Brain Trust Question Donkey Related

[oldE]

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

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by oldE

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

My sister's brother is an azz

[masraum]

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?

[sc_rufctr]

What about something like pancake syrup? (maple syrup)

[Sooner or later]

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.

[dad911]

available as a suppository?

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

we sometimes wrap our dogs meds in cheese.

[wdfifteen]

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

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

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.

[Bill Douglas]

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.

[fanaudical]

+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).

[rfuerst911sc]

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 .

[greglepore]

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.

[oldE]

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

[KFC911]

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

[masraum]

What's Tabs' favorite food?

[masraum]

How big is the pill/dose?

[greglepore]

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

[DonDavis]

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

Beyond that, I got nothin'.

[oldE]

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

[masraum]

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.