposea (Dec 16, 2016)

My rats LOOOOVE kefir. Maybe if ratty is still hesitant you can make it blueberry peanut butter flavored? Good luck, get well soon ratty.


----------



## Heatherl (Jan 13, 2017)

Asiposea said:


> My rats LOOOOVE kefir. Maybe if ratty is still hesitant you can make it blueberry peanut butter flavored? Good luck, get well soon ratty.


Don't do that!!! Never give antibiotics with dairy products. Some antibiotics won't work as well or not at all if giving with dairy products. Furthermore, the probiotics in the kefir will impede the antibiotics work because antibiotics not only kill bad bacteria but only good bacteria (probiotics). In other words, the antibiotics will kill less bad bacteria if giving with probiotics. Give the probiotics 4 hours after the antibiotics.


----------



## Miss_Rattie (Jul 5, 2016)

I've been using Nutella with amoxicillin, with success. Cheese spread has worked and so has rice pudding baby food.

My rat is mega fussy and if he can detect a hint of medicine then he won't eat it, but these have worked fine.


----------



## Asiposea (Dec 16, 2016)

Heatherl said:


> Don't do that!!! Never give antibiotics with dairy products.


Interesting, I've never heard of this. This would be good for a lot of people since I've read that yogurt is used often to get rats to take meds. Do you have a source you can share for this information?


----------



## Heatherl (Jan 13, 2017)

Asiposea said:


> Interesting, I've never heard of this. This would be good for a lot of people since I've read that yogurt is used often to get rats to take meds. Do you have a source you can share for this information?


Just Google it: Dairy products and antibiotics or when to give probiotics when on antibiotics. Some sources will even say to wait after the course of antibiotics to give probiotics supplements, not kefir or yogurt though (just wait at least 4 hours so the antibiotics had time to work on the respiratory infection). On a side note, kefir is much better than yougurt because 1) Kefir has many more strains of probiotics and 2) kefir is 99% lactose free and many rats are lactose intolerant.


----------



## Asiposea (Dec 16, 2016)

Heatherl said:


> Just Google it: Dairy products and antibiotics or when to give probiotics when on antibiotics. Some sources will even say to wait after the course of antibiotics to give probiotics supplements, not kefir or yogurt though (just wait at least 4 hours so the antibiotics had time to work on the respiratory infection). On a side note, kefir is much better than yougurt because 1) Kefir has many more strains of probiotics and 2) kefir is 99% lactose free and many rats are lactose intolerant.


Help me out with this. Your original post says that kefir should not be mixed with amoxicillan because it will render the medicine useless. I'm not finding any evidence that says yogurt or kefir prevent it from working. I am, however, finding several sites geared for parents to mix antibiotics into yogurt for their babies. I'd like to think that vets would mention something like this (what not to give/etc), but maybe they don't.


----------



## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Some antibiotics bind to the calcium in dairy, rendering them ineffective. Tetracyclines like doxycycline are one that should not be given with dairy. Here is one source for that statement:



> Milk and other dairy products, antacids containing polyvalent cations, as well as various iron salts ingested simultaneously with tetracycline derivatives, might interfere with their absorption by 50 to 90% or even more.


I believe Amoxicillin is fine with dairy, but I used a tart juice like cranberry or pomegranate - it masked the taste of the antibiotics well. Can't say about kefir specifically.


----------



## Asiposea (Dec 16, 2016)

Okay, I definitely see tetracyclines as a no no with dairy when I do a search, but nothing about amox. I suppose for safety, it's easiest to lump it all together as a general rule. Pumpkinrat, maybe you could ask your vet next time. How is he/she doing?


----------



## Heatherl (Jan 13, 2017)

The antibiotics kill both the bad bacteria (mycoplasma for instance) and good bacteria (probiotics in the colon and in the kefir too). As a result the antibiotics aren't as effective at killing the bad bacteria if kefir is given with them. For that reason don't give any antibiotics with dairy products even if some antibiotics don't bind to calcium.


----------



## Heatherl (Jan 13, 2017)

Asiposea said:


> Okay, I definitely see tetracyclines as a no no with dairy when I do a search, but nothing about amox. I suppose for safety, it's easiest to lump it all together as a general rule. Pumpkinrat, maybe you could ask your vet next time. How is he/she doing?


I explained it above again. It isn't a question of lumping it all together for safety as a general rule, there is a REAL reason why not to give probiotics or yogurt or kefir with ALL antibiotics even the antibiotics that don't bind to calcium.


----------



## Asiposea (Dec 16, 2016)

Thanks for the explanation- I do understand what you're saying. I just like to have sources for info as I'd benefit/enjoy reading the original articles on topics like these.


----------



## SoaringRat (Apr 18, 2016)

My vet stated yogurt was fine with amoxi and would help with their gut flora during their amoxi rounds. My girl, Inkie was very particular towards the end of her life, and needed to gain weight, so we made a sort of paste from:

Steak
Avocado
Yogurt
Peanut butter

She loved it, and so did her sisters. Great for weight gain! My girl Shirley likes vanilla pudding! Vanilla is a big hit with my rats apparently.


----------



## TeddyRoo (Jan 23, 2017)

My vet has told me it's OK before. I forget which antibiotic that was regarding though.


----------



## thepumpkinrat (Oct 30, 2016)

I feel like I missed a lot. ;D So, my previous understanding was that amoxicillin was okay to mix with dairy while doxycycline and enrofloxacin wasn't. That's why I asked about the kefir. (I also assumed that it was an issue with the lactose, and was thinking that most kefir is 99% lactose free. Which is good to give to rats, but it's dairy in general that is bad with medicine and not just lactose) So thank you all for the input and links! 
So my vet usually just gives me medicine with flavors/syrup but the amoxicillin isn't, so I knew I had to mix it with something to get Finnley to take it, because he's a huge stubborn baby and just screams during med time. I ended up mixing it with 1 part water and 1 part maple syrup. No worries, he's getting less than 1 mL of the maple syrup a day, which is great because he likes it and it also isn't going to overload him on unhealthy sugar.
He seems generally less sneezy after two days of treatment, I'm hoping that within the next 1-2 days I'll know for sure if the medicine is helping. Thanks for all the help;D


----------



## SoaringRat (Apr 18, 2016)

I didn't think of it until just now when I let my rats have at it, but a mushed up banana or some other soft fruit might work too!


----------



## thepumpkinrat (Oct 30, 2016)

My rats LOVE banana, especially if I mash it up for them. I didn't really think of banana since I was trying to mix it with something more "liquid-y" but 10/10 I always recommend banana to someone with a picky rat


----------

