Giving pet rats their medication can be a vexing endeavor. The last thing you want to do is to cause stress, which is exactly what happens when you squirt liquid medicine directly into your rat’s mouth. The secret is to mix medications with yummy ingredients. Your rat will never know that gourmet tidbit wasn’t a fancy hors d’oeuvre.
Here are some recipes to try next time your pet rat needs medicine:
Avocado Chicken Fusion Delight
This one’s a favorite in our household…..
Use a small plate such as a soy sauce dish. They’re the perfect size for serving both meals and pet rat medications.
- Place a small amount of organic baby food in a little dish. (I like to use organic chicken baby food or a any baby food mix that contains chicken.) The amount of baby food should be just slightly larger than the amount of liquid medicine.
- Squirt the medicine from a syringe on top of the baby food.
- Add a small amount of avocado. (I use about a 1/8″ cube.)
- Thoroughly mix all ingredients together.
- If desired, top with about 5 grains of cooked rice.
Peanut Butter Cookie
Tear off a small piece from a slice of bread. The size should be just slightly larger than the liquid medicine will soak into. Spread a very thin layer of peanut butter on top. Squish it all together and flatten it into the shape of a thin cookie and “Voilà!”, you have a rat-sized peanut butter cookie.
VERY IMPORTANT WARNINGS ABOUT PEANUT BUTTER & BREAD: Rats can easily choke on peanut butter if you use too much. This is why you need to smear on a very thin layer, just enough to mask the bad taste of the medicine. If you were to give your rat a “glob” of peanut butter, it would be extremely dangerous. The bread, likewise, needs to be flattened out so the “cookie” is fairly thin. If you were to give your rat a little ball of mashed up bread, this could also be a choking hazard. When it’s mashed into a flat cookie shape, however, your rat can’t easily swallow too much of it at once. Any food that’s clumped together in a blob-type shape can cause choking. So, flatten out those cookies!
Other combinations to try mixing with pet rat medications:
- Mashed banana mixed with a little peanut butter
- Canned soup, mashed with a spoon (if not already pureed) mixed with an 1/8 teaspoon avocado and topped with about 5 grains of rice
Some people have great success mixing their rats’ medications with jelly or with whipped cream. My preference, however, is to find healthy ingredients to blend in with the medicine, masking any bitter taste.
Pet Rat Medication Mixing Tips
Whatever ingredients you choose, always use the smallest amount possible. Nothing’s worse when they only eat half. Making the portion as small as possible solves this problem.
If your rat is on several different medications, sometimes its easier to use a separate dish for each medication. That way, if your rat doesn’t finish one of them, you’ll know which medication it was. Then you can try mixing just that one with something different.
There are so many different things to try mixing with pet rat medications. If the first combination you try doesn’t work, try something different until you discover what your rat finds delectable. The possible options are limitless and so worth exploring so your rat can consume medication and not even know it.
Mixing their medicine with Ferretvite works very well too as long as you mix a little bit of medicine with a lot of the paste. Pretty reasonable on Amazon. But it’s how I’ve treated my baby girls upper respiratory infections since she’s hairless, she gets them quite a bit. Sorta way easier then unrealistically painful recipes that requires a special Walmart trip in the middle of the night.
Hi Mia,
Thanks for sharing your success with Ferretvite. It’s always helpful to hear what others are using to mix in with medications.
I’m wondering, though, if the Ferretvite is similar to a gel or toothpaste? If so, it’s important to spread it out as a very thin layer to prevent a rat from choking on it. Thick, “globby” substances such as peanut butter can cause pet rats to choke on them. You may already be aware of this but I thought I’d mention it, just in case.
Also, in general, it’s best to mix the medication with a small amount of something else. If you use instead use a generous amount of whatever you’re mixing in with the medication, there’s more likelihood they won’t eat all of it. From my experience, it works best to mix in the smallest amount possible of whatever you’re adding to the medication. In other words, use just enough of what you’re adding to the medicine to make it taste better.
I totally agree it’s a good idea to have ingredients on hand in case you need to start giving your rat medications. I like to keep organic chicken baby food and small containers of apple sauce in my kitchen. Canned soup, nut-milk yogurt and peanut butter (again, spread peanut butter very thinly so they won’t choke) also work well.
Thanks again for sharing.
Best Wishes to You & Your Rats,
Jasmine | About Pet Rats
I am struggling right now all of a sudden with one of my girls with chronic respiratory issues :( doc said antibiotics for 30 days and she’s nearing the end of the 30, but her medicine maker changed and the flavor is different and she will not take it in the several yogurts I’ve tried (even resorting to dairy yogurt). I even tried adding maple syrup but I don’t want to give her so much sugar :( I myself can smell and taste the medicine and it’s quite icky. Thank you for sharing these recipes! I will try again in the morning before work (she’s only gotten one of her two antibiotics for almost two days now due to pickiness)
Hi There!
I hope you were able to get your rat to eat her antibiotics. It’s so hard when they don’t want to eat it even though you’re mixing it with things you think would make it taste good. I have one rat right now who will only take his meds with Amy’s lentil soup! Another one of my rats preferred mashed sweet potato. They definitely do have individual tastes.
Sometimes I find that if a medication is particularly bitter it helps to “cut” the bitterness by adding some sort of pungent food such as tuna or a tiny amount of peanut butter. I’ve even mixed vegan mayonnaise with the tuna to make it “creamier” and easier to mix with the medication.
You may already know—but just thought I’d confirm that you do know—that dairy is not good to use with certain antibiotics such as doxycycline. (Check with your vet to be sure.)
Your vet sounds good since they prescribed the antibiotics for 30 days. Some vets only prescribe for a short period such as 10-14 days and that’s usually not long enough.
Again, hope you were able to find the right recipe for your rat so she’d take her medications. Let me know anytime you have questions—I’m always happy to help.
Best Wishes to You & Your Rats,
Jasmine | About Pet Rats
When my girls get URI or any type of infections/sickness(which used to be often) I use a good quality 20 ppm colloidal silver instead of running to the vet every couple months & the colloidal silver isn’t as expensive as an emergency trip to the vet. It has amazing antibiotic, antiviral, antimicrobial & antifungal effects that seem to clear up many health issues, especially URI’s plus it is easy to mask the mild taste however after a couple 7 day courses, my rats take it straight from the syringe(without the needle of course). Another benefit is that you don’t have to meditate your rats with unnecessary antibiotics which will eventually become more resistant in time not to mention the damaging effects that antibiotics cause by wiping out beneficial bacteria in order to overcome the harmful bacteria that is making your rat sick. Colloidal silver is cost effective & super convenient to buy at most health food stores. Before I gave my rats colloidal silver I studied what brand of CS was the best quality & I think Sovereign Silver has the best of the 4 P’s ratings, which I highly recommend everyone study about the 4 P’s for your own understanding when it comes to choosing a high quality brand of CS. I would start out with 10 drops (not droppers) of 20ppm per small-medium sized bowl of warm water(empty the dropper in the CS bottle & gently swirl the bottle then refill the dropper before dispensing the CS in the bowl of water) you must make sure your rat drinks from the bowl(or however you decide to administer the water mixed with CS). You can also put a drop or 2 on/in a wet treat like baby food or a piece of fruit & if you don’t notice an improvement within the hour after your rat ingests the colloidal silver then you should give another CS laced treat & repeat every 45 minutes or so until your rats condition has improved. There’s no need to rush to the vet every time they get sick as some rats are inherently prone to URIs. I hope your buddies get well soon but JIC, go get some colloidal silver & keep it on hand to give them at the first signs of trouble.
Hi Prezli,
I appreciate your sharing your experience with Colloidal Silver.
I started to talk with one of my rat vets about the use of Colloidal Silver and somehow our conversation veered onto another topic without returning to CS. I have heard from others who have also been happy with the results.
Personally, I believe visits to the vet are extremely important. I highly value the knowledge and expertise of the veterinarians I’ve chosen for my rats. They’re members of our team and I wouldn’t give my rats anything without consulting them first.
I’m curious to know if you’ve spoken with a veterinarian who’s knowledgeable about and experienced with pet rats about using Colloidal Silver?
In my opinion, I would caution against using this product unless your vet recommends/supports using it.
Thanks for sharing. It’s always great to discuss various options with one another.
Best Wishes to You & Your Rats,
Jasmine | About Pet Rats
Great tips on meds! My rats are crazy about malt paste made for ferrets — they prefer 8 in 1 brand FerretVite to the Marshall’s brand. It is very high in calories, though… thankfully, just a little of it goes a long way. I’ve had success mixing it with warm water to make a “malted milk” and practice giving the rats some of this mixture through a dropper, so that they are excited to see the dropper come out, knowing they get their yummy drink. Then, when they need medicine, I mix the malt paste and water, add the medicine and use the dropper. They take it happily and feel like they are getting something special, and they drink their medicine easily. When they have meds multiple times a day I switch it up with baby food or other delivery systems to keep the dropper as a “treat,” and tend to use it for the more important medicines. Hope this helps! Thanks for all your great suggestions…
Thank you for sharing your malt paste recipe tips! I love that you practice giving the rats some of the mixture without the medicine being added. What a great way to get them used to associating excitement and a “yummy drink” when they see the dropper.
That reminds me that I heard from someone who puts a cheerio at the end of the syringe or dropper. When the rat opens their mouth to get the cheerio, they get the meds squirted in. Your way is even better, though, since they’re willingly drinking the medicine.
Thanks again for sharing your excellent ideas.
Best Wishes to You & Your Rats,
Jasmine
Great recipes! I’m taking Alice to the vet tomorrow for URI so I’ll definitely keep this in mind. My rats are very cleaver though *sigh!* they usually detect the medicine in their food and won’t eat it after one meal so everything that I’ve tried hasn’t worked more then once.
I hope Alice’s visit to the vet goes well. That’s great that you’re taking her.
Wishing you much success with finding a “recipe” that works if Alice does get prescribed medication. Sounds like you may need to rotate your recipes. If you keep experimenting, though, you might find the right ingredient that she finds irresistible. One of my rats became very partial to having his meds mixed in mashed sweet potato. There are so many things to try!
Sending Best Wishes to You & Alice,
Jasmine
I love these recipes and the names that you’ve give them (cute!). I mentioned the compounded medications our clinic got recently. Well, we always had them flavored in fruity flavors for all the small animals. Most of the small pets took the meds with no problem like this, but some were still resistant to them.
Nice to hear from you, Ann! I sometimes use these recipes with medications (such as you mentioned) that are compounded with different flavors. There are also medications that I mix into these recipes that are not flavored at a compounders, however. Examples are Buprenex and injectable Baytril. It feels so good to find healthy ingredients to mix in with the medicine instead of using processed, sugary foods such as whipped cream or jelly.
My sweet boy PeiPei had to do antibiotics for 6wks. The Dr told me not to use the baby food for both doses because it might be too much protein in a day so I alternate it with the banana blueberry pouched baby food or the zucchini & peas pouch. Depending on what your lil one likes, the baby section at the store has many healthy options. It’s fast & easy. Plus with pneumonia, I don’t want anything too thick so it works nicely. His Dr seems ok with it. Good luck! D
Hi Deanna,
Thanks for sharing your veterinarian’s recommendations. It sounds like you’re doing a great job of giving PeiPei his medications. It also sounds like you’ve found a very good veterinarian for your rat.
Sending positive wishes for you & PeiPei!
Jasmine | About Pet Rats