Giving Medicine to Dogs

[Sandy VDH]

I have an aging husky/shepard mix that has allergies. She is constantly on medication, and has gotten wise in her older years.

She now knows that cheese and peanut butter likely contain medicine. So she no longer eats them readily.

I happen to have some leftover refried beans after preparing a texmex meal one evening. So I thought I'd give it a try.

Maybe because its new she eats it. But I have to say it is much easier and less messy than both cheese or PB in getting the medicine in. It is not so stickly like PB, and it much easier to get the medicine hidden.

Has anyone else tried refried beans? Does anyone else have any other ideas should I get to the point where my dog has figured out it contains medicine.

It has been 2 weeks now and she still likes the refried beans. So go figure.

 

[falmouth3]

No, I never tried refried beans. I always used cream cheese or liverwurst. The liverwurst was inhaled so none of my dogs ever realized there was a pill in there. But with the cream cheese, my one dog who had a daily pill thought that cream cheese came in two varieties - plain and crunchy.

Sue

 

[dougp26364]

We have a dog on a restricted ingrediant diet that has to take allergy pills due to her allergy to certain foods. We but some canned dog food of the same king (purchsed through our vet) and make little balls out of it with the pill in the middle. Since dogs don't really chew their food this has worked well for the last 3 years.

 

[pjrose]

My dog is too dumb to have figured out that the only time she gets peanut butter is if there's a pill in it. I put the PB on a bit of bread and wrap the bread around the pill, and she is so excited she gulps it down.

Refried beans is a good idea, but with my doggie, we'd probably have to evacuate the house to escape the after effects! Perhaps Bean-o or Gas-Ex for dogs?

 

[DaveNV]

Grape jelly on a cracker works for my old dog. Especially if he sees me eating a few bites first. Critter wants to eat anything I'm eating. He rarely gets what I'm eating, but he'd sure like it if he could.

Dave

 

[falmouth3]

Refried beans is a good idea, but with my doggie, we'd probably have to evacuate the house to escape the after effects! Perhaps Bean-o or Gas-Ex for dogs?

I was thinking the same thing. :hysterical:

 

[DebBrown]

One of my dog takes a pill every morning. It's a capsule and I don't want to chance him chewing it so I just open his jaw and stick it down his throat. I hold him mouth shut and stroke his throat for a few seconds. Then he gets a cookie as a reward. If I forget his pill, he follows me around crying until I remember.

I had a previous dog who took meds twice a day. I never liked hiding it in food because it would invariably get spit out. I've always done the directly down the throat approach.

Deb

 

[Icarus]

If I forget his pill, he follows me around crying until I remember.

Cute.

-David

 

[Aussiedog]

All of my "kids" get pills twice a day and they all get them in peanut butter with no problem. I have used peanut butter for at least a decade and it almost always works just fine.

However, when two of my very old dogs were dying of cancer (I lost them earlier this year) they lost their appetite and it was hard to get them to even eat peanut butter. With the vet's permission I switched to a spoon of cat food for their meds - loved it. I also used those little frozen meatballs that you can buy - I think the bag had 90 little meatballs in it. I heated the meatballs and then stuffed the meds in the middle and that worked for a while.

I also learned that some medications are just soooo bitter that almost nothing will mask the taste. If that is the case you can buy empty gel caps and place your pet's meds in them so that they don't get that bitter aftertaste at all.

Ann

 

[Sandy VDH]

I have a smart dog, that inhales, but knows when there is medicine and there is not. I have tried the down the throat method, but frankly it is just too painful with a smart dog. She will swallow but still hold the pill on her tonge, then she will spit it out.

My second dog, a medium 45 lbs blue heeler mix, actually chews his food, everything, even his dry kibble. It take a mouth full over to the carpet, spits it out and then proceeds to chew one piece of kibble at time. My other dog has inhaled her food by this time and then proceeds to pick up what the other dog has left on the carpet. The dogs know they are NOT to eat out of each other bowl, but I guess I can't enforce that on the carpet. Frankly I think the second dog purposely leaves food for the older dog to eat. They never get into fights about it.

Refried has seem to make her any more or any less smelly than before, so I don't know if it has any impact. Trust me it is bad enough already so I generally don't stick around to see if it has gotten worse.

 

[LynnW]

Hi Sandy

We adopted a 7 year old Australian Shepherd cross in Sept and he has allergies His records said that they had cleared up but he still seems itchy so we refilled the prescription. I rolled the pills in a small slice of ham and kept another small piece in my other hand where he could see it. He swallowed the first piece fast as he could see he was getting another one! Of course this could get expensive keeping him supplied with ham.

Lynn

 

[pjrose]

If I forget his pill, he follows me around crying until I remember.

Mine likes her chewable pills. She wont eat her dinner if I haven't added the pill.

They are about the size of Tums so at this point you can probably guess the rest of the story.....

One evening, I was driving home from errands and reached into my purse for the little bottle I keep Tums in - I opened it and shook one into my hand and popped it into my mouth...

BLEEECHHHHH! I had to stop the car, pull over, get out, spit the horrible thing out, and rinse my mouth multiple times to totally get rid of the taste. I still shudder at the memory. I can't imagine why she loves them so much!

 

[silvib]

One of my dog takes a pill every morning. It's a capsule and I don't want to chance him chewing it so I just open his jaw and stick it down his throat. I hold him mouth shut and stroke his throat for a few seconds. Then he gets a cookie as a reward. If I forget his pill, he follows me around crying until I remember.

I had a previous dog who took meds twice a day. I never liked hiding it in food because it would invariably get spit out. I've always done the directly down the throat approach.

Deb

I've had German Shepherds all of my life, childhood & adulthood, and this was the method we always used and it always worked. Now I have cats, that's another story ...

 

[falmouth3]

On the rare days that the liverwurst didn't work, I'd stick the pill way down her throat, held her mouth closed while I gently stroked her throat and blew into her nose. Once I felt her swallow, the pill was down. But we all preferred the liverwurst method.

Sue

 

[pjrose]

I've had German Shepherds all of my life, childhood & adulthood, and this was the method we always used and it always worked. Now I have cats, that's another story ...

Oh yes, pilling a cat is much harder than it is with a dog!

 

[stmartinfan]

Cream cheese works for our dog - but he definitely doesn't fit the category of "smart dog." (Although he's very lovable.) He's a bichon and I've read that the breed that doesn't seem to have as good a sense of smell as most. Ours can't even smell food if it's dropped on the floor, and now that his close vision has declined some, he can't see it either!

 

[Stressy]

Have you heard of "pill pockets?" I had a dog on long term meds and tried everything....cream cheese, sliced cheese, wet food, "pill shooters" and the throat massage. He eventually got wise to all of it. The pill pockets were a godsend...really. You can find them at Petco or Petsmart. I usually bought beef. They are really pilable-so I could even split one to use for two pills depending on the size of the pill. Ace loved them.
Good luck.