Friday, May 21, 2010

Any hints to give dogs their medicine?

I just brought my dog to the vet and it turns out she might be really sick. While waiting for the blood work results they gave me an antibiotic and some liquid medicine (if she vomits) but she has to take her antibiotic twice a day until it's gone. Well, it's a little tablet and she does not like it. (well, who does like to take pills really) But if I put it in food, she would eat around it. I tried crushing it up and spreading it on bread, but she was not having that. Eventually I had to crush it up and spread it on her tongue. If this is what I have to do, I will do it, as I want her to be alright, but I was wondering if anyone else might have had this same problem. I was thinking maybe I could crush it and put it in a doggie ice cream?!?! Any ideas would be great. Thanks in advance. :)
Answers:
Cheese!
Make multiple small balls of cheese with your fingers. Offer her a few to let her know it's good and she wants more...then mold a small ball of cheese around her pill and down it goes.
The trick is the size of the cheese balls, they need to be small enough that she will take them down whole. If shes tries to chew them she'll find the pill and all hope is lost.
What always got my dogs to eat there pills were cream cheese or penut butter. Another idea is taking some cheese that's a little melted and wrapping it around the pill.
my brother is in the same situation with his dog. he sticks the pill in a hotdog and the dog doesn't even recongnize its in the hotdog.
Try putting it in between 2 small pieces of cheeze.You can also show the dog a 3rd piece of cheeze.She will eat the 2 pieces with the medicine pretty quickly if she thinks she's getting another piece.
Try putting the tablet in a hot dog or lunchmeat. Dogs love meat.
I take a chunk of cheese and put the pill into a "slot" that I cut out. This is the only way my dog will take it.
Make sure you ask your vet if its OK to crush the pill...sometimes it isn't.
Good Luck!
Yes, I had the same problem with my dogs. I cut a hot dog in half and stick the tablet in the middle of the hot dog. Dogs love hot dogs.
put it in a small piece of meat like a hot dog. i do that with mine and she swallows it so fast she doesn't taste it.
I just had a real sick puppy that needed to take pills.
I just wrapped the pill in a very small amount of sliced cheese. He loves it. He wants more.
try cheese or bolanie,
What I do when my dogs need a pill is I usually wrap it inside something they really like. Try using a piece of sliced meat or cheese. Feed her some of it first without the pill, then wrap the pill inside of it.
I wouldn't suggest crushing it unless you ask your vet first. There are some medications that don't work well when they are crushed. If you find out that you can crush it and the meat does not work, then I think the ice cream is fine. Just make sure she eats all of it.
what we did was put some cheez whiz on a spoon (just enough to fit the pill in) and let them lick it off with the pill in it, sometimes they would eat around it, but just try again. they think of it as a treat! also, you know how you can buy that dog treat thats like a loaf you refrigorate and cut off peices like salami? well you stick the pill in there and make her do a trick so she thinks it is a treat, unless she doesnt know tricks. feed it to her and she will love ya for it! it works almost everytime!
Hello I have found with bigger dog putting the tablet in side a piece of hot dog or a piece of cheese seams to do the trick. If it is a little dog try to crush the pill as best as you can and mix it in to a small dollop of can food. Also you can mix the liquid medication in this way too. The little dog will eat it all especially if it is it's favorite brand do this first thing in the morning or when most hungry. I hope this helps Good Luck!
These are all great suggestions. I have in a pinch also opened my dogs mouth, with his snout up and placed the pill in the very back of his mouth, then let her close her mouth, sill cradling her snout up and swallow. It works with my dog but he loves to put everything in his mouth (Freud's feilday).
Good Luck hope she's well soon.
I had the same problem. My dog gets carsick, so to prevent her from throwing up in the car, I give her dramamine about an hour before we leave to go somewhere. I crush the pill, get some chicken, rub the chicken in the crushed pill and feed it to her. She eats it right up. If there's too much on a piece, she'll either smell it and reject it or taste it and spit it out. So break up some pieces of chicken and rub each piece with a small amount of the crushed pill.
Stuff it in hot dogs, marshmellows, peanut butter, cheese.
Or your vet may carry the "pill pocket" - an ingenious little piece of beef or chicken that will wrap around the pill. They are quite expensive though.
Your vet or pet store should have an invention called the pill popper - which also works.
Then the old fashioned way, put it on the back of his tongue, close his mouth and blow on his nose.
I worry about crushing the pills, it may not release as it should. If you really cant get him to take it at once, ask if they might compound it for you. (mix with a tasty liquid - but more expensive) .
Take care of that little one - Good Luck
crush the meds up and mix it with peanut butter, wrap it inside a piece of meat (hotdogs work best), crush it up and mix it with canned food (if you feed your pet canned food). just make sure it's something (the medicine) that can be given with food. another alternative is to crush it up, mix it with a little bit of water, draw it up in a syringe and give it that way. just hold the syringe firmly and to the side of the dogs' mouth and quickly push the plunger. gently stroke your dogs' throat to get him/her to swallow.
u could try hiding the medicine coz when my dog was sick i had the same problem so i put the medicine in a hot dog which is the food he likes the most and he just ate it.in ur case is the food ur dog likes the most make sure the medicine is fully covered coz the dog can smell the medicine.or u could try crushing the medicine an putting it in her drinking water.or u should try crushing the medicine an mix it in her food dun juz put it in her food mix it well.try it
i either wrap it up in cheese (its my dogs favorite food) or i act like it is a treat and make him do a trick for it. (my dog is really gullible)
I tried hiding pills in food, holding their mouth shut while stroking their throat, almost everything, and then my vet sold me Pill Pockets...my dog BEGS for his twice daily medications now! Here's a link: http://www.dog.com/itemdy00.asp?t1=34038... just drop the pills inside the pouch and squeeze it shut, my dog LOVES them. They're not exactly health food, though, so only use them for giving meds.
Wrap it in cheese or shove it in a piece of a hot dog . It works every time with my dog. He thinks hes getting a yummy treat
It's best to hide small pills inside something very tasty that the dog is likely to scarf up without chewing. Popular hiding places are a dab of peanut butter, a piece of chicken or steak, a glob of canned dog food, or any soft, chewy dog treat that is squishy enough to allow a pill to be pressed into it (Bil-Jacs are excellent for this).
If she just won't go for it, sit down on the floor with her facing away from you and sit her between your knees. Push your fingers gently into the corners of her mouth to open her jaw, put the pill on your fingertip, and shove it as far into her throat as you can possibly reach. Now, the tricky part, is you have to remove your finger and quickly shut her jaw before she triest to spit it out. Hold her muzzle shut and massage her throat in a long downward stroke from her chin to her chest for about thirty seconds. This usually causes them to swallow, and the pill should go down.
Good luck!
open her mouth n drop the pill in as far in as you can. then hold her muzzle closed and blow in her face. when u blow in her face it makes her swallow. thats the quickest way.
that should work but if it doesnt, put the pill in something dense like a meat ball or smoosh a little piece of bread around it.
Hold the dog's head up, open the dogs mouth and put the pill as far back in its throat as you can. Close the dog's mouth and cover its nose. The pill will get swallowed.
If this is too hard or mean for you get some liver sausage and wrap it around the pill and the dog will eat it.
What my Brother -in -law does with their dog is either to get a half a cheese and wrap the pill in it and then give it to the dog or he will give the dog a little yogart and have the pill in the yogart and the dog will lick it off his hand. I hope this will help.
give him a treat, then open his mouth, pop in the pill, hold his mouth shut, dont cover his nose, stroke the front of his throat until he swallows, give him another treat, tell him what a good boy he is. When its pill time show him the treats, make him sit nice, then give him the first one.
This is how I even give my cat his pill and he starts asking for his pill at 9 PM every night because he wants the treats.
I would learn to pill your dog. I have a black lab and I open his mouth, take the flap of skin and cover his teeth so he won't bite down. I then drop the pill in and hold his mouth closed. until he swallows. If he doesn't, covering their nose for a brief moment sometimes forces them to swallow. I do this everyday to give him a fish oil tablet.
As for liquid medicine, try squirting it in on the side of the dog's mouth. This tends to make it easier for them to swallow the meds and control the gag reflex better.
You could also try giving the pill along with a treat, they some times will eat the pill with a treat. You sometimes have to make them do a trick first.
Last resort, if none of the other suggestions work. You could buy Pill Pockets. Expensive yes, but they do work if the medicine is disgusting.
Good luck and I hope your dog gets better quickly.
My dog is pretty easy so i dont know if this will work for you but i always took some american cheese and kinda mushed it up then squished the pill or tablet into the mush of cheese and then make her do a trick for it so she thinks she is being rewarded this way she is more ready to take the treat because her mind is set on getting her cookie/reward for doing a good behavior and she forgets about the pill.
Wrap it in cheese. Works every time
I would try peanut butter, plain butter, or even cheese. Pretty much anything you can give in a small amount to reduce the possibility of vomitting the medication back up would be great.

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