# Giving Baytril - Tips?



## Kenowhereman (Aug 29, 2015)

Is there any way to have my rat not hate me when this 10 day regimen of Baytril is done? I'm on Day 5 and she's so cautious to trust me knowing I might have to snatch her out of the cage and stuff a syringe in her mouth. She hates every bit of it and squirms like there is no tomorrow. I'm afraid I'm going to hold her too tight one of these time or that she's going to squirm out and drop right to the floor. I've only had her about a month now and she was already very skittish. Her sister is happy to come out and play when I put out the ramp but if I don't go and get her she will stay in the cage all day. I'm worried the Baytril has ruined any bit of good I've done with her.


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## lisa185 (Aug 15, 2015)

Iv always managed to mix baytril in food and my rats eat it with no fuss. I mix it with fromage frais (kids yogurt) and they love it and don't know the difference.


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## Kenowhereman (Aug 29, 2015)

The vet told me I couldn't mix it into anything. Have you heard otherwise?


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

That's odd.. I've never heard that you shouldn't mix ABs with food. That's usually the only way to get them to take it. I know there are some ABs that aren't supposed to be used with dairy, and I know most ABs you aren't supposed to give with yogurt or other beneficial bacteria because the ABs may attack the good bacteria and ignore the bad bacteria that's causing an infection.

Try baby food maybe. I like using nutrical because it's everyone's favorite treat. It takes a while longer to mix it together with the medicine because it's kinda oily and sticky, but once it's all mixed in, they scramble to eat it, usually even if they HATED it plain.

Did the vet give any reason why it shouldn't be mixed with food? Sometimes it's recommended to give meds on an empty stomach. Maybe that's what they were thinking? But really, sometimes there's no other way to give them their medicine and giving them their meds is more important than aboiding a tiny blob of baby food.

What I do when I have to force feed (sometimes mixing it in food isn't enough to hide it and they will still refuse to eat it) is I will sit with my knees together, and I will lay the rat on their back on my legs kind of laying on the line between my legs so it kinda cups them on either side. I'll hold them down with one hand so their feet and belly are against my palm and just try to quickly stick it in the corner of their mouth pretty far back and give it to them that way. Sometimes they are super fussy and will just drool it out and not swallow.. but usually if you put it further back of their throat they will swallow it.

Just had 4 rats on meds and have had rats on 90 day trials of 2 or 3 meds twice a day, so I know the pain you're going through! lol


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

Baytril mixed with soy beverage is a good one. I like to use chocolate ice cream as well from time to time. My Vet said that a rat's metabolism is so fast that mixing the meds with something to get them to eat it is a fine thing to do.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

I do ice cream sometimes too, that works well! Forgot about that. Just check very carefully and look up the meds online to make sure it's safe to be given with dairy. 

"Dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and cheese can delay or prevent the absorption of antibiotics such as *tetracyclines* and *ciprofloxacin* (*Cipro*). This occurs because the calcium in such foods binds to the antibiotics in the stomach and upper small intestine to form an insoluble compound."

I'm not sure if other -cyclines (like amoxi or doxy) or other -floxacins (like enro/Baytril) are effected. Try looking up on RatGuide.com to see if there's any mention.


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## Cyrix (May 2, 2014)

I had to squirt the Baytril into a blueberry bagel to get my rats to eat it. I physically could not force feed it to them; they were thrashing so violently I probably would have broken limbs if I had tried to hold them perfectly still. When I managed to squirt some into their mouth via luck, they got used to not swallowing it, and letting it run out their mouth and onto their chin. This isn't very obvious if you have clear Baytril - if your Baytril is clear, try putting a couple of drops of food coloring (make sure it's a safe color, probably not red or yellow) into it so you can make sure that it's actually going down their throat.


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## buzzwizz619 (May 31, 2015)

Chicken! Its the only way i could get it into my boys (which was a right pain because i rarely have plain chicken in! lol) but soak a small piece of chicken in the Baytril and they will love the chicken sooooooo much they wont care about the nasty medicine lol xxx


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## KennaBoo (Sep 22, 2015)

I'm also very curious about this as well.. I'm in the exact same position with everything in this post. My vet even said I couldn't mix the liquid medication with food or water either.

I've only had my sweet rattie for 2 weeks now and we just started bonding, but now she's petrified of me because I try (and fail..) to give her the medicine she's prescribed. Every time I even touch her now she squeaks and runs away in fear because she thinks I'm going to give her the medication again.

I have absolutely no idea what to do or how to go about the situation so she gets her medicine and gets better. I thought about calling the vet and asking some questions, but it's already 11 at night here and tomorrow is Sunday, so all the veterinary offices are closed tomorrow..


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## Grotesque (Mar 19, 2014)

Baby food is the only way I can get my girls to take theirs. Turkey and chicken flavor are their favorites.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

We have a very very spooky scaredy rat girl now too. Got her in December and she's better than she was, but still very scared and startles easily. She got sick and didn't like most of her meds, but when I mixed it up with a little glob of nutrical or baby food, she usually ate it. I was really afraid of her totally reverting back to square one with her confidance from force feeding her a couple times. Try mixing it with a bit of peanut butter? Just as long as it's not too sticky. might need a drop of water to mix in too. She always really likes getting peanuts as treats and is very brave when there's a peanut involved. Maybe your rats will like them too?


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## KennaBoo (Sep 22, 2015)

Okay, I guess I'll have to try mixing the medicine with something since she refuses to take it..

What kind of baby food do you guys use when mixing the medication? Any recommendations? 

Thank you all, by the way!


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## Grotesque (Mar 19, 2014)

Most rats like the meat flavors. ALL mine will eat meat. Some of them won't eat fruit ones and some won't eat veggie ones... but they ALL agree on chicken and turkey!


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## KennaBoo (Sep 22, 2015)

Okay, thank you! And did your rats get better while you mixed he medicine in with the baby food? 

Just curious because I just read on RatGuide.com that you can't use anything that has dairy or calcium in it because it will lessen the effect of the Baytril & Doxycycline. So does the baby food have calcium or dairy in it at all?


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## Grotesque (Mar 19, 2014)

I use Beechnut brand instead of Gerber. Beechnut seems to be a little more pure... though that is just a personal impression I have and not really based on anything factual. If you look at the ingredients for turkey, for example, it has turkey and turkey gravy. When you taste it, it is very bland like real fresh turkey would be. I do not think there are any additives. 

I did mention to my vet how I administer the meds and she said it was a very good way. My rats have never had an issue recovering from their respiratory issues when I give it to them that way. The only exception was Mocha but she had more going on than medicine could have helped. 

One thing I would highly suggest though is letting them taste the food first to make sure they like it. Make sure each rat gets separated for their individual dose because they WILL fight for it. LoL


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## KennaBoo (Sep 22, 2015)

Okay, thanks for all the information!!
I just called the CSU Vet Clinic near me, regarding this issue and they agreed that mixing the medicine with baby food is a good and sufficient way to get my rattie to take her medicine properly 

I'm heading off to the store right now to give it a go. Thanks so much! I just want my baby to get better!


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