# giving my cockatiel medication



## Sean12 (Sep 28, 2011)

I saw my cockatiels droppings were over water so i brought him to get checked by the vet. He took a sample of my birds droppings and turns out he had some abnormal bacteria in them. So he prescribe syringe antibiotics that i give my bird .1 ml 2 twice a day. So today i tried to give him the antibiotics but i do not know if he got the dosage down. i was holding him very with a towel but he kept shaking his head when it went into his mouth. He got some on his face so i tried a bit more again and i do not think he got much medication. Any suggestions?


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It's difficult to medicate an unwilling bird and fortunately I've never had to do it so I don't have any experience to share with you. But I do know how to google and was able to find some pretty nice tips at http://www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/birdinformation/medicatingorally.php Scroll down to the "how to administer" section.


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## Sean12 (Sep 28, 2011)

thanks for the link but i tried everything. no matter what i do he shakes it out of his mouth. Than gets it all over his face. He lets it go into his mouth than shakes it out. I may have to contact the vet and get a different form of medication


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## MissCV (Sep 18, 2010)

From someone that is struggling with the same thing, the only advise i can give you is to persevere with it. It is the most effective way to treat a health issue. And my vet told me that they usually prescribe an amount which caters to the fact that the bird will not take the full dose, so maybe you can ask this of your vet? I dont know how many times in the last 2 weeks i have been at work and seen birdie medicine drops on my clothes/skin/hair from where he throws it everywhere!! 

There are some very experienced members of the forum, hopefully they can provide you with more practical advice than i can give.

Please just be careful not to hold him too tight. Their little lungs are not as protected as ours so you dont want to cause any more damage. But give your vet a call and discuss your options, or at least let them know your struggling with it. Hopefully you have a follow up appointment soon so the vet can determine if its working out or not.

Good luck and i hope your cockatiel recovers quickly!!


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## Sean12 (Sep 28, 2011)

I make sure not to hold him to tightly. thanks for your comment


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

Good for you for going to the vet!


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

I highly recommend this video's demonstration of how to give meds. This is how I learned to do it, and it works great. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EBUWWqqEyE


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Well Kirk did the same thing. What i ended up doing was using the hand-feeding grip and then i held his head with my thumb and forefinger until he swallowed it all. By this point though, he had wasted so much we were due to get a little bit more of the dosage.

How big of a dose is your bird taking? Kirk only needed .08 mL at each sitting so it was less than a mouthful.


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## Sean12 (Sep 28, 2011)

the dose is .1 ml twice a day for 10 days. I can get him to take the medicine into his mouth but than he shakes it out.


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## Sean12 (Sep 28, 2011)

I did manage to get him to take half the dose this morning. I just held his head still longer and made sure he got it all down. Unfortunately he still managed to shake half of it out. But i do believe he got about half dose.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Hold his head steady until you see he's swallowed it all.


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