She's sick of the drugs!

[njkonn]

After a hip dysplasia diagnosis and all the disappointment that comes with that, I think we've found a good regimen with meds but she's so tired of me coming at her twice a day to shove pills down her throat and gives me mean looks afterwards. It's one tramadol twice a day which shouldn't be chewed and a gabatentin. She's chewing the pills and foaming at the mouth afterwards. Any suggestions on how to sneak these into her so she'll stop giving me those looks? She's clamping her mouth shut and squirming which makes it hard to get them in the back of her throat. Thanks for any advice!

 

[Leonard and his bud Snuffles]

The best luck I have had with Snuffles as a whole is stick pills in his mouth way back on his tongue. When Snuffles went on tramadol for a short time, the vet said a lot of dogs do not like the taste, and Snuffles was one. Capsules in general seem to be easy to get Snuffles to swallow, especially if the outside is liked dipped in water. I do have to stick pills and such in the back of his throat. Anyway when I had to use tramadol, I had put them in these capsules. There is a size 000 that are bigger, but they are not sold locally. Gabatentin is a pretty large pill I think. I have coated stuff with a bit of butter to help it slide in the throat a bit better. You might start with a morsel of a high value treat, a pill, another treat, a pill, then a final treat.

 

[wrknnwf]

A Newf friend of mine suggests liverwurst. Says it never fails.

 

[Ginny]

I think they say don't allow them to crush the tramadol is because of the bad taste. Peanut butter works well here. Never tried pill pockets

 

[shellyk]

Yogurt, whipped cream cheese, cottage cheese, peanut butter, re-fried beans, what ever gooey stuff we have on hand that will hold the pills on a spoon. One of ours is sensitive to peanuts so we had to start getting creative. If your dog doesn't like spoons - we have also shoved them into cut up pieces of hot dogs or rolled them into a slice of cheese.

 

[njkonn]

Thanks! I'm going to keep a list and rotate methods regularly to keep it interesting

 

[Jeannie]

I always keep a few bags of pill pockets (the capsule size) on hand. I can get almost all of my boarding dogs to take their meds when I use them. Getting the larger size I can use only the amount needed to cover the meds and not waste a lot.

 

[2newfs4now]

Peanut butter is my method. I did have a Newf that couldn't have peanuts and cream cheese worked with him.

 

[Codes]

I just started using coconut oil and the dogs go ape over it. Used to use spray cheese and peanut butter but the coconut oil works the best for my crew.

 

[victoria1140]

Liver pate,coarse variety. Little cocktail sausages. Cheese moulded around tablets

 

[Leonard and his bud Snuffles]

One Vet suggested marshmallows instead of pill pockets.

 

[njkonn]

Got it down with peanut butter tonight after she licked all the coconut oil off and left the pill. So...pb it is until she refuses. Now, thanks to you all, I have a ton of great stuff to try!

 

[Darwinsnewfie@1855]

Platos Thinkers in salmon always works for me. They are long treats in a casing, but you can take out a little of the salmon and hide the pill in its place. Dogs go crazy over the taste and smell of these treats. However, the pill pockets seem like they would work well and probably a little cheaper. I'm going to try them next time.

 

[Brandie&Maggie]

I would make a sandwich out of 1/4 slice of bread. Spread peanut butter on it, stick the pills to the the peanut butter, fold over and squish together.

Maggie would swallow it whole. And loved it.

 

[littlerosieuk]

Dairylea or Laughing Cow cheese triangles work wonders. They think they are getting a treat.