If your dog requires medication for an extended period of time, he could become resistant to pilling. He might run and hide from you when it’s pill time, or he might get savvy about not swallowing his pills. To avoid problems, you can teach your dog in advance that whenever you open his mouth and put something in, it’s almost always a tasty treat.
Eventually, your dog will look forward to your putting things into his mouth, and he‘ll be less likely to object when you occasionally insert a pill instead of a treat. However, for this technique to work, you must continue to practice it after you start giving your dog real pills. Overall, the ratio of good experiences to bad experiences for your dog must be high. So, for every real pill you give him, he should receive a minimum of 20 “treat pills”—although not all at one time! You can achieve this ratio just by continuing to do 5 to 10 repetitions of the exercise two or three times a day until your dog has finished his entire course of medication.
Some dogs will eat anything and everything—including their medications. However, most dogs are reluctant to gobble down pills and capsules, especially if the medication is large or if it smells bad to them. Some dogs are wary of anything unusual and will refuse all types of medications. We have complied some information on how to medicate your dog!
If your dog tends to chew treats rather than swallow them whole, make the treats small. Give him a few non-medicated treats first, one quickly right after the other, and then give him the one with the pill inside. So that your dog doesn’t have time to notice that you’ve just sneakily fed him a pill, immediately pop one more normal treat into his mouth. In addition to “Pill Pockets”, some food items you can use to hide your dog’s pills or capsules:
• Turn it into a game. Similar to the “faking them out” method, start throwing random treats in the air for them to catch. After a few fun catches, throw one that has the medication in it. Many times, they are so distracted with the game, they do not realize the medication was in the food.
Contributed by Dr. Alison Birken, owner and DVM of Victoria Park Animal Hospital.
• Distract them. Try giving them a treat with the medication while they are distracted, like on a walk or in the car.
I am just finishing up my treatment plan for a cute little French Bulldog that has been itching nonstop and losing his hair. The poor little pup was up all night licking and chewing himself raw, and his loving, exhausted parents had been up all night with him. As I finish up my examination, I tell my clients that they need to start their dog on two pills per day: one to relieve the itchiness, and one to clear up the infection. Speaking with confidence and relief that I will be helping this little guy feel better, I glance over at the panicked-looking parents. Before being able to complete my treatment instructions, the clients come forth with their concern—“It is impossible to give my dog pills. He will not take them!” As you can expect, not being able to give pets pills or medications is one the most common dilemmas I encounter with my clients. But remember, it’s not your fault, and there are ways to help! Some pets are not only extremely stubborn and refuse to take medications, but they also are very smart and know when they are being tricked. So today, let’s look at some innovative and unique ways to give medications to our pets. It takes cooperation from you, your pet, and your veterinarian to properly treat and help your fur babies, so let’s get started!
• Place on paws. This is a great one for cats. Cats especially do not like to be dirty and groom themselves. If you place something on their paws, they will usually groom it off. Sometimes this will work for dogs, but many times they are not as particular.
Try this: Instead of scrambling an egg, make an egg patty. Then cut the patty into squares of varying sizes, so they are thick enough to slide a pill or capsule between the two layers. Most dogs don’t chew soft treats, so the whole package is likely to slide down in one quick swallow.
Liquid meds, powders, and tablets that are easily crushed can be hidden in meat flavored baby food, yogurt, ice cream, mashed tuna, or salmon with the “juice,” chicken and beef broth, and gravies. These concoctions will commonly be attractive enough for dogs to happily lap up their meds. A sprinkle of parmesan cheese will often be enough to divert a dog’s nose away from their worry about ingesting the medication.
When administering bitter-tasting pills, it is important to wash hands once the medicine is buried well inside the food item to avoid leaving any trace of the pill on the outside of the food pocket. Be sure to use big enough chunks of food to bury pills for very fussy dogs.
Specialty compounding pharmacies are popping up to address the need for tasty ways to get meds into dogs. They offer flavored liquids and tablets, tiny capsules, transdermal creams, and even injectable meds. Some of these items can be costly, so naturally, pet parents look for other ways to medicate their pets. Commercially sold pill pockets are a popular option. But for something a little more natural and healthy, especially when your dog takes daily medications for long periods, a homemade pill pocket will do the trick.
If you live with a dog, it is likely that at some point, you will be faced with the dreaded task of having to administer medication. Even some of the most cooperative dogs object to having pills shoved down their throat, and who wouldn’t? So, to disguise the pills, you carefully hide their medication in peanut butter. But of course, they figure out how to meticulously clean all the peanut butter off the pill and then leave it on the carpet for you to step on—or even worse, hide it under the couch. Many dogs initially will take pills wrapped in the infamous “American Cheese,” but eventually, they run for the hills when they hear the crinkle of the package.
How to Use a Pill Pocket to Give Your Pet Medications
When you’re trying to figure how to give a dog a pill, the truth is that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Some dogs are very easy to pill, while others will spit out the pill 50 times before you get them to swallow it.
Pet parents will often use food to get reluctant pets to take their prescription pet medication. But did you know that certain foods can be unsafe for your dog or inadvertently affect the potency of the medication?
If you need to administer medication to your pet, check out this list of foods to avoid when giving dogs pills.