Pill Poppers

[Guest Greensleeves]

Nelly's taking something like 16-18 pills a day, which I have to pop down her throat. She's doing OK with it--I've refined my technique over the last month, and her acupuncture vet gave us a great tip about using a syringe of water to wash the pills down, so they don't just sit in the throat and burn.

 

HOWEVER, my hands are not doing so great. I have excema and dry skin that's just being torn up by all the constant, post-pilling hand-washing. Two of my fingers have split at the corners, and it's not even worth trying to put a Band-aid on, b/c it won't survive more than a few hours.

 

My vet sells pill poppers like this one. DH volunteered to swing by on his way home and pick one up... but we've never used one before and aren't sure how much it will help.

 

Any experience or suggestions?

 

Thanks!

[Guest sheila]

I've been lucky with my hounds and I can just put any pills in their kibble and mix in a little canned food and they have always eaten it right up. I have also had good luck in putting pills into little bites of hot dog and giving them as a treat.

I've never used a pill popper but I can picture that my dogs might fidget more if I tried to stick a foreign object into their mouth.

Is there any way you can find some hypo-allergenic disposable gloves to wear while administering pills?

[Guest whatahound]

I tried it, but did not have much luck. Went back to the old way. (Open hounds mouth, insert pill)

[stlgrey]

It these aren't to big of pills you could try Pill Pockets by Greenies. They are a treat looking thing that you slip the pill inside of and pinch closed then give then the pill. I use them all the time.

[Guest KennelMom]

Can you use exam gloves for the pill popping and not need to wash after? I keep boxes of exam gloves around the house b/c I'm slightly germophobic and I hate picking up things that are dirty.

[patricia]

Same thing with Angel Queenie. We ran over to the vet and picked up one of the pill poppers...no luck here with that thing. I know what you are going through...plus...our little girl didn't mean to but she sometimes bit down on my fingers...this is when she would not take pills in anything. I finally started doing this: I dissolved them in a small syringe of water (those pills that I could) and shot it inside her cheek...then I filled the syringe again with some water and shook it good and did it again to make sure that she got all of the medication. We also requested that any medication that we could get in liquid form was greatly appreciated.

[Guest fruitypebbles]

I stick them in a large straw, open the hatch and put the straw in and blow (gently)

Edited September 23, 2008 by fruitypebbles

[gryhndsr4us]

I use that pill popper on my kitty Neko, it's great for him.

I've never tried it on any of the puppers. I would think it would work. For the pups I always put it in something yummy. If that doesn't work I think the glove idea is your best bet. I buy the non-latex gloves at Target for handling Neko's meds (he's on chemo) and also for cleaning his litter box. They are also handy for cleaning any pet accidents.

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

I bought large empty capsules. When I have a lot of small pills, I can put 4-5 small pills in one and do one pilling.

Edited September 23, 2008 by MorganKonaAlex

[Guest exracersmom]

I use velveeta cheese..it molds around the pills really well and they love cheese!

[Guest Scouts_mom]

I've used the pill popper on my cats. It works fine for round things, but not if you are doing half a tablet. A round pill blocks the hole so the burst of air from pushing in the plunger knocks the pill out and down the cat's throat.

 

For my dogs, I use pill pockets. They think of them as super yummy treats and never seem to notice that there is something yucky in the center. (When I've tried hiding pills in cheese or something else yummy, they always seem to be able to separate the treat from the pill and only swallowed the good tasting stuff.)

 

I tried the kitty pill pockets on a sick cat. He easily took it, concentrated on eating it, then spit out the pill!

[Guest AzLazyHounds]

Rythum likes cheese, but you are right... 16-18 pills a day in cheese may pack on the pounds or react in an unhappy way.

[Guest Greensleeves]

Yeah, sorry--thought it was pretty obvious that since I was manually popping them down her throat we had already progressed beyond the point where she'd take them in treats.

 

I'll try the gloves; thanks!

[Guest DebR]

our Bloodhound had to take 21 pills a day. I'd do a few different things, so she didn't get bored with any one thing. I'd use cream cheese, and always gave a teaser nibble, then the covered pill, then a "chaser" (did the 3 treat method with each treat type) second I would use bread, squeeze it until doughy around the pill, and roll in shredded cheese, and third I made a "meatball" of canned dog food. All 3 worked better than hotdogs or forcing them down her throat. If you use some type of plastic wrap to make the treat "balls", it would save your hands. Might be worth trying a small melon ball maker..would do the forming for you as well. Good luck!

[Guest ss556]

Alan takes a lot of medication every day - I use ricotta cheese and roll the pills inside and he licks it off my hands.

[Guest StriderDog]

I just use bread. (and the doggy urge to gulp down whatever's handed to you - because they know the other doggy is watching and might get whatever it is if you don't act rightawayqwick!

[ShantisMom]

Shanti is getting harder to get to take all her pills. But my fear on this would be a more dreaded process and it would be a fight.

 

However, I use to pill gun my horse. Not easy, but effective.

[packmom]

Yeah, sorry--thought it was pretty obvious that since I was manually popping them down her throat we had already progressed beyond the point where she'd take them in treats.

 

I'll try the gloves; thanks!

 

I use them because some of the pills you aren't supposed to touch and because, greyhound saliva gags me! Really, I can clean up about anything and patch up and care for any wound but get that thick spit on me and

[grey8greys]

I bought large empty capsules. When I have a lot of small pills, I can put 4-5 small pills in one and do one pilling.

 

 

Where do you buy empty capsules?

[dbullwinkel]

i use pill pockets..but only a small piece of each one; I just wrap the pill in a small part of the actual pocket. that way I am getting a lot more for my money. the dogs love them; when they hear the bag they all come running for "treats"