Probiotic Help

[cavy-cool-crazy]

Lottie is on a longer course of medication after the short course didn't clear her UTI fully.

I have a probiotic to give her - Avipro Plus - at the advice of a rescue (the vet didn't prescribe a probiotic with the meds). It says on the bottle to put one scoop of Avipro Plus to every 200ml of water. However, I know nothing should be placed in the water, and with the other pigs I don't think this would be possible anyway. So I have been advised to syringe her a small amount every few days.

The problem is:-

a) I don't have a syringe;
b) There is no going near Lottie's mouth even for a tiny peek (but I could work around this);
c) How would I work out the Avipro Plus/water dilution in a syringe?

[C&K]

Could you use an eye dropper or spoon to feed it?

To mix it up, just use a measuring cup to mix it up in. Then, using a syringe, eye dropper or spoon, you can feed it to her drawing up smaller quantities from the cup of solution.

[Slap Maxwell]

Check your local pharmacy. Even a pet store should have syringes to feed orphan animals.

[SandyF]

Our local pharmacist will occasionally give me a syringe if I ask for it. I just have to tell him that it's for "piggie use."

If you live near any sort of farm/feed store, they sell syringes too. We have a Rural King here, and they have 3cc syringes that are handy for feeding.

Also, if you call any veterinarian and explain that you're trying to administer probiotics and need a syringe, they should just give you one.

There is a page on GuineaLynx - "handfeeding" - that has some helpful information on how to get meds or food into an uncooperative pig.

Good luck!

[JenniferT]

OK, here's what we did. We got a syringe from a local vet (no charge) and mixed the pro-biotic with a bit of diluted "light" orange juice. She loved the juice, so it was easier to get her to drink from the syringe. You can also usually get a baby syringe from your local pharmacy. I used them with my daughter when she was a baby. Good luck!

[jdomans]

CCC keep the mixture in the fridge so it stays fresh. Good probiotics are live and need to be kept in the fridge. so making a large batch should be alright.

[jdomans]

Oh you know what? Here anyway you can buy large droppers to give meds to infants and toddlers. No doctor needed to buy them. Look into that.

[cavy-cool-crazy]

Ooh excellent. Thank you for the replies! I never even thought of any of them. I am so lucky to have you lot to talk to!

[C&K]

Definately all great advice for your book on feeding a sick pig!

[cavy-cool-crazy]

Definitely!

I was very surprised at how well Lottie took her probiotic. I found some syringes and made up the solution. I filled one syringe up and went up to see Lottie, sat her on the bed and sat the tip of the syringe between her incisors, squirted a small amount in and she swallowed it. I did that until she had half a syringe on probiotic and there weren't really any difficulties. For a pig who is uncomfortable with being touched too much she was very good.

How long do you think the solution will last in the fridge? It's been in for two days so far, and Lottie has another two weeks of UTI meds to take. I'm thinking I could give her half a syringe every 3-4 days, do you think this sounds okay? Thanks again.