Medicines – how to administer them

Effective administration of medicine is a key part of most veterinary treatments. In many cases veterinary nurses are responsible for administration of medicines to hospitalised patients. It’s also important to ensure you’re able to continue medicine administration once your guinea pig has been discharged from hospital.  A vet or nurse will be able to show you how to administer any medications your guinea pig might need.

To be most effective treatments must be given regularly and for a sufficient length of time. If medicines are not given correctly active ingredients may be lost, or poorly absorbed, which reduces the dose that the patient receives. Always dispose of unused medications and consult your veterinary surgeon before giving your pet any new treatments.

There are two elements to medicine administration:

• Ensuring effective administration of treatment.
• Ensuring safety of both the patient and the personnel involved in the procedure.

In almost all cases it’s far easier to administer treatment effectively if there are 2 people to help one to restrain the guinea pig and the other to give the treatment. However, it’s possible for experienced owners to give medication by most routes to a reasonably co-operative patient.

Many medicines are designed to be given by mouth largely because this is a convenient route for owners to administer at home. Oral medicines can be given as tablets, capsules, liquids and pastes. Most medicines given by mouth enter the stomach but pass through into the intestine before they are absorbed into the blood. The presence of food in the stomach helps absorption of some drugs but prevents others from entering the body. The timing of administration of oral medication in relation to feeding can be critical.

Oral administration of medication obviously involves dealing with the animal’s mouth. This may be a real problem in aggressive patients and alternative routes of medicine administration should be used if there is a significant safety risk.

Tablets and capsules

Tablets are made from compacted, powdered drug (usually mixed with something like chalk to make the tablet the right size, and often with a flavor to make it more palatable). Capsules contain powdered drug inside a gelatine case; once inside the gastrointestinal tract the gelatine dissolves to release the drug. Some tablets have special coatings to protect the drug from the action of stomach acids; the coating is dissolved in the stomach and the drug released once the tablet is in the intestine.

Tablets are not given to guinea pigs unless crushed and mixed into a syrup – most treatments are now available in liquid form.

Liquid formulation

Liquid medications are usually administered directly into the mouth using a syringe. It’s very easy for a guinea pig to refuse to swallow liquid medications and to dribble it from their mouth, so the liquid should be given slowly and in small amounts.

Guinea pigs have a diastema which is a gap between their incisor and molar teeth; this gap is the ideal place to insert the syringe and ensure the medication enters the mouth.

When giving liquids by mouth, great care must be taken, to ensure that the patient swallows the medication and does not breathe it in.

Topical application of medicine can be used to treat specific areas or as a simple way of applying medication which will then be absorbed through the skin to affect the whole animal. A lot of drugs are readily absorbed through the skin and if given frequently, or for prolonged periods, can build up in the body causing side effects, eg corticosteroids put onto the skin can cause signs of Cushing’s disease.

Topical treatment for local effect

Ocular treatment

Eye conditions are not uncommon in domestic pets and are often most effectively treated by application of topical therapy. Eye treatments come as drops or creams/ointments. Drops can be easy to apply to the eye but are washed out quickly and may need to be given many times daily. Ointments and creams persist in the eye for longer and some only need to be given once a day.

Aural (ear) treatment

The inside surface of the ear canal is just modified skin. However, this skin is very sensitive, so only treatments specially made for use in this area should be put into the ear canal. Drops or creams can be used effectively.

Before giving medicines into the ear it’s important to check that the tympanic membrane (ear drum) is intact as many drugs can damage the middle ear if they’re able to cross this barrier. This should be confirmed through consultation with your veterinarian.

Skin treatment

To be effective, a topical treatment must come into contact with the skin. If necessary, hair should be removed from the area to which the treatment is applied. The skin surface should be cleaned to remove grease, previously applied medication and any build-up of crusting or secretions.

Medication for topical application can be mixed with oily or water-based carriers to produce gels, ointments or creams. Creams or ointments are massaged gently over the skin surface until they are absorbed into the skin.

Alternatively, application may be washes or shampoos. Remember, when treating skin lesions that the area being treated may be sore to touch, so be gentle and ensure the guinea pig is adequately restrained. Your hands should be washed thoroughly, and gloves should be worn to avoid introducing infection to open skin and wounds. In many cases, a combination of topical and systemic treatment is used, eg shampoos and antibiotic tablets.

Topical treatment for systemic effect

The advantage of administering medicines by this route is that they do not have to pass through the gastrointestinal tract. That means this method is effective for drugs that would be destroyed in the gut.

Flea treatment

Some of the topically applied flea treatments are absorbed through the skin and then enter the blood stream. Spot-on treatments are dropped onto an area of the coat that the guinea pig can’t reach when it grooms. The hair is parted to reveal the skin on the back of the neck and the flea treatment dropped onto the skin. It’s best to do this just before the guinea pig is due to be left alone for a few hours as any petting of the fur will remove some of the medication onto the handler’s hands, and therefore potentially medicating the handler as well. The active ingredient is absorbed through the skin and enters the blood, fleas ingest the drug when they next bite and are killed off.

Pain relief

Sticky patches containing some forms of analgesics (pain killers) are now available. These can be applied to hairless areas of skin in the recovery from anesthesia and slowly release small doses of the drug over several hours. This gives the patient a pain free recovery from surgery, without the need to keep re-administering medication. Remember that drugs can be absorbed even more easily through human skin, so gloves should always be worn when handling topical treatments.

Most treatments given by mouth (orally) are usually available in liquid form as they are easier to administer than tablets.

The person administering the medicine should select the correct dose and have this prepared before attempting to restrain the guinea pig.

The handler should restrain the guinea pig so it feels secure. It’s often easier to restrain guinea pigs at a working height, so placing a towel or blanket on a table will help. If a guinea pig struggles a lot or tries to scratch, it may be safer to wrap it in a towel.

The patient’s head should be held in the other hand to ensure no movement. Guinea pigs have a natural gap in their teeth called a diastema which enables easy access into the mouth rather than pulling the jaw open. The guinea pig’s lip at the side of the mouth should be slightly lifted and the syringe should be gently put into the side of the mouth between the incisor and molar teeth. A small amount of medication should only be given at a time and the guinea pig should be allowed to swallow several times (by removing the syringe). If a larger volume needs to be given, this procedure stops the potential of the guinea pig aspirating (breathing in) the medication, leading to pneumonia.

The patient should be watched closely immediately after medicine administration to ensure they are well and are not showing any signs of aspiration.

The handler should restrain the guinea pig on a non-slip surface so that it feels secure. It’s often easier to restrain guinea pigs at a working height, so placing a towel or blanket on a table will help. If a guinea pig struggles a lot, or tries to scratch, it may be safer to wrap it in a towel.

The handler should cup the guinea pig’s chin in one hand and gently tilt their nose upwards to allow better access to the eye. The lower eyelid can also be gently pulled downwards with one finger.

Alternatively, the head can be secured by placing your hand over one side of the head with the fingers wrapped under the chin and the thumb over the head to slightly pull the eyelid upwards.

The person administering the medication should hold the bottle or dropper above the eye and gently squeeze so that the correct amount of medication flows over the eye. Be careful not to touch the surface of the eye as injury can occur, along with contamination of the rest of the medication. With creams or ointments, a small thin line should be trailed along the eye again without the tube touching the eye, then it may need to be gently touched onto the lower eyelid to detach it from the tube. Resting the side of the hand against the guinea pig’s head whilst holding the applicator between thumb and forefinger helps to steady the applicator away from the eye.

Keep the guinea pig restrained for a few seconds to allow the treatment to spread over the surface of the eye, blinking will also help with this process.

If the guinea pig has an infection in one eye but both are to be treated, then two tubes of medication could be used, or the good eye should be medicated first then the bad and then thoroughly cleaned before the next usage.

The handler should restrain the guinea pig on a non-slip surface so that it feels secure. It’s often easier to restrain guinea pigs at a working height, so placing a towel or blanket on a table will help. If a guinea pig struggles a lot or tries to scratch, it may be safer to wrap it in a towel.

The handler should restrain the patient from the side cuddling it to them with the head held gently but firmly with the ear canal exposed to the person applying the medication.

The ear canal must be cleaned to remove any discharges or previously applied medication before putting in the next dose of treatment. This must be done with care, so the ear isn’t damaged.

The nozzle of the treatment applicator is passed into the ear canal and the correct number of drops or amount of cream is administered into the ear canal. Don’t place the nozzle deep into the ear. When the nozzle is removed gently massage the ear canal, so the medication is dispersed even further into the ear.

Take care as you release the patient as they are likely to indulge in vigorous head shaking.