Well, that was clever
Kirby has been pretty good about taking her meds these past couple days. I mean, she doesn't really like it and runs from the towel, but once toweled she's been opening her mouth pretty well for me. That's great, since we have several more weeks to go.
Of the three items, one is an oil and is pretty thick. It gunks up the syringe, too, and there's no easy way to clean it out. Last night, the plunger actually came apart as I tried to get the oil into it. Thankfully the plastic part just snaps back into the stopper, but it happened a couple of times. This is the same stuff that pretty much shoots out of the plunger to begin with, meaning I have to be really careful to make sure the tip is in Kirby's mouth; otherwise oil gets everywhere. And of course this is the stuff I have to give her indefinitely.
Another item is the banana-bread-flavored stuff. Kirby doesn't seem to mind that much at all. It's a decent-enough thickness, too, meaning it doesn't get stuck in the syringe and it doesn't dribble out her mouth. It's the one where I'm always surprised we're done so quickly, because it's the easiest to deal with.
The bane of my existence is the final stuff, which looks like and has the consistency of soy sauce. Well, maybe it's a tad thicker. It's the stuff that clearly has the worst taste; Kirby will hold it in her mouth until I'm done, then shake like a little dog and spew it all over the bathroom. Fun. But I think its extra-liquidy consistency is part of the problem. It seems like it gets up into her nares, or nostrils, and Kirby sniffles and sneezes a lot after it. I honestly worry she's choking or drowning or something, but she's still alive so that's obviously not the case. However, last night, I gave her the meds--rather easily, too--and suddenly this stuff started coming out one of her nares! Oh, my goodness! One of the vet techs said something about birds not having the same anatomy as humans, so perhaps the nares are more open to the mouth and that's how that happened? Not sure, but it freaked me out a bit. She's fine, though. I'm thinking I'll have to hold her at a different angle, maybe, to make sure the meds go down her throat and not through her nose, as it were. I've been holding her upright, thinking I'm preventing her from choking. Clearly that was not the case.
Of the three items, one is an oil and is pretty thick. It gunks up the syringe, too, and there's no easy way to clean it out. Last night, the plunger actually came apart as I tried to get the oil into it. Thankfully the plastic part just snaps back into the stopper, but it happened a couple of times. This is the same stuff that pretty much shoots out of the plunger to begin with, meaning I have to be really careful to make sure the tip is in Kirby's mouth; otherwise oil gets everywhere. And of course this is the stuff I have to give her indefinitely.
Another item is the banana-bread-flavored stuff. Kirby doesn't seem to mind that much at all. It's a decent-enough thickness, too, meaning it doesn't get stuck in the syringe and it doesn't dribble out her mouth. It's the one where I'm always surprised we're done so quickly, because it's the easiest to deal with.
The bane of my existence is the final stuff, which looks like and has the consistency of soy sauce. Well, maybe it's a tad thicker. It's the stuff that clearly has the worst taste; Kirby will hold it in her mouth until I'm done, then shake like a little dog and spew it all over the bathroom. Fun. But I think its extra-liquidy consistency is part of the problem. It seems like it gets up into her nares, or nostrils, and Kirby sniffles and sneezes a lot after it. I honestly worry she's choking or drowning or something, but she's still alive so that's obviously not the case. However, last night, I gave her the meds--rather easily, too--and suddenly this stuff started coming out one of her nares! Oh, my goodness! One of the vet techs said something about birds not having the same anatomy as humans, so perhaps the nares are more open to the mouth and that's how that happened? Not sure, but it freaked me out a bit. She's fine, though. I'm thinking I'll have to hold her at a different angle, maybe, to make sure the meds go down her throat and not through her nose, as it were. I've been holding her upright, thinking I'm preventing her from choking. Clearly that was not the case.