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Need New Ideas/foods For Giving Pills


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Mine get a kiss on the end of the nose (to make me feel better), after which I open their mouth with a bit of pressure on the sides of the jaw, and plop the pill(s) in the back of the throat. No more than 2 medium pills at once, and always followed by a high reward treat. And if the pills are larger, or have gotten caught in their throat in the past, I 'coat' them with peanut butter or a SMALL amount of sliced cheese to help them down easier.

 

My vet offered to get me a pill pusher once (as Trentsmom mentioned)... it looked too much like a device that I once used for a ... female issue ... that there is no way I could possibly use one (just ... EWWW).

 

Good Luck!!

Edited by juliemac
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Guest tinams8

I use Batmom's technique. I hide the pill in whatever, feed it, (or put it way down her throat) and then quickly hold out the spoon, another treat, or my finger to lick. The licking distracts them and makes them swallow the pill.

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When Buddy was sick, he also became suspicious of everything. :( He was on a lot of meds, too. What we ended up doing was putting as many of the pills as possible in a ball of Velveeta, and then forced it down. We could get quite a few pills in at once using this method, and we were SURE he got them.

 

Ruby takes pulse antibiotics for her gum disease--one week each month she has to have two pills daily. I've found that for her, chicken liver brownies work like a charm. (I have the recipe if you want it.) I warm the brownie in the microwave for a few seconds, put the pill into a chunk of brownie and then mold it into a little 'meatball'. Down the hatch! All of the dogs absolutely ADORE chicken liver brownies. :)

 

ETA: they also LOVE fig newtons!

Edited by rascalsmom

Phoebe (Belle's Sweetpea) adopted 9/2/13.

Jack (BTR Captain Jack) 9/28/05--11/2/12
Always missing Buddy, Ruby, and Rascal.

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Guest Ola

My grey will take pills just as they are most of the time. And when he doesn't it's really easy to just pop it into the back of his mouth and stroke his chin till he swallows. But this approach totally doesn't work for my non-grey - I did it once and she was pretty upset, after a second time she started avoiding the kitchen (where we give the pills). So for her I stick with camouflage and everyone is happier.

 

One thing I found last year is hummus. Someone on another board suggested it and I tried it just cause I was out of options and she needs to take a lot of supplements during fall allergy season. I just scoop a bit of hummus onto a teaspoon (about half the spoon's worth), stick the pill on top, and smear a bit of the hummus on top of the pill. Something about the sticky texture seems to make her keep licking and licking and in the process the pill goes right down her throat. I've found that certain brands work better than others (I think it's the stickyness factor) and the brand they have at our Costco seems to work really well. I also keep the spoon in front of her face to encourage her to keep licking as that's what makes it go down faster. I never thought hummus would work but it's worked better for us than PB or cheese or lunchmeat.

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I've given up on the hiding/tricking with food approaches. I hold the pill in my fingers, open the hound's mouth with the other hand, and plop the pill back as far as possible, and close mouth. Then I reward with a tasty treat.

 

I've found that all the hiding trains them to be suspicious of treats or food and especially if you have an old or ill animal, you don't really want them deciding any tasty treats are suspect.

 

The tasty treat offered after the pill also encourages swallowing in anticipation.

 

Ditto.

 

I don't play games. I want to know for sure the pill is down. Biting on it when it's hidden in food is no fun since many pills are bitter. It isn't difficult to give a dog a pill (a cat is a different matter!) and the amount of time and energy saved...well. 'Nuff said!


Hamish-siggy1.jpg

Susan,  Hamish,  Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck

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I keep Satin Balls (fat balls) made up just for this situation. Any pill will go into them when I hide it in a fat ball! :)

lorinda, mom to the ever revolving door of Foster greyhounds

Always in my heart: Teala (LC Sweet Dream) , Pepton, Darbee-Do (Hey Barb) , Rascal (Abitta Rascal), Power (Beyond the Power), and the miracle boy LAZER (2/21/14), Spirit (Bitter Almonds) 8/14

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Guest Swifthounds

I don't play games. I want to know for sure the pill is down. Biting on it when it's hidden in food is no fun since many pills are bitter. It isn't difficult to give a dog a pill (a cat is a different matter!) and the amount of time and energy saved...well. 'Nuff said!

 

Aww...cats aren't that bad. :blink: You just need a no nonsense attitude, a towel, and the ability to sit on a cat like it's a pony. Piece of cake! :lol

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Guest wembles

Liverwurst seems to always do the trick no matter how large or small the pill! The nice thing is you can put some on a teaspoon, add the pill and put it right in the bowl. Not messy at all.

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I've been using the cheese in a can to give Phantom her 32 pills!!! daily. I cover the pills (usually about 7 at a time) in a big glob of the cheese and since it's kinda "gummy" the pills go down without her really realizing they are in there. She is horrible to pill and was able to find the pills in everything else I tried. She loves the new cheese and it makes pill time so much easier.

 

Good luck!

Elphie, Kulee, Amanda, Harmony, Alex (hound mix), Phantom, Norbet, Willis (dsh), Autumn (Siamese) & Max (OSH) & mama rat, LaLa & baby Poppy! My bridge kids: Crooke & Mouse (always in my heart), Flake, Buzz, Snake, Prince (GSD), Justin & Gentry (Siamese), Belle (Aussie/Dalmatian mix), Rupert (amstaff) and Fred, Sirius, Severus, Albus, George, Hagrid, Hermione, Minerva, Marilyn, Wren, Molly, Luna, Tonks, Fleur, Ginny, Neville, Bill, Percy, Rose & Charlie (rats)

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Guest Smiley

Thanks for all of the great suggestions-we've got some new options to try. I'm really not a fan of forcing pills down the throat. If I absolutely have to I will, but I really would prefer to give her her pills in something that she likes. It's happier and less stressful for all of us. Off to the grocery store tonight!

 

I forgot to add-I just ordered a batch of Burpdogs-I'm bringing out the heavy artillery now! :lol

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Guest sorenkkg

When Buddy was sick, he also became suspicious of everything. sad.gif He was on a lot of meds, too. What we ended up doing was putting as many of the pills as possible in a ball of Velveeta, and then forced it down. We could get quite a few pills in at once using this method, and we were SURE he got them.

 

Ruby takes pulse antibiotics for her gum disease--one week each month she has to have two pills daily. I've found that for her, chicken liver brownies work like a charm. (I have the recipe if you want it.) I warm the brownie in the microwave for a few seconds, put the pill into a chunk of brownie and then mold it into a little 'meatball'. Down the hatch! All of the dogs absolutely ADORE chicken liver brownies. smile.gif

 

ETA: they also LOVE fig newtons!

 

Oooh, fig newtons, just saw that... clever.

 

Can I have the liver brownie recipe? (file that under "things I never thought I'd say, ever." blink.gif

You can post or just IM if it's top secret colgate.gif

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Guest Smiley

Today we won the battle, though Peanut is still winning the war . . . I thawed some doggy meatloaf I had made awhile back and when it was warm and mushy packed it into a meatball and hid the pills inside. I only added one meatball-it was take it or leave it in her dish, no extra to be mixed in. And she ate it! Victory! :lol

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I've never had much luck with anything but Velveta cheese. I give the first bite with nothing then another bite with the pills rolled up inside. Good luck.

Same here. Love Velveeta! There are a few days I still have to force them, but easier wrapped in cheese.

The Girls

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Guest awvase

We have taken up crushing the pills up to a fine powder, mixing it with warm water and putting it in with dinner. Our old girl DC loves warm water on her dinner, and dinner it self so getting pills down her is not a problem. With the other 2 (Vegas and Chili) we tend to use cheese, or hot dogs, make sure both of them are there, start giving treats and slip the one with the pill to the right hound, they gobble so fast when another hound is there they don't even notice.

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Guest sorenkkg

We have taken up crushing the pills up to a fine powder, mixing it with warm water and putting it in with dinner. Our old girl DC loves warm water on her dinner, and dinner it self so getting pills down her is not a problem. With the other 2 (Vegas and Chili) we tend to use cheese, or hot dogs, make sure both of them are there, start giving treats and slip the one with the pill to the right hound, they gobble so fast when another hound is there they don't even notice.

 

 

We sometimes crush the pills-- I always ask first, b/c some pills have a time release coating, or 2 layers, or something that means the pill should remain intact. So I ask... Also, you have to know your dog will eat all their food rolleyes.gif and Aleeya isn't doing that right now. But I do agree that in the food is a great way and no one is the wiser to tricks and sneakiness tongue.gif

 

 

fwiw-- I tried some regular cheddar last night for Aleeya's 3 doxy pills-- she wanted no part of it huh.gif But then I rolled it in liver dust, and it was like a whole new treat. Silly girl, doesn't know a fine aged cheddar (well, ok, supermarket medium strong cheddar) when she smells it.

 

I think maybe our "no human food" for dogs policy is coming back to bite us in the @$$ at this point. I will pick up some liverwurst though, that I bet they'll both love :)

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