08/14/2026
People are often surprised to learn that we sometimes have to give meds to the monkeys. A lot of the time they will get human drugs such as amoxicillin,clavamox, gabapentin, etc. the draw back, though, a normal dose is for a grown human, not a little 8 pound monkey!
Which means that pills need to be cut into pieces and then ground into a powder. Liquids are usually easier to give but sometimes there's a lot of it, and it's usually quite bitter. It can be challenging to find something that the monks will consume and not lose interest in.
And so the med game begins; what type of food will we use to disguise the taste? And no, a spoonful of sugar is not it.
For most meds, our go to is a PBJ. It works well for the amoxi/clavamox or gabapetin. The med is stirred into the jelly and then spread on top the peanut butter and bread. When they open it the first thing the monkey does is to lick all the jelly off, then start eating the peanut butter. When they get down to the bread, the monks will hold it under their water lixit and get it nice and soaked before eating it. This is why meds are not put directly on the bread--well that and the bread does not cover the taste.
Their favorite fruit is a grape; we've successfully hidden small pieces of pills in a few grapes, but otherwise they're not very practical.
However there is one med that has been a challenge in the past and that's Baytril, it must be the world's most bitter substance. IYKYK!!
Thankfully, it's usually given for a short period of time. We've tried many combinations, one of which was ice cream and a dash of maple syrup. It covered up both smell and taste!! However, the all time winner was this combination of vanilla pudding, ensure, and powdered cheese(the kind you get from boxed mac and cheese). Worked like a charm for many days, the monks usually get over the (nauseating) combination about the same time the med is finished being given. Woo hoo!
Below are examples of the jelly cleaned off first, the picture with all the sandwiches on the tray, not all those are meds, they're mostly blanks. Molly needed some meds recently so her sandwich was loaded up then 3 more are made for the rest of her group, which they get apple sauce with their peanut butter
Distribution is fairly easy usually they're given out in pecking order.
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