My dog needs antibiotics- but can't chew them!?
I have a hard enough time getting my 1 yr shih-tzu to chew her monthly liver-flavored heart worm pill, but now I have to give her an antibiotic that she has to swallow whole?!
HOW DO YOU DO THAT?!
She just spits it out! I’ve tried giving it to her with treats, and she eats the treats and spits out the medicine. I dipped it in pizza sauce (her favorite thing to dig out of the garbage) and she spit it out after she licked it off. I wrapped a pepperoni around it, and she ate the pepperoni and spit out the pill again!!! My MIL suggested coating it with peanut butter, but now my dog has pizza sauce and peanut butter all over her!
She’s barely eaten anything the last few days, and has even lost weight. The vet says after she takes her antibiotics and chewable pain pills she’ll feel better and eat again. But she won’t even eat her pills!
Tagged with: antibiotic • antibiotics • favorite thing • few days • garbage • heart worm • liver • medicine • pain pills • peanut butter • pepperoni • pizza sauce • shih tzu • vet
You can either take her back to the vet and ask someone there to demonstrate the best way to get the meds into your dog. I’m sure they won’t charge you for showing you that simple thing.
Or try this…As quickly as you can, open the dog’s mouth, put the pill as far back on the dog’s tongue as you can reach (the dog won’t choke)…then close the dog’s mouth and stroke her throat a few times. The stroking will make her swallow.
Good luck.
Shred up some cheese, and roll the cheese into a ball around the pill. I promise you she’ll inhale it. If you press the cheese tight enough around the pill, and make the ball as small as possible to cover the whole pill, she won’t even know that the pill is there.
You can get a pill gun from the vet. Have them show you how to use it or have them get the pills down her for you. Otherwise you may end up with a dog that will need to be hospitalized.
what i do is i rap there pills in cheese they love cheese and it isnt bad for them try it
play catch. toss her pieces of hot dogs to her and then toss her the pill without making it obvious. this might not work too well since your dog is small and probably chews before it swallows, but my dog is so big he doesn’t even notice lol..
or try smashing the pill with a fork and mixing the powder into the peanut butter.
If She has to eat it whole then you will have to almost force it down there. Open her mouth and stick the pill way back behind her tongue in the middle of her throat. You could get the pill gun to make it a little easier.
I had this problem and had to open her mouth and stick it down over her Tonga.
This sounds weird, but coat it with butter. I do that with my dogs and that has really done the trick. I put it in, and push my finger to the back of their throat. Down it goes! A trainer friend told me to do that one.
what you do is put the pill at the back of the throat with Nothing on it then hold her mouth closed and tilt her head up she will swallow the pill
So you can’t crush the pills down and mix it in with some squishy treats? As another answerer suggested, try wrapping it with strands of cheese. Also, I believe that pet stores sells products called "pill pockets". You slip a pill into the treat and give it to your dog. Call the vet for suggestions. Try putting the pill with her food, or perhaps try hiding it with several of her treats, including the sauce that she likes.
I had to give my dad’s English Setter some medicine because he had cut his chest open when he ran away. At first he would take the pill, and then spit out. So eventually we cut a piece of hot dog and pit the pill inside it. It worked and now he’s just a big healthy boy!
A couple of options.
I have ground the pills into a powder (after confirming with my vet that it’s okay), and mixed it into some Gerber’s Stage 1 Turkey baby food (ingredients – turkey, water. NO onion powder!!!!!).
I have also force-fed the pills, by opening the dog’s mouth, putting the pill as far back on her tongue as possible, then holding her nose closed and stroking her throat to encourage her to swallow. That’s a lot easier in a longer-nosed breed, it would be difficult in a Shih-tzu.
Talk to the vet about getting the medication in liquid format, then using a syringe to squirt it into the back of her mouth. If that’s not an option, ask if grinding up the pills will be okay – you can get a cheap "mortar and pestle" from the grocery store to grind them with.
If she’s having stomach troubles, giving her high-fat foods like pepperoni and pizza sauce may end up doing her more harm than good!
You may need help doing this but it’s the best way to get the pill down her throat. Have someone hold her on their lap then just open her mouth and put the pill as far into her mouth as you can, close her mouth and hold it shut, then rub her throat until she swallows. The trick is to get the pill as far into her mouth and down her throat as you can. Don’t let her go or release her mouth until she swallows. Sounds mean, but it does work and it’s really the best way to give pills when they won’t take them in food. Is the pill a capsul or a flat pill (like an aspirin). If it’s flat you could try crushing it up and putting it in the sauce and if its a capsul, open it up and put it in the sauce.
If the dog CANNOT chew the pill I have a proven (and well known) method of getting dogs to take their pills.
For a smaller dog you would kneel and back the dog into you until she’s in a sit. Give her a good treat. Pry open her jaws and put the pill back a far as you can reach. Then clamp her jaws shut and rub her throat. She should compulsively swallow. Once she’s swallowed give her her favorite treat to make the experience a pleasant one.
Be calm during this whole process and assertive. Do not make this an unpleasant experience.
Stick the pill at the very back of her tongue and kind of hold her mouth shut until she swallows it, if nothing else works. The easiest way I get my dogs to take their pills is to cut hot dogs into slices and stick them down the middle without the dog seeing me do it (usually they’ll work the pill out if they know it’s there). I make sure the pieces are small enough so they don’t have to chew and they pretty much just swallow it all whole.
Why does she have to swallow it whole? What if she loved it and chewed it? I’d look into the swallowing whole thing. Most dogs would chew it and how would u stop them.. Try the cheese thing. It always worked for us!!! Good luck…hope she’s better real soon. U R a good puppy parent!!!
maybe you can grind the pillar into flour, and pour it into milk or some tasty water;add some sugar to make it sweet enough, maybe he/she will drink it happily. when my dog doesn’t drink his medicine, I do it and he drinks the medicine happily…
Stick them deep in a marshmallow
First check with your vet. Some pills can be crushed and then mixed in with peanut butter. Some pills should never be broken. cut or crushed. I have an 8 month old dachshund mix who is doing the same thing! The only choice I have is shoving it down his throat, which is sometimes easier said than done with a little dog. Big dogs are easy because they will usually swallow a hidden pill whole, or if not, they have larger a larger mouth to get your fingers in toward the back of the throat so they can’t spit it out. My little one chomped down on my finger, but the antibiotics he is on are a MUST! I just talked to my vet today about this. I have seen him give my cat a pill with a gadet that shoots it down their throat. I asked him if that could be used on a dog and he said yes. So if shoving it down his throat doesn’t workk, ask you vet to order this gadget for you and show you how to use it. He will know what you are talking about, vets use them because getting a pill down a cat’s throat can be harder than a dog’s and they have to do it all the time. Once you get the pill into her, whether by crushing and hiding, physically putting it down her throat or the cat pill gadget, make sure she gets food in her belly. If she won’t eat food, then give her bread with peanut butter because antibiotics can really upset an empty stomach. Also the chewable pain pills can upset her tummy too! I feel for you because I am having this same issue. I tried to hide the pill in the peanut butter spread over small pieces of bread. He licked all the peanut butter off and walked away, the cat came behind him and ate all the bread, and there on the floor was the pill!