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Chinch&Chilla

Chinch&Chilla

chin matchmaker <3
Joined
Jul 31, 2009
Messages
51
Location
Montclair, NJ
Hi everyone, so I took my chin to the vet yesterday and he prescribed an antibiotic (sulfatrim) and an anti-inflamatory/pain reliever (meloxicam) for his injured paw. The vet administered the 2 of them via needle yesterday so today was the first time I need to give them to him orally using the syringe, the sulfatrim twice a day and the meloxicam once a day. But after an hour of chasing my chin around a play pen (and one very distraught chin) just to give him his first dose of sulfatrim, I realized this is going to be one very difficult task to do 3 times a day.

The vet told me to wrap him in a towel holding him in the back so he can't back out and keeping his head sticking out the front and then put the syringe behind his front teeth and squeeze it in. While this looked very easy in the office it proved very difficult at home (especially when I'm the only person here to help).

So I'm looking for advice on how to give him the medication. Is it safe for me to mix the medicine in with something to make it taste better so that he'll actually want to take it? And if so is whatever it'd be mixed with safe for them to have 3 times a day? The only thing that I just did that he seemed not to mind was when I squirted a bit of the medicine on a goji berry but he absolutely loves goji berries and there's no putting .75 mls of a medicine on 1 goji berry nor do I like to give him more than 1 goji berry a week. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
What exactly was the injury to the paw?

The first thing I would do is call your vet and have them prescribe the meds for once or twice a day. Meloxicam is usually given every 24 hrs and Sulfatrim is usually given every 12 hours - I'm not quite sure why they are having you give meds 3 times a day. This would relieve a lot of stress from you both.

As for administering the meds, you can dip the syringe in baby food or apple juice (find the stuff with the least amount of sugar). For holding, burrito-ing is your best bet. Use a big towel and bury him in there good so all you have access to is his mouth. If you can make it taste better then he should take it semi-willingly and decrease the risk of aspirating the meds.
 
It looks to me like the meds were prescribed to be given twice a day with the meloxicam once a day...
sulfatrim twice a day and the meloxicam once a day.
Click to expand...

You can pair the meloxicam dose with one of the sulfa doses.

I have always dipped the syringe in simethicone (infant gas drops), stuck the tip in the cage for the chin to come explore, and my chins take the medication eagerly. If you offer him the syringe without even trying to pick him up, he may take it. Usually the idea of getting caught is what makes them go spastic and in turn refuse the meds.
 
Thanks for the recommendations. I am definitely willing to try anything to make this experience better for him and me. I can pick up the baby food and apple juice in a bit but I have never heard of simethicone, where can I find that and just out of curiosity what would draw the chin to it?

I agree with the fact that I did not want to chase him down to make him take the meds. I did try just offering it to him but without something sweet to help the taste he really didn't like it and that's when I felt like I had to force him. I also felt kind of bad about the amount I needed to give him, it seems like a lot (.75mls of sulfatrim twice a day and .6mls of meloxicam once a day). I didn't feel like I could just squirt it all into his mouth at once cause I thought it be too much for him to swallow, am I wrong? If I could just get a hold of him once and give him the whole dose in one shot that would be ideal though, less struggle for the both of us. But I also wasn't having very good luck with the towel-wrapping thing. I couldn't get it around him tight cause he was squirming a lot and he'd end up getting out of it in 30 sec every time. What's the best approach to it? Put the towel down and wait for him to jump on it and then wrap it around him or pick him up and then the towel and try to wrap it around him while holding him? My guy is a bit more squirmish than the average chin I think. I wish there was a video on this lol.

The paw injury was he landed hard from a jump and either sprained or broke one of his fingers. Then he started to bite at it to I guess dull the pain and it became discolored and there was a scab across it. The vet said it looked like an infection was starting so he prescribed the meds.

P.S. Sorry for the 2nd long post.
 
Simethicone is just Infant Gas Drops... either Little Tummies or an off-brand. You can buy them at most stores and pharmacies (Target, CVS, etc.).

Wow.. that does seem like a lot at a time. My little boy is on Meloxicam and my exotics vet told me max. dosage recommended is .04mL every 24 hours... so what you're giving is 15 times that. Of course, I'm not a professional and have no idea what amounts are correct... but that seems like a lot compared to what my boy is taking.

And yes, that is too much to shoot in his mouth all at once when forcing it. You don't want to risk aspirating the meds.

I've found that Apple Juice worked for my guy, dipping the tip in there, he latches on (will even hold the syringe with his littler feets) and LOVES it. Now I'm to the point where I don't even have to use Apple juice and he runs right to it.

Hoping you can have the same luck!!! Or at least get some good tips from people who've had to deal with the same thing.
 
The dosages could vary depending on the concentration of the medications being given and whether or not they have been compounded/mixed with flavoring. I don't have the doses off hand but I can check in my Plumb's book later tonight.
 
Wow Kelly Lyn that is a little shocking that your guy is taking 1/15 of my recommended dosage though I think Stackie could be right but still I worry if I'm giving him too much. The nurse at the office even looked at the directions on the bottle in front of me and showed me where to fill the syringe to so I'm hoping its right unless the directions were typed wrong? Is that likely? I would really appreciate it if you could check that book Stackie. I don't know if this info (off the bottles) helps to figure out how much he should really be getting...

Sulfatrim 24mg/ml Susp. per ml/ 15mls. Give 0.75mls (cc) orally 2 times a day.

Meloxicam 0.15mg/ml per ml/ 15 ml. Give .6mls (cc) orally once a day.

I'm hoping my guy likes the apple juice or the baby food, I got both just in case he doesn't like one for some reason. I haven't tried giving him the Meloxicam yet, I'll be trying that tonight, so I really hope that my guy likes it as much as yours so it doesn't make it a chore to give him both medicines tonight.
 
It sounds like the Meloxicam has been diluted as the smallest dosage available to buy is a 0.5 mg/ml liquid suspension. The dosage for it is 1 mg/kg.
 
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Thanks Stackie for looking this info up but I'm a little confused. Are you saying that I should be giving him .6 cc of Meloxicam as recommended by the vet or .06 cc? I don't know exactly how much he weighs, I don't have a gram scale, but he looks average size for an adult chin (4 yrs old)...
 
Nevermind that last part. I would need an accurate weight on your chin to calculate the dosage. Could you maybe look in your records if they gave you any and see what weight they got on him?
 
The sulfatrim dose looks about right. The general consensus I've seen/experienced with meloxicam is a dose of 0.1-0.3mg/kg. So at 0.2 mg/kg you should be giving around 0.7 mls. If your guy is eating and acting well, then I would keep on doing what you're doing!
 
Thanks Sycamore. I only gave him the Sulfatrim this morning so far. I'm giving him the Meloxicam for the first time tonight along with another dose of Sulfatrim(wish me luck), but he has been eating and acting well this whole time so as long as the doses are right I am very hopeful that he'll be just fine.
 
The dosing for meloxicam really varies, some vets do give 1 mg/kg, but some vets see the meds working at a lower dosage, and figure giving the minimum effective dose is best. So if it's working then good, if not talk to your vet, you have wiggle room.
 
I am so shocked at the difference... dipping the syringe in the apple juice worked great! It took 30 sec to give him the dose of meloxicam (and he actually looked like he was enjoying it!) and then I waited about a half hour to give him a break since it's a lot of fluid between the two of them and then another 30 sec to give him the dose of sulfatrim and we were done =). All without any restraint I might add, he willingly took the medicine. I can't thank you guys enough for the help! That was the kind of painlessness I was hoping for.
 
Wow, I'm so glad you asked this question and that it worked for you!

I'm having the same problem with my chin right now — A dose of 2 different antibiotics twice daily, and I have to rub stuff on his feet, and under his eyes. Needless to say, it's no fun for anybody.

Definitely going to pick up some apple juice on the way home...

But then, my vet actually flavored the meds; one already is apple flavored. So I wonder if the other poster was right, who said they just don't like it because they're held down? We'll see.
 
Grey said:
Wow, I'm so glad you asked this question and that it worked for you!
Click to expand...

Report: it did not work for me. When I got close to him with it, he'd shake his head at it like it's the worst thing he's ever smelled and run away.

Juice wasn't fooling him. Back to force-feeding for us.
 
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