medicine for my macaw

[sbrenton]

I need to give my Macaw antibiotics but am having a hell of a time with it. I have tried giving it to him directly with a syringe, soaked in bread and other treats with no luck. He loves 12 grain bread too and once he tastes the meds he drops it. Any advice or other ideas to help give him the liquid?

Also ... this might sound strange but my vet said to watch out for him getting diarrhea when changing his diet around. How do I know if he has diarrhea? bird poop has always looks like that to me. LOL. Sorry if this one is a stupid question.

 

[Birdman666]

That is one of the hardest things in the world to do...

I wish I had a good answer for you. I've had to do it with an amazon once, which wasn't pleasant, and involved a towel, a dropper, and blood draw (mine!)

What does your vet recommend? (Other than "watch your fingers!")

This makes it look easy. I can assure you, it is not:

http://www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/birdinformation/medicatingorally.php

 

[sbrenton]

The vet said to try and soak it in a treat but tweety bird knows its there and refuses it. Even if its with food he loves. He is still very new to me and we are still learning the trust / bond so i was hoping to not have to force it on him with the syringe.

 

[Birdman666]

That's the only way I've ever successfully done it.

Sorry. Haven't really had to do that with a big mac.

 

[sbrenton]

I have one more idea, put it on a cracker then peanutbutter on top. Wonder if the peanut butter will hide the tastse and he loves peanutbutter and crackers more than anything.

I am not to worried about the bite if i have to go the syringe route since i have been bitten by much larger animals when training / rehab them and survived. Tho avoiding seeing my own blood and breaking the trust I have earned from Tweety Bird would be best.

 

[Kiwibird]

While you normally shouldn't give parrots tuff heavy in refined sugars, try something that is super sweet and will mask the taste. We have gotten Kiwi to take antibiotic-soaked fruit loops before. Something along the lines of peanut butter or pecan cookies might also be in order in this case And if there truly isn't a food he will take, you're going to have to towel him and use the syringe. He has to take those meds to get better.

As for the poops, it isn't a stupid question. When a bird has diarrhea, their poops become essentially a greenish-whitish liquid and have no firmness at all. Antibiotics give them diarrhea because they affect the guts healthy bacterial balance. Feeding him a little yogurt will help get his gut back in order after the round of antibiotics.

 

[SandyBee]

Another thing if you give it first thing in the morning before any other food. Hide it in anything that your Macaw really likes that will mask the taste and smell. My amazon took toast and red palm oil.peanut butter should work if your macaw likes it.

 

[goalerjones]

Injections are the simplest way. Towel the bird, give the shot, praise the bird. Rinse, lather repeat.

 

[MacawLoverOf3]

Talk to you vet about getting the meds compounded into different flavors. When I have had to give meds to Jody I learned to get 2 different ones in case she won't do one of them. I also would get more than enough for wastage as there are times when she would not eat her serving.

Try putting it into a small amount of scrambled eggs.

 

[mollybird]

Molly has been on antibiotics pretty much the whole time we have had her. She hates medicine. The vet originally told us to mix it in orange juice - "Every macaw loves orange juice." - Every macaw except Molly.

She's already a very picky eater and if we mixed it with something she seemed to like, she wouldn't touch that food again.

At one point, the vet prescribed an antibiotic that could be mixed into her water. that one worked, but he says he can't get it any more (and it was really expensive at $100 for two weeks worth).

Another complicating factor is that Molly doesn't like to be touched (she's an older - 35-40 year old wild caught Greenwing with an unknown history that obviously includes abuse).

I did towel her once and put it in with a syringe, but she caught and crushed one of my fingers as I was letting her go. Then she regurgitated the medicine.

The method that seems to be working best is to play "baby bird". My wife (the only one that can get close enough) trys to drop it into he mouth with a syringe, just a little at a time. Then we follow up with food that she will eat. If we give too much at once (three or four drops) she will regurgitate it.

The surest way it to let the vet inject it, or put it in an IV. But that gets expensive too.

The best advice i can offer is to keep trying various methods. Every bird is different. Best of luck!

 

[sbrenton]

They can have OJ? Hmmmmm i might try that if my cracker and peanutbtter trick fails.

Tweety Bird is very picky on his food too. i keep trying to expand his diet and its a fight every step of the way. I really wish the previous owners took better care of him.

 

[95talongirl]

When Kimi was prescribed antibiotics last week, I was scared, as he is not as tame as my Amazon, and leery of everything. The vet gave me some ideas, like trick-training using the syringe. Basically, put something tasty on the syringe and let them eat it. Then they learn to associate the syringe with something tasty. Once that's established, then put the meds in it. Little did I know that Kimi was ok with the syringe. It may have helped that the antibiotic is fruit flavored, too. lol! He doesn't seem to mind it.