Gulping Heartgard Chews Whole

[GreytNut]

Riley gulps treats of any kind. He never questions what they are and he never chews them. On the plus side, this makes him remarkably easy to pill. On the not so great side, he also gulps his Heartgard chews. I have heard that this reduces or completely negates the effectiveness of the medicine as it is not absorbed by the body if it isn't thoroughly chewed. I looked at the FAQ for Heartgard and they recommended "administering the medication in a manner that encourages the dog to chew." I have no idea what manner that would be. In the future we'll probably cut up his chew into little pieces before giving it to him.

 

Anyone know the scoop on this?

[o_rooly]

The concept of "chewing" has not yet landed at this house. Actually, I hadn't noted the instructions for Heartgard ... pretty sure that Aston's Heartgard chews have gone down whole, along with his kibble, medication and anything else that's ever graced his mouf.

I wonder if the chew needs to be broken down by the enzymes that kick in as a result of chewing, or if it just needs to be in smaller pieces to get completely absorbed?
Perhaps we should pre-chew and regurg into hound mouths a la mama birds. <----- see, like that but open mouf on the other end

[Guest jetska]

ack i hadn't read that either, my dogs do chew them though and are not so sure about eating them haha... i dread teh day when they decide not to eat them anymore

[BootsyCollins]

I crush them and mix them into peanut butter

[Guest RMarie]

Perhaps we should pre-chew and regurg into hound mouths a la mama birds. <----- see, like that but open mouf on the other end

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[Guest june]

I usually cut the chew into several pieces and give them to the pups a piece at a time. They love it thinking they are getting more.

[Houndtime]

I cut them up and put them in their kibble. If I give it whole, Fuzzy gets diarrhea.

[winnie]

Thanks for starting this thread. We just switched over from Interceptor (pills) to Heartguard (chews). I never bothered to read the Heartguard instructions! I'm pretty sure ours were gulped down too. I guess I'll be breaking them up and mixing with their food the next time.

[brindlehound]

I decided to get an answer from my vet. Apparently, it doesn't matter if they swallow Heartgard whole. I was curious because, like others, he swallows it whole.

[Remolacha]

I have been breaking Sallie's into pieces because she has so few teeth and I got tired of watching her try to gum it to death, but she still gulps the pieces down. I don't know how you would encourage a dog to chew little pieces if they didn't want to, and no o_rooly, I am not pre-chewing for them

[brindlehound]

I have been breaking Sallie's into pieces because she has so few teeth and I got tired of watching her try to gum it to death, but she still gulps the pieces down. I don't know how you would encourage a dog to chew little pieces if they didn't want to, and no o_rooly, I am not pre-chewing for them

 

That's basically what the vet said. You can't force them to chew it.

[Hubcitypam]

As long as the Ivemectin is ingested and not regurgitated I can't imagine how it goes down could make a difference.

The amount in heartgard is so teeny tiny anyway. One well known vet once told me that except for herding breeds a dog could eat boxes and boxes of Heartgard with no ill effects.

[rascalsmom]

Since Phoebe threw up a whole Heartgard once, I have been slicing it into pieces and giving it to her in her evening meal.

[Acadianarose]

I don't use heartgard any longer, but when I did, I would break it into pieces and give it to them.

[PrairieProf]

I am pretty sure it MAY reduce effectiveness. My vet went from using Sentinel (chewable) to Advantage Multi (topical) as his recommend preventative, partly because he felt Advantage had the edge in preventing one kind of worm, but I recall he mentioned concerns over the digestion issue with unchewed pills.