How Do You Pill Your Grey?

[LaFlaca]

It looks like Wendy will need to take medication (capsules) twice a day from now on. So far, she has been very docile and has allowed me to easily push the capsule into her throat. I really dislike being the one to cause her discomfort for fear that it will negatively affect our relationship. Hiding the medication in food rarely works more than once; she catches on very quickly! How do you pill your Grey? Have you used a pill-pushing syringe? Any tips are welcome.

[Cricket57]

We use peanut butter - just enough to cover the pill. Cream cheese and cheese whiz work for a lot of people, too.

 

Cricket

[dante2zoe]

I have a pill shooter for Maggie. She takes 10 pills total every.single.day and will not take them in food. I get tired of shoving my hand down her throat. The shooter is quick and easy! It also helps that her pills are tiny. She loves her chicken jerky and knows that she will get some after the onslaught, so she knows medicine time and goes to her bed to wait for me.

 

Fancy is taking some right now and I just wrap them in a thawed satin ball. Easy peasy.

[ramonaghan]

We bought some Duck and Pea pill pockets for our cat, who sadly passed away shortly after we bought the bag, so we've been using them for Sweep's Previcox. They are unbelievably stinky and have worked very well. We usually give her a plain piece of one too so she just thinks of them as treats and has yet to detect the pill. I'll be interested to see if they mask Bravecto when she's due for that next month, as that's the pill that gives us the biggest challenge.

[GeorgeofNE]

The less fussing the better. Please remember she is not a vengeful toddler. She won't suddenly dislike you if you have to give her pills. That's one of the MOST AWESOME things about dogs!

 

I got with the direct approach. Open the gob, toss the pill in, smooth throat. Never fails.

[Remolacha]

I have used a variety of approaches with different dogs. Currently, Conner gets his gabapentin wrapped in a piece of cheese (Velveeta works well, it is very smooshy) and Val gets hers wrapped in a bit of Pill pocket. Conner used to get his in pill pockets, but he periodically gets tired of that so we switch to cheese for awhile. I do have to shove Val's down her throat, as she is a chewer. I use the pill pocket to wrap the two together so I only have to shove once. She is very cooperative, and has also been very cooperative with the pill shooter as well, but since she is taking two, I am doing the open and shove method.

 

As long as Wendy doesn't object, stick with the simplest method!

[LaFlaca]

The less fussing the better. Please remember she is not a vengeful toddler. She won't suddenly dislike you if you have to give her pills. That's one of the MOST AWESOME things about dogs!

 

I got with the direct approach. Open the gob, toss the pill in, smooth throat. Never fails.

I agree...I don't make a fuss. It's all very matter of fact. Open, shove, massage. I do worry she'll start to avoid me whenever I approach her thinking it's pill time. Can you say anthropomorphize?

[MP_the4pack]

chunky peanut butter. I always give them chunky as a treat in a kong, so when I need to pill them, I just put the pill in a wad of chunky PB and they down it without issue because they are used to having "stuff" in their PB.

[Roo]

At the kennel, I open, pop the pill down the gullet, and give a nice throat rub until they swallow. Only once have I had someone cough it up!

 

With my own pup a few years ago, he took them just fine in a glob of peanut butter mixed with a little kibble (if there wasn't kibble, he'd feel the pill and spit it out - I suppose crunchy peanut butter would work well for this too).

 

I've also had luck with dog food, cat food (for particularly picky pups), and spray cheese. Terrier Daisy used to take them in sliced deli meat but she won't take anything even remotely suspicious now, and that includes her heartworm and flea/tick pills that are supposed to be meat-flavored I may just take her to the vet this month and ask them to please jam the bravecto down her because there's no way she'll actually take it.

[ramonaghan]

I've also had luck with dog food, cat food (for particularly picky pups), and spray cheese. Terrier Daisy used to take them in sliced deli meat but she won't take anything even remotely suspicious now, and that includes her heartworm and flea/tick pills that are supposed to be meat-flavored I may just take her to the vet this month and ask them to please jam the bravecto down her because there's no way she'll actually take it.

 

If a pill's label says any variation of "dogs love the taste" it's pretty much a guarantee that Sweep will spit it out and look at me like I tried to poison her.

[rsieg]

Another vote for peanut butter, if your hound like it. Fortunately for me, Max LOVES peanut butter - if I make a PB&J sandwich he is out in the kitchen drooling. Since Max is the old guy who takes three pills in the evening, that is good for me.

 

Logan, on the other hand, is not a peanut butter fiend. I give him a glucosamine pill each evening in peanut butter and he usually eats it, but sometimes I find it spit out on the floor by his dish. It is purely preventative for him at 7 years old, so no biggie right now but when he gets older he may be more of a problem to pill.

[locket]

I straddle Charlie (he is used to it, I brush his teeth like that, its a command!) Open the mouth, toss pills in, rub rub rub until he swallows then we have a cookie party, No hard feelings, he actually came to like it (for the cookies you know!)

[cleptogrey]

down the throat for all of my dogs for the past 45+ years. the more you do it, the faster and easier for both you and your dog. just do it!!!

[greysmom]

Lilly has to take a wad of dry herbal supplements twice a day, and of course, she won't just eat them added to her food. And she can't have chicken so that means that all the commercial "pilling" products like Pill Pockets are out. I make home-made pill pocket dough out of peanut butter for her. Then I flatten a small disc into a thin pancake, put the herbs in, and fold it up into a wonton sort of shape. It ends up being a wad about an inch in diameter. She usually hears me prepping it so she comes right to me - no hard feelings or running away - so I know it's not traumatic for her.

 

I did ask our vet if repeatedly shoving this down her throat would hurt her, and the vet said no. They can swallow something much bigger on their own, and as long as you don't scrape the throat with your nails, or otherwise hurt them, a dog should be fine. The pill pocket dough really helps it go down, as it sort of gets wet and slippery once you put it in! I use it for the huge Trifexis pill for the other two, as well.

 

I did make a video of our procedure for the actual pilling since it works with all sorts of pills. This is for a right handed person, so left handers will need to reverse the directions. Standing on the right side of the dog, gently grasp the muzzle with your left hand and slide your fingers into the mouth. Your fingers should then slide back along the hard palate (the ridgey part in the front of the mouth) towards the soft palate (the softer part in back). Once they feel you touching the soft palate they will automatically keep their mouth open wide. Pop the pill in the back of the mouth, remove your left hand, and gently puff/blow directly up the dog's nose to trigger the swallowing reflex.

 

https://youtu.be/lj2biSafDwc

[FiveRoooooers]

With Seamie I would put the pill/s in a small glob of peanut butter or liverwurst and while he was laying down I'd place the glob on his wrist and he'd lap it right up.

[Remolacha]

Another advantage of giving a treat right after the pill, they can't spit out the pill if they are swallowing the treat

[LaFlaca]

I make home-made pill pocket dough out of peanut butter for her.

 

 

Would you mind sharing the recipe?

 

 

I did ask our vet if repeatedly shoving this down her throat would hurt her, and the vet said no. They can swallow something much bigger on their own, and as long as you don't scrape the throat with your nails, or otherwise hurt them, a dog should be fine. The pill pocket dough really helps it go down, as it sort of gets wet and slippery once you put it in! I use it for the huge Trifexis pill for the other two, as well.

 

 

I'm so glad you shared this! I was wondering how big of a pill they could swallow.

[greysmom]

It's really simple:

4 parts flour

2 parts peanut butter

2 parts milk

 

But you can use any kind of flour, any kind or nut butter or canned food, and any kind of wetness - milk, water, broth, etc. If you changemthemungredients though you'll need to experiment a little to get the proportions right so it's not too dry or too wet to form a nice covering.

[BatterseaBrindl]

down the throat for all of my dogs for the past 45+ years. the more you do it, the faster and easier for both you and your dog. just do it!!!

[XTRAWLD]

Kraft singles slices. One slice is good enough for 3 pilling sessions. I peel a nice sized strip, add 3 capsules, fold up the end and down the hatch it goes. It helps that Ryder is very food motivated. He also gets three pills mixed in his breakfast every morning and they go down the hatch without an issue. I very rarely find them left behind in the bowl. I can even get away with putting capsules in my hand with a bunch of kibble and he just inhales all of it.

[LaFlaca]

It's really simple:

4 parts flour

2 parts peanut butter

2 parts milk

 

But you can use any kind of flour, any kind or nut butter or canned food, and any kind of wetness - milk, water, broth, etc. If you changemthemungredients though you'll need to experiment a little to get the proportions right so it's not too dry or too wet to form a nice covering.

Many thanks!

[Guest LazyBlaze]

Generous squirt of cheese paste around the outside of the capsule works for Blaze's Gabapentin, he takes it like a treat after his breakfast and dinner and looks forward to it every time. The very occasional time he has bitten into the capsule he just gets an extra squirt of paste and a biscuit, and he doesn't hold it against us.

[GreyAcresMom]

So many different ideas. Cosmo had valley fever and he LOVED his pill coated in butter! For Kala Blu...I keep a can of dog food to hide her pills in. She gets morning and bedtime "bites".

[LaFlaca]

I'm so grateful for all of these great tips. Here's another one I just learned; boil chicken hearts in water until tender. Let cool and stuff pill/capsule into the center of the heart (apparently there's a natural opening). Use left-over broth to moisten kibble.

[schnookums]

Schnookie has just started her tablets 2 twice a day. always a battle to open her mouth. The vetmedin needs to be taken on an empty stomach. She has it at 4am, so I often wake her up. I have two small syringes of water. One for before and one after the pill. She wont take the tablets in food. I find the water good for her gabapentin, as the capsule can stick. I do agree "straight over the mound and it's gone!)

Hey LaFlaca Love the sound of chicken hearts. What a great idea. Off to the supermarket tomorrow!!