Brain Trust Question Donkey Related
 

No, I'm not asking if anyone is related to a donkey.

My wife has a couple of miniature donkeys and the elder has been diagnosed with Cushings disease and sometime in her earlier life had an injury to her neck, so arthritis has set in. As a consequence she is on two kinds of medication. The sticking point is: she doesn't like the taste of any of it.
My wife has tried: apples, carrots, bananas, honey, molasses, maple syrup and bread either to hide the pill or powder in or to mask the taste.
So my question: What is irresistible to a donkey? What can we put her medication in which will guarantee she gets her dosage?

Gentlemen, the honor of the Pelican Brain Trust rests in your hands.

Best
Les

My sister's brother is an azz :D

I've heard about this show in Tiajuana with a donkey and ...

Wait, nevermind, that won't help.

Interesting, I'd assume that those things would have done the trick. How big are the pills?

What about something like pancake syrup? (maple syrup)

Just like my dog. You gotta trick em.

Find her most favorite snack.

Give her multiple doses of undoctored treat then sneak in the medicated dose followed by more untreated portions.

available as a suppository?

Sorry, couldn't resist.... Thinking of Clerks II donkey show......

we sometimes wrap our dogs meds in cheese.

Google “Bolus gun.” We used them on our cows. Less than $20.

Les,

Bolus gun may work. We have also used a turkey baster, put it in behind the teeth. How easy is the donkey to work with? Has to be better than my former bil!!!

I have had good luck grinding the pills, mixing with either oatmeal/rice bran/oat bran, dry powdered molasses, and adding water or honey to bind it. Could try mixing the above in with sweet feed. The trick to get it to attach to the grains and they will eat it. But it also sounds like you cannot feed the old guy too much sweet feed either.

I do feel for you! It is hard to see an old friend suffer.

Our horses used to go nuts over molasses. The real stuff. A donkey is just a horse with less height and more brains so it could work.

+1 for the bolus gun (also look at a balling gun - slightly different but sometimes more effective at getting things down a critter's throat).

Do you have a vet that checks on the animals ? Maybe he/she has a recommendation ? I'm sure you are not the first person with this problem in your area . Check with the vet .

https://thehorse.com/152222/prepare-for-battle-medicating-horses/

First, I'd get the meds from a compounding pharmacy in a paste if not already. Mix the meds with something like molasses. You might need more than one person, one to restrain and one to dose. Insert the syringe in the rear of the mouth where there aren't any teeth and shoot it in there.

Balling guns don't really work with horses, they're metal and intimidating.

I appreciate the responses, folks.
We have indeed been trying to find a "can't resist it" food or treat. She is not enamored of anything. If she smells the Dex (a pain killer for the arthritis) on her Senior feed she will walk away and she is more attached to her senior feed than anything.
An additional problem is: we don't want to hurt her. She is "head shy" . Part of that is the pain in her neck from the arthritis and I suspect she did not always have the kind of care she has received here for the past eight years. We have used balling guns in the past (there are plastic ones too) but getting the end of one into her mouth is not an easy task.
The meds are Dex: a powdered pain killer which at the moment we can get into her if we sift it through enough Senior Horse feed. That is not the real problem.
The challenge at the moment is a tiny dose of Prascend, a hormonal medication used to deal with Cushings disease. We have a senior (32 years) Icelandic who has been on this medication for about five years. It comes in pill form, but we dissolve it in water with honey and just shoot about 15 ml of the mixture into his mouth with a small syringe.
With the Icelandic, no problem. The donkey will hurt herself trying to get away.
Previously, we have tried hollowing out a piece of carrot and hiding her dosage of pill inside. That worked until she caught a taste of it, then she wouldn't touch the carrot.
She doesn't like molasses and the maple syrup we have tried is the real stuff (I grew up in maple syrup country. no flavored corn syrup for this household!)
A lady who has dealt with mini donkeys for decades suggested the banana. The old donkey wouldn't touch it.
Again, thanks for all the comments (even the bad puns) and suggestions.
Thought I'd ask. Hope we don't get shown up by a dumb azz.
Best
Les

Good luck Les...I should learn better....sorry 'bout that. It's not funny when your animal friends hurt...

What's Tabs' favorite food? ;)

How big is the pill/dose?

Wow. That's difficult. Doesn't like molasses? Not even the german muffin treats?

Me- opens PPOT, sees thread with "Donkey" in title...
Also Me- "oh, I am sooo clicking on that tread!"

Beyond that, I got nothin'.

Don, You're scaring me a little. Keep away from my wife's azz.

Mas. The pill, in solid form is about the mass of a grape seed. The donkey's taste buds are on high alert. You might get her to eat a treat with the tiny part pill in it once, but then all bets are off.
That is why we have switched to dissolving it in water with a little honey and mixing that into her feed.
Such fun.

Best
Les

I was just wondering if the pill could be put into gel caps. It's possible to purchase empty gel-caps. I was thinking that inside a gelcap it might not be as easy for the critter to taste.

Not a bad idea.

Gel caps... The wife will check the drugstore. It just might work.

Thanks. I'll keep you posted.

Best
Les

Any chance the medications can be given via a shot ? I am not a horse/donkey person so I have no clue . But if he won't take orally you have few options left . Good luck

Les, another one to try, dried apricots. Of course get her liking them for a day or two first. And don't give her too many so there is the treats factor in getting them. Also apricots swell up, so only a handful. And good luck.

Ha! ;) I blame the Navy for my sense of humor.

An update for you guys:
The gel caps were a resounding flop. The old donkey ate one then refused any further enticement. Her trick was to dump the feed pan onto the floor of her stall then pick through what she felt wasn't suspicious. That gave my wife an idea. The wife started to clean the shavings away from an area of the floor and dump the feed (with some Previcox and the Prescend added ) on to the floor. In most cases the donkey just eats what she finds on the floor. I guess she feels she has already dumped it out of that suspicious smelling pan (which, by the way has been washed many times throughout all this foolishness) so she just eats it. Or most of it.

I appreciated the attempts of both help and humour (which helps), but I am going to have to rack this one up as a failure for the PBT. I guess I should be glad you aren't more familiar with my wife's ass. :D

Best
Les

What about rfuerst911sc’s suggestions? I wonder if there’s alternate meds or an injectable version for the Prascend (or if they can be combined in to one shot for convenience).

One of the vets is providing a sample of some type of plant which she says should provide the same effect as the Prascend. This animal had a hard life before my wife took her on. She is head shy and mistrustful (for good reason, I suspect ). Injections are an ordeal for her.
On the other hand, one of the vets has been trying acupuncture which seems to be giving the animal the ability to move more freely. She was so bad in the end of August, we were discussing ending her pain. The measures taken over the past months are buying time, but given the damage to her neck we're just trying to improve the quality of life she has left.

Best
Les

Cats can be a pain in the ass to med also.

Most like cream cheese.

They also, like most animals absolutely hate **** on their nose.

Mix the meds with something creamy the donkey likes and smear it on their nose.

They will reflexively lick it off and cant spit it out cause it's not a solid.

You are a good man Les. Does Ms Donkey have a name? MrsWD and I wish her the best.

Mix the meds in beer. Worked for the sister in laws horse. He couldn't wait for beer time after a few days.

Should add that beer does not affect them either. They have enzymes to deal with alcohol that's produced in their guts naturally.

I really can't take credit for the salvation of this poor animal. My wife is the nurturing one. I just look after the inanimate things around here.
The old donkey is named Carly. §he has become used to being handled. Both she and her offspring seen susceptible to white line infections in their hooves and my wife spends hours with hoof rasp and bleach to eradicate it when it shows up. Carly has been introduced to blankets and the wife has a couple which are used depending upon the weather. Still she carries her head low because of the neck injury and does not like anything done around her mouth.
The pain seems to be under control and when the weather is fit she wanders the pastures with Annie, her daughter. From time to time she will show the horses some attitude.
I hope someone will show me as much care when I get old (er) and in pain.
Best
Les

Coat it in peanut butter.

Carly won't touch peanut butter.
If this was easy, you folks would never have heard of it.

Best
Les