A Day From Hell - Ham Won't Take His Pills!

[Guest valtoy]

First a good day (Sunday) and then yesterday Ham was lethargic, didn't want to get up, seemed to have an upset stomach or gas and at midnight he vomited (only once) but wouldn't drink water or eat. This morning the vet changed his antibiotic and pain meds, but Ham was in a really mean mood and wouldn't let me give him any pills. He was so good for the past 5 days and now turned his head at the peanut butter coated pills, cheese and hamburger. I had to muzzel him with an old metal muzzel I had from the track (that let's him open his mouth) as he was snapping and snarling at me. He was really mad and without the muzzel I would probably be missing a few fingers. I tried pushing peanut butter pills thru the muzzel and he wouldn't have any of it. There was peanut butter all over the carpet and his bed and pills all over the place as he hit my hand. I managed to get him to lick 1/2 of his antibiotic off the muzzel and tried one more pain pill on the end of a large Milk Bone dog biscuit and he licked it off, but when I came back to try to clean up (he wouldn't let me near the pain pill left on his bed) he then licked it up and got two doses instead of one, but after calling the vet, he said at his size (90 pounds) he could handle the small overdose.

 

It didn't knock him out as he was awake most of the day, just resting after that stressful experience. He actually got up later and came in to eat a bit of food and get water from his bowls, so I guess a double dose of the pain pills didn't even bother him. He is taking a "people pill" called Amantedine. I filled it at Walgreen's. He didn't do well on the Tremadel??? it made him anxious and nervous.

 

He walked outside by himself for the first time later today, so still no effects from the pill overdose. I had a ramp built for him last week and he walked down and out into the yard to go to the bathroom in his favorite place without being on the leash. He hopped very well on his 3 legs and returned all by himself. What a guy!

 

Still only eating half as much as he usually does. He gets 2 cups of Iams Active Maturity twice a day with some Milk bones and a greenie every morning. He is not cleaning his bowl and comes back later to finish up, so down to about 1 cup and a 1/2 per day. Hope this improves.

 

We have to do pills again in the morning, so I'm not looking forward to this.

 

Valerie

[Guest MomofSweetPotatoes]

How big are the pills? If it's a tablet, crush it and mix it in some pb and then take small glob of pb and onto the roof of his mouth is goes. He'll lick it off.

 

if it's a capsule, get a pilling stick or a large straw. Put the pill on the pilling stick and, well, down the hatch, release and pull stick out. With the straw, attach pill using a dot of cream cheese or pb. Open mouth insert strw to the right or left side as far back as possible. Swipe straw along the side of the throat, releasing pill.

 

Hope this helps.

[Guest greytkidsmom]

I take a sweet potato and cut it into 3/4" cubes. I put the cubes in a zip-top bag with a little olive oil and garlic powder and shake shake shake. Then I spread the cubes on a baking sheet and bake 20-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Once cooled, I put the cooked cubes in a zip-top bag in the fridge. They are just the right size to shove a pill into and my picky pill taker eats them up in an instant. (I give him one or two non-pilled cubes to whet his appetite and then give him the pilled ones). I can also use the cubes on top of food if one of the kids decides to go "off his feed." Way better than messy peanut butter.

 

Hope Ham gets to feeling better soon.

[Guest sheila]

sounds like Ham is angry about the (what seems to Ham) the heavy handed approach to pill time. If he is willing to lick up the PB or is eating when he decides to then I would just let him do that with the pills crushed up into the mix.

I always get my dogs to take their pills when I shove them in a piece of hot dog and hand it too them as a treat.

[NeylasMom]

Is Ham usually aggressive? If not, he's probably in a lot of pain. Could the vet give him an injection or apply a pain patch so you can get him to take the meds?

[Chicocat]

Have you ever tried Pill Pockets? Mine find them irresistable. You can get them at the vets office or at some pet suppy stores. You don't have to use a whole pocket either. Just wrap it around the pill and have another little piece in your hand to follow up. Works like a charm.

[Aerosmom]

Have you ever tried Pill Pockets? Mine find them irresistable. You can get them at the vets office or at some pet suppy stores. You don't have to use a whole pocket either. Just wrap it around the pill and have another little piece in your hand to follow up. Works like a charm.

 

The second treat is the trick -- that way they don't even think to reject the first treat when they discover something in it that *shouldn't* be there.

 

Is there any way to grind it up and disguise it with a strong-smelling food and put it in his food bowl?

[Trudy]

Ryan will take his pills by me just tossing them in his food bowl - unless they are particularly nasty tasting (which I think the tramadol was, or it could have been something else he was on when he got sick last year - he wouldn't even eat the food once he got a taste of the pill), then I stick it in a hot dog and go that route. All else fails, I just open his mouth and put it down toward the back of his throat so he can't work it back up with his tongue.

 

Jet gets Pepto pills when she skips meals and her stomach starts going nuts. She won't eat anything, so the pepto just goes to the back of her throat.

 

 

Good luck getting him pilled.

[GeorgeofNE]

Stick the pill in the middle of a marshmallow! Give him a plain one first, then a pilled one, then a plain one!

 

Hang in there!

[CaliforniaGreys]

I always try cream cheese. Hides the pill well and just slides down the throat. I hope he feels better soon!

[patricia]

We used ice cream...cheese...PB...whipped cream...liver sausage...hot dogs...and if all else failed...I had to resort to pushing the pill down their throats with my finger.

[Guest IndysDad]

+1 to the Pill Pockets and adding a second "treat" !!!

Our Bridge boy Indy would not take his meds on occasion; we tried the PP and he never turne one (or two) down.

 

You may also want to try wrapping some Bil-Jac (thawed) around his meds..we've had good results with this method also.

HTH