Pill Taking Suggestions?

[Guest Ola]

Just a thought, and you may already be doing this, but how about giving him the treats when it's not pill time also? You may be stressed when you have to pill him and some dogs pick up on that really well. Maybe a few times a day just call his name and give him the treat, then leave him alone.

 

Also, you mentioned you have another dog - jealousy can work wonders! Give the other boy a treat first, and he may be more eager to get one himself.

 

Some other treat-hiding devices I've heard of are little meatballs or chicken hearts (I think you can do either cooked or raw).

[sobesmom]

If you have other dogs, I find that sticking a pill in a yummy thing, and giving the OTHER dog non-loaded yummies, then the foster the loaded one works well. "Well they ate it so it must be ok!"

 

As for the chucking down the throat method, remember to tip the head up afterward, holding the mouth closed- way up. Then rub the throat or do a quick blow up the nose. Usually make the reflex-swallow.

 

So far this week for pill-hiders, I've used hamburger, hotdog, american cheese, chicken, bread (that didn't work). Whatever looks yummy in the fridge. I've also started not making an "event" out of pills. I stuff them in something and throw it in the bowl along with the kibble at feeding time.

 

Good luck!

 

ETA - sorry, I just realized that I already said some of that earlier!

Edited April 5, 2008 by sobesmom

[Guest md7nd]

I didnt see anybody mention this, but Nina is now getting over what we and the Vet believe is a UTI, when he gave us her meds, he recommened either cheese or "Pill Pockets" by "The Greenies Company". They are for cats or dogs and Nina loves them...a lot. they arent the healthiest things but as long as she takes her meds till this clears up, we're happy.

 

Pill Pockets

 

Hope you get better!

Edited April 5, 2008 by md7nd

[Guest sweetpea]

Is there any way you can grind up the pill and then mix it with PB or cream cheese?

 

Sweetpea quit on the cream cheese, but so far she seems to love peanut butter.

 

Here's a thought as well, Sweetpea goes batty for Fish oil capsules, I always figured if

push came to shove, I could cut a little hole in one of the capsules and squeeze a pill in there.

Sure it's a little messy, but that would make it even more irresistable to my girl.

 

Good luck,

Buzzy

and the lovely and peanut-butter-is-manna-from-heaven Sweetpea

[Guest celticfairiemom]

Tigerlilly has figured out her treats have pills in them <sigh> between the prednisone, the antihistamine, the antibiotic, the pepcid, the fish oil, the vitamin E she needs a lot of meds. I put them in a little bit of high end canned dog food. I have started giving Callie bits of it first which makes TL wants it more. We have 20 more days of meds to go and I just hope we all get through it.

[Guest lanielovesgreys]

Well, I can safely say canned chicken in water works like a charm. He comes running when he hears me open the can and I almost lose fingers in the process. If you're struggling with pills and haven't tried this, TRY IT. He even found the pill and dropped it accidentally (which was enough every other time to ever take that food again). I just mixed it into another bite and he STILL couldn't get enough.

 

 

[Devotion]

I have had great success with fig newtons. The gooey fig part holds the pill so well and disguises the taste if that is an issue, like it can be with tramadol. I have used cream cheese, raw meat, hot dogs etc but NOTHING works as good for me as a fig newtons. Before Scooter left for the bridge he was on so much tramadol and previcox (osteo) that he was up to about 10 fig newtons a day. I didn't care though. He got what he would eat, fig newtons, beer and even skittles. Try the fig newtons. Best of luck to you.

[Guest janlove]

I used tuna fish with my grey. First I would put the entire pill into the tuna- when he got keen to that, I began to crush it.

[Guest Snazzy_Chloe]

Open mouth and insert as far back of throat as you can reach. It is bewhind the tongue so they can do nothing byt swallow. It is quick and painless. The treat worked Ok for me until they bit into the pill instead of just swallowing it. I see greenies have a new treat with a hole in it for pills last week but I have not tried it. The dog does not like taking pills from me but she knows there is no choice, in and ouit and we are done/..//

[Fiona3]

There are some wonderful ideas in this thread. We've had great success with mashed potatoes for Hobbes but suddenly he has lost his appetite for it - he seems to realize the new pills he has been prescribed are in the food. I'll try some of these suggestions.

 

Lanielovesgreys - best wishes for your new boy - your idea of the canned chicken is great and seems to be working for him. Roaching is a wonderful sign that he feels safe and is home.

[silverfish]

Well, after several more attempts with pill free/pill stuffed hot dogs we finally had success with the first scoop of PB. Second scoop, not so much. We got one pain pill in him. We need another pain pill and the antibiotic. Then again in the morning. *sigh*

 

Just a hint - I know you want him to have his pain meds, but in fact it's more important that he should get the antibiotics on schedule. I'd give him the antibiotic first, on the basis that if you fail to get them all into him, at least he'll have had that.

 

 

This morning I found some canned chicken (I have no idea why I have that) in the pantry and that worked WONDERS. I have't seen him get out of bed for a while and as soon as he smelled it that boy (and our other boy) were right beside me in the kitchen.

 

 

Note to self: Now, don't get too excited Momma, you've got two more times today to weasel them in him.

 

(before I even got finished typing this, Sol has conked out from the pain meds. It's so sweet to see him with some relief)

 

 

Roaching! Omigosh I can't even describe how relieved I am. He's set until 5 tonight.

 

Excellent! And long may it continue!

 

We have success with pots of meat paste here. I don't know if you have the equivalent in the US, but it's meat paste intended for sandwiches and comes in various flavours - including fish, actually. We vary the flavours, and if they get bored with it, we use processed cheese slices, cubes of cheese, liver pate - even tiny sandwiches made with whatever you think they'll eat. Cut a tiny square from the sandwich and hide the pill inside, then press the bread firmly together. Use ordinary sliced white bread, or the soft type of sliced wholemeal. They love the bread, the butter/margarine, and whatever you choose to put in them - ham, cheese, chicken, peanut butter - whatever you have handy.

 

None of these things are great for them in large quantities on account of they're all salty, but that could be one reason they like them. I try to find the least salty pastes for them, but they get very small quantities so it probably doesn't matter too much. Incidentally, if you use low-fat cheese, that's actually saltier than normal.

 

It's a good idea to give all dogs treats. We only have two dogs, so Renie always gets her pill-less paste first, then Jack is all 'where's mine? Where's mine?' and can't wait for it. If you have multiple dogs, I'd slot him in the middle.

[Batmom]

We do the "open and stuff down throat" method with most dogs here. As someone else mentioned, you wanna stuff it waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back, behind the back of their tongue. Just wrap their upper lips under their teeth as you open the mouth, and they won't bite down on you.

 

Here we try to make the procedure pleasant -- 1-"Time for your pill!" 2-Dog comes trotting in. Person has prepared in advance with pill AND spoon with a bit of peanutbutter or cream cheese. 3-Person shoves pill down throat and holds mouth closed, chin up. "Good dog!" 4-Person offers peanutbutter spoon to dog. 5-Dog licks, licks, licks peanutbutter spoon, swallowing all the while, too busy (and too late) to even think about gacking up pill. 6-Dog remembers that delicious peanutbutter spoon for next time and usually appears as soon as peanutbutter cupboard opens, despite minor indignity of step 3.

[Guest sirsmom]

I crush the pill for my fussy boy and just mix it in to a little gravy-type canned food such as pedigree beef in sauce over his kibbles and put it on the ground with no hovering at food time and call it a day. If I hover around seeing if he ate it, he knows somethings up, otherwise he doesn't even notice

[Guest mirthlesstroll]

I put Mr. Fussypants' (Logan) pills in a small chunk of hot-dog bun smeared with enough Peanut Butter to make the pills stick. I fold the chunk of bun up & pinch the edges together. I also use Wellness brand canned dog food from Whole Foods market-it's the perfect consistency to roll up in a ball with the pill inside.

[grey8greys]

I had to give a pill to Kerri last night, I mixed it in with her yougart and she ate it right up:)

[Guest weycoolgrey]

Another vote for peanut butter here....

[Guest HeatherDemps]

PB is no longer working with my grey (nuts because he's getting an antibiotic 2x/day for about 10 more days!) so I have started using cream cheese, which seems to work well. I've also used ham salad on a cracker in the past- just be sure to get the kind w/o onions.

[Guest MomoftheFuzzy]

I coat pills in peanut butter here and nobody knows the difference

 

Same here and it works like a charm.

 

Good luck to Sol! Feel better, sweet boy and take your medicine!

 

 

[Guest spider9174]

a couple thing's I've tried...

 

open the mouth and put as a far back as possible, then get htem to swallow.

 

if that doesn't work:

 

 

ball the pill up in some squishy white bread

 

ball it up in some sticky rice

 

ball it up in some cheese

[Guest shelbygirl07]

The other thing is to not let your dog see you place the pills in what ever medium you are using. have it ready before you approach the dog. I find with shelby that if she sees the pills or hears the pill bottle, she won't eat anything you are about to give her. I got wise to this and will get her stuff ready and then go into what ever room she is in and offer it to her. Boo doesn't care, he will eat anything and everything you give him, whether it's a pill or not. I give him the cheese so that the pill goes down easier. I can't do peanut butter with Shelby because she is allergic to all meat proteins (and PB is concidered a meat protein). I just stick her pill in her canned food and she eats it no problem.

Dogs get wise to when it's pill time by your behavior and how you prepare it. You place the pills in the medium in advance instead of at that moment and they won't know. Also, some pills are time release so crushing them up is not a good idea. Pills like Soloxine or antibiotics need to be given in the whole form...