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I've decided to write an article on these two areas because firstly they seem to go hand in hand, often you have to restrain your rat to give it medical treatment and secondly we all know how stubborn some rats can be when it comes to taking their medicine.

On this page I plan to go through the methods I use to give my rats medicine and the method I use to restrain them if need be.

let me know if this helps - Em.

Administering medicine...

The following methods are how I manage to get my rats to take their medicine, some are fairly straight forward and others are more devious! With methods that use food I'd like to add now that if its a long course of medicine its important to bear in mind your rattie's waist line, so be careful feeding them too many sweet treats!

Baby food - One of the simplest ways is to mix the medicine in a a small portion of nice tasting baby food, I found that Harvey particularly liked chocolate pudding! Using this method you will of course have to be careful to separate the rat you want to give the medicine to otherwise everyone will be trying to share!

Injecting food items - Often medicine comes in a syringe (normally without a needle) or you can probably ask your vet for a spare, then you can either inject it straight into the centre of a porous treat such as bread or a biscuit or apply it to the broken edge of the food item and allow it to be absorbed into the food. This method often only works with really greedy rats or medicine that doesn't taste too bad. I've found that you have to balance the size of the treat with the amount off medicine too big and the rat wont eat it all and too small it can't soak up all the medicine and gets soggy. For particularly stubborn individuals why not try covering the taste even more by covering the treat in butter and then sugar or honey. I have also found that if you leave them alone with it long enough they will sometimes eat it, so why not try separating them and leaving them with the treat for a while.

The sneaky squirt in the mouth method! - This method is very effective if you are quick enough but few rats fall for it after a couple of tries, so I'd only recommend this method if you don't have a lot of time (i.e. in the morning before college!) or your at your wits end at how to get your rat to take its full does of medicine ! (I know that feeling). My rats have a tendency to bite foreign objects that enter the cage (not hands), so I use this to my advantage. I load up a syringe, wipe the excess medicine off the outside, this is very important as it removes the taste (and may allow you a second go if you miss the first bite). Then stick it through the bars next to the rat that needs treating and give it a wiggle to attract their attention. When they bite the syringe I squirt its contents into their mouths! The result a rather shocked looking rat and an empty syringe. (Although this method is unlikely to work with really poorly rats and may even stress them more).

Kovu having his medicine and his mum Latea showing what she thinks of the taste! not her most attractive face! lol

In their water - This is probably the least effective method of giving medicine unless you have a rat living on its own and even then it is unlikely to take the full dose. The main trouble with giving rats medicine in water is that you can never be sure they'll drink all their water and you cant be sure that they are drinking equal amounts. I only use this method if I need to treat a whole cage and I know the individuals are particularly bad at taking medicine or I'm away and they need treatment as its easier for their carer this way. My advice here is try not to use this method and a tip if you have to use it is you can cover the taste with a tiny bit splash of squash.

Restraining rats...

The method I use to restrain rats is the one that I have been taught at college, I call it "clawing" but It is also called Palming. Its not as evil as it sounds but you do have to be firm and a pampered rat can be very disgruntled when clawed but as long as your careful and firm you can not hurt them. I use this method because I mainly have to administer medicine to my rats by myself and I find that this is sometimes (not always) the easiest way.

When clawing you are basically using you hand as a harness around the rats torso to hold it firmly and prevent it from struggling. I use clawing on table tops to slow down a rat or to catch it quickly and for full restraint for administering medicine via a syringe directly into the mouth, in this way you hold the rat out away from your body and do not support the back end as this prevents them from kicking off your hand and scratching etc This is similar to scuffing in cats.

The position of the hand and where the rats body lies in comparison to it.

The above photos show how to claw a rat (Kiara my unwilling assistant), please note that I generally used my right hand as I'm right handed (first photo) but to take the photo I had to use my left hand to claw Kiara and operate the camera with the right!, but at least it shows how to use both hands. The last photo shows the restraint from behind, here she has started to struggle and she was returned to her cage and given a treat after this one!

As the photos show your thumb digit number 1 (on your right hand) goes under the rats left front leg, digit 2 and 3 go around the rats neck , but do not meet at the front and 4 and 5 together go under the right front leg. Depending on size of the animal digit 1 may meet with 2 and 4/5 may meet with 3.

I would like to add now that apart from practising this manoeuvre I would never restrain a rat (who is not used to it ) unless it was completely necessary as I don't feel it is fair and causes unneeded stress. However if you plan to use this method of restraint for administering medicine it may be wise to get your kittens used to it as soon as they are big enough and so its less stressful in the future, much like you would practise a vet examination on a puppy. I'd also like to add that if you are not comfortable performing this restraint on your rat then it is probably safest to not do it and always hold your rat over a surface in case you drop them.

Other restraints ...

Finally I'd just like to talk over a couple of other methods used to restrain. When I am lucky enough to have help in restraining my rats, I find it is best if one person holds the rat against their body, with one hand over their front feet with just their head poking out over the hand and their other hand controlling the back end. In this way the rat is in a similar (stretched out) position to being "clawed" (see above) but is more supported.

Other methods of restraint that I don't personally use, include the following. Some people handle/restrain rats by the base of their tails, I personally feel this is unnecessary severity and would only use it in an absolute emergency where I had no other alternative i.e. the rats not tame and about to escape. If you do use this method make sure that it is the very base of the tail that you pick your rat up with and try not to use this method with heavy individuals i.e. large bucks. Rats should not under any condition be lifted by their tail for long periods of time.

A method that I have had little experience with, that looks promising is either wrapping a towel around the rat or making some kind of fabric restraining bag with a draw string opening to tighten around the neck, of course in both these cases you have to have the equipment ready when you need it and you would have to be careful not to pull too tight around the neck of the rat.

Last updated 26th August 2008

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Disclaimer = I do not claim to be an authority on rodents or rats and any information on this page is just opinions and advice and is by no means a substitute for good books or veterinary advice. All the toys on the toys page are just ideas and may not have been tried out so it is up to you to implement them and judge there safety.