[HeyWife]

Charlee is on several medications right now. One for his skin mites, which is liquid given with a syringe, no problem. He got a dose of Pyrantel, which does something to him that if we feed him anything but dog food, he throws up. I have an antibiotic for his ears which is capsule form and I can't get him to take it. It says to be taken with food, but I think all of these medications is affecting his appetite and he doesn't want to eat. I tried giving it to him with a scrambled egg, but he ate around it and threw up the egg anyway. For a day or so it was working to put the capsule in a piece of cheese. Now he chews up the cheese and spits out the pill. He tried chewing the pill today and it broke apart and the powder came out on the carpet so it was a wasted dose. He doesn't eat treats, pill pockets or peanut butter some I'm at a loss as to what to do. Any suggestions?

 

[Erin]

Daisy gets a pill each day as well, but we just put it in her food and she wolfs it down. Cheese works really well for her too but I had a dog growing up that would eat around the pill. You could try cream cheese, that's what one of the girls at my office uses. Good luck!

 

[BookerMoose]

I was going to say cream cheese too - or a nice soft brie... that is Booker's favourite and she can't really get the pill out of the cheese because is is soft and wraps around.

 

[Murphys Dad]

I just open Chloe's mouth, stuff in as deep as I can, close it, rub a little, and that's that!

 

[Karebru]

I posted a long, overly detailed description, and then tried it on Sadie. I over analyzed how I do it, and it doesn't work that way.

I'll just add to what Chloe's Mommy said.

Quote: I just open Chloe's mouth, stuff in as deep as I can, close it, rub a little, and that's that!

Tilt his head back while you do this. It give you the advantage of gravity and opens the throat. And hold his mouth close till he swallows.

 

[Mom of 2 Beagles]

I just put the pill in a piece of cheese. Have to watch them, because sometimes they just spit the pill out.

 

[Murphys Dad]

First, I would suggest that you give your vet a call and let them know that Charlee is not eating and ask if they want you to continue the antibiotic.
My Maggie gets a minimum of 6 pills a day, one of which is broken into halves and the halves are still quite large. I have never disguised her pills in any way when she was younger and these days I'm glad I didn't -- I would go through a bag of Pill Pockets very quickly! I just open her mouth, stick the pill into the little pocket towards the back of one side of her mouth and close her mouth until her tongue comes out (and not just peeking out). If I let Maggie open her mouth too soon, out pops the pill. Maggie has even been known to hide pills in her mouth. Our beagles are certainly clever!

 

[Murphys Dad]

Jersey takes half a pill, twice a day for her bladder control issues. In the morning I put it in her food and she eats it, no problems (usually). At night I give it to her in some peanut butter. All it takes is enough to coat the pill. I use just the tip of a teaspoon. If the pill is bigger or the dog knows it's in there, crunchy peanut butter can work to hide the pill better.

 

[Opus]

I'm no expert at pilling a dog but I do know a lot of tricks for difficult patients. Capsule form pills usually don't contain medication in the actual capsule, the medication is the powder. You should be able to break it open and just serve the powder inside. That way, you can just sprinkle it on his food or mix it in a syringe. I'd ask the vet first, as some meds may not be directly mixable with certain foods or liquids.

 

[beaglesmom]

I'm afraid I'm not much help - I usually use a SMALL piece of soft bread, wrap the pill in it and they gulp it down before they know what they're eating. It's less messy than peanut butter or cheese - and certainly less expensive than pill pockets. I usually start them off with a TINY bite of plain bread - then the pill wrapped in bread. Seems to work with all of mine. Some things I can get them to eat directly - (some of the flavored pills) - but normally the ol' pill in the bread trick works well for everyone in my pack.

 

[Mollys Mom]

I usually will add a bit of canned food or canned pumpkin, put the pill in that and cover the food with a few pieces of kibble. That way when they gobble the canned item, they only taste and feel the kibble.

 

[Lynne]

I use bread to wrap around the pill, but I have another piece for her when the first one is in her mouth...I use the greed factor....if she knows there is going to be another piece coming right after, she will hurry with the first one that has the pill in it to get the second piece of bread.....Works every time

 

[Murphys Dad]

When my dogs get obstinate about taking pills, I use Chloe's Mommmy's method.

 

[missmollygirl]

I've done cheese, bread and peanut butter. If he is throwing up, Chloe's Mommy's method works. It will be a bit of a fight. I had to do that with my lab two weeks ago when she got a stomach bacteria. She liked the chewable anti-diarreal medicine, but the antibiotic, she hated. I had to pry her mouth open, put the pill in there and hold her mouth shut. I found that when I rubbed her throat, she would swallow it. I learned this from my vet when my old GSD was taking meds. It sounds rather primative, but it does work.

 

[Brisen]

When I have to give Maggie medication, I cut off a piece of hot dog and stuff the pill inside. So far, it has worked everytime. When she was really little, I used Chloe's Mommy's method.

 

[weed30]

Try hiding it inside something delicious, maybe some braunschweiger - it's soft enough to completely mold around the pill, and pretty smelly. Certain cheeses will work too, like Havarti. (soft enough to mold, but not so soft that it sticks to your fingers.)

Give him some plain pieces first. Make him sit, then give him a yummy piece. Do this 3 - 4 times, THEN give him the piece. He will be so excited about this delicious treat that he won't even realize piece #3 or 4 has the dreaded pill in it. This worked for one of my dogs who was THE WORST pill taker ever.

 

[Tucker]

I use Spray cheese for Tucker. I just put a little on my finger, put the pill in the cheese and he eats it right off my finger. Luckily he has a real soft mouth so I don't have to worry about losing any fingers. When we had Jasmine, we nicknamed her the Pirahna because she got a little bit of finger. She did learn and became good with practice, Since she was 17, she tended to need a pharmacy at meal time.

 

[littlemo]

Daisy does not like pills of any kind. The vet gave me a product called Flavor Doh. It comes in a tub. There are two flavors - chicken or liver. Daisy loves the liver. It's just like a doughy stuff. I use a teaspoon and take enough to cover the pill or capsule. Then I warm it in my fingers just a bit so that it molds really well around the pill. The smell of it drives Daisy wild -- she even licks my fingers clean afterward.

Bread works well, too. I used to use hot dog bun pieces to give a liquid med to my Vinny for his epilepsy. He would not take it from the syringe -- it tasted vile! So I measured it in the syringe and squirted it onto the bun. Then I made a bread ball and I always had another plain piece as a chaser.

Good luck!!

Monica and Daisy

 

[HeyWife]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, but I'm still having issues. I have one weird Beagle. He won't eat treats, anything he doesn't recognize he pushes it around with his nose like he's trying to bury it. The cheese was working for a bit but now it's like he knows. I put the pill in a hot dog but that didn't work. Last night he did wolf down a piece of roast beef so that pill went down easy but I don't have roast beef available twice a day. He's finally starting to eat his food so I'll try popping the pill in his food. Only 7 more days to go and he's done. I'm having flashbacks from when my son was a toddler and trying to give him medicine. LOL!