How to give pills to dog

tweety

Whats a healthy safe way to give my dog pills, he has elevated liver enzymes, and I dont want to hide pill in something that will make that worse.
Thanks
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Alpha

I have to Roxy pills everyday, hiding it in cheese or peanut butter, was never really an option. She has to take the pills, so let's do it and get it over with.

I have her sit, hold her mouth open with my left hand, (now I just have to stick a finger in and she opens up for me) and use my right hand to place the pill at the very back of her throad, sometimes I'll push it a little bit down her throat with a finger.

If your dog starts to bring the pill back up, you need to hold her muzzle closed and rub her throat to make her swallow the pill down.

I feed Roxy right after giving her pills, her breakfast is pretty much like a big treat because of all the canned food, so she doesn't mind getting her pills at all because she knows she's going to get her treat right after.

I hope I explained it alright

This is just the way I've found to be easiest, especially seeing as she has to get pills everyday. It's fast, it's quick and it gets the job done.

CrzyBritNAmerica

I was about to say just what Alpha said.

With Bridgette I do the same thing...just hold her mouth open and pop it at the very back and then rub her throat until she swallows it down. I make sure that she gets a treat or her food right afterwards.

Weebles

I usually put the pill in a little bit of canned food (make a meat ball out of the food and stick the pill in the middle). My dog doesn't even notice it.

I used to have a cat that would refuse to take pills. We would stick it in her mouth, rub her throat, hold her mouth closed, and everything else. Apparently it didn't work though, because when we moved (5 years later) we found a little pile of cat pills behind some furniture.

Ginny01OT

I swish it in the raw food (never sees it coming), or I wrap a piece of cheese around it (most dogs can never resist a piece of cheese).

Lorina

I do that, too. Hiding it in meat or cheese didn't work, but a tiny meatball of canned food works every time.

I had an elderly cat with a heart condition that needed twice daily medication. I couldn't pill her without totally stressing her out, which is not something you want to do with a cat with heart failure. So I could only give her liquid medication. If you're unable to give a pill, check with your vet about having the medication compounded at a pharmacy into a liquid. They can even flavor the liquid medications to make them go down easier.

RonE

I am amazed at how adept some dogs get at separating a pill from food.

We has a beagle that lived on something unfortunate, like Gravy Train. If we put a pill in his food, he would inhale the Gravy Train and leave the pill in his dish. We though about renting him out to laboratories as a centrifuge.

I would give my lab a pill wrapped in some liver sausage and felt confident that he had swallowed it, only to find it under his bed the next day.

Alpha's method is the only truly reliable way for some dogs.

Lorina

I wrapped a piece of cheese around Beav's heartworm pill and pinched all the edges so it formed a tiny cheese-and-Interceptor ravioli, and he still managed to eat around the pill. And that's supposed to be a "flavor tab."

Yet he'll eat Endosorb (for loose stool) like it's a treat. All I have to do is toss one on the floor, and he'll eat it.

xoxluvablexox

When my dog got stung by wasp I had to give him something to bring the swelling down so I just sliced halfway through a little piece of hotdog and put the pill in the middle and he gulped it right down. He didn't even know the pill was in the piece of hotdog. It worked pretty well for me but I'm not sure how well that'll work for you.

Snowshoe

I second the hot-dog opinion.

Orchid ignores most treats. The ONLY thing I can get her to perform for is a piece of hot dog.

Nagem

I also use hot dog. It works like a charm. There are commercial products available though, if you want to go that route. I think they're made primarily with gelatin and beef flavouring. They come in several sizes and you just drop the pill in and pinch it closed and hand it over to the dog to gulp down. I forget the name of them, but I tried them at one point in time for my dog. He was only fooled for a little while and now won't go anywhere near them so we are back to the hotdog (which is more economical anyway).

bearlasmom

if your dog is anything like mine, it will be a wizard at taking the meat or cheeze away from the pill and surprising you with it somewhere in the house later. One thing that has not failed me yet was taught to me by a vet. Purchase some large straws, the ones that you use for frozzen icee drinks, in some areas they are called slushies.

Put the pill in the end of it. get you dog to sit. stand behind it. Bend its head up, open it, put the straw in fast and blow the pill down the back of the dogs throat.

It goes down fast and doesnt give them a chance to bring it back up. it works every time.
oh and becareful not to swallow it or inhale it yourself. lmao. i have

Ginny01OT

that's great advice--love it!

SFury

The best success I've had was using the same method that Alpha outlined. The only slight variation for me is that I always rub the dogs throat.

My parents first golden developed cancer in his later years and we caught it early on the first time and the treatment was a twice daily pill that I had to give him. Like RonE said, it is amazing how adept that some dogs can get with not swallowing pills and I found several pills in different places.

We were able to get him past the first round once I got the hang of the shove and forced swallow method (as I call it). That was a valuable lesson, and when my little Buck got sick, that was the only method that worked to get him his medication.

piersir

Giving a dog a pill is as easy as pie! Just put the pill in the throat, or actually the mouth will usually do, and close their snout (nose) and blow into their nose. It will make them lick and they will have to swallow. Works every time!

Amaya-Mazie-Marley

We used the product Nagem mentioned..They are called "pill pockets". They are like a treat but with a round hole in the middle, you just place the pill in and pinch the edges together and my dogs and cats love it. I do have one cat though that always manages to get everything but the pill. So we just hold her head up, open her mouth, drop the pill in, and hold her mouth shut. Its good to rub their throat or blow in their nose, it helps them to swallow.

poodleholic

Just be aware that by using the above method, there is the very real danger of your dog aspirating the pill (going into the lung). THEN you've got a serious problem. DON'T use this method.

Renoman

Boy do I feel lucky. I just put the pills in the food bowls and the boys just eat them with the rest of their food.

beaglechaser

I use slices of the Natural Balance log. They get it for breakfast anyway and it is very easy to push a pill into. Or if we had a dinner that involves a gravy or sauce I dip the pill in that.

Orange County Ca

Taking advantage of the dogs desire to gulp food we moisten a piece of bread than can be swollowed in one gulp. Wrap the damp bread around the pill and it's "treat" time. The ball of bread should be small enough to swallow in one gulp but big enough to cover the pill completely.