Pill pockets for pets

[CWS4322]

I used to work the "mouth" on all my dogs...for some reason, I never did this with Roz. I can't open her mouth and "shove" a pill down her throat. She's smart--she can smell the pill if I wrap it in bread, cheese, or peanut butter. I had an "ah-ha" moment at the grocery store yesterday. I picked up a package of chicken hearts (Roz will eat raw meat). So...I tucked her antibiotics into the center of the heart, and got her antibiotics into her. I did teach her to "take things off a fork" so I pierced the heart that had the drugs in it and offered it to her off a fork. It worked. Nature's pill pockets. If you have a dog that is difficult to pill, try chicken hearts as pill pockets.

 

[Rocklobster]

Recently we had to give ours some antibiotics for porcupine quills. It didn't go well at first. I started to crush them with a meat cleaver and mix them in with wet dog food. It worked pretty good. He was finding them in everything at first. I stuck one in a piece of cooked bratwurst and threw it up in the air and he caught it.(we regularly play this game). He chewed it down and "ploop!" out came the pill on the floor. lol

 

[CWS4322]

Originally, I could just put the pills in with her food, but she's gotten fussy--is mostly eating only protein. I have dissolved pills in water and "shot" those in with a syringe, but a dog that won't let you handle its mouth is a challenge. Roz is a rescue dog that had a lot of issues re: handling (hence, why she was never placed). She generally lets me do whatever to her, but when I tried to open her mouth and pop the pills in, she growled at me. I take a growl seriously so I didn't push it. I had to figure out another way to get the drugs in her...And, I'm happy to report, she is doing very well for an 11-yr. old Saint with "can't tell what is really wrong" issues.

Glad to hear your dog recovered from that incident!

 

[medtran49]

try cooked chicken liver. Our dogs love it and can't wait to get it in their greedy little maws.

 

[CWS4322]

I debated between the chicken liver and the chicken hearts. Because she spit out the pill with every wrap I tried (including digging a pit in cheese and tucking the pill in), I decided the "hole" in the chicken heart might be my best bet. Chicken liver is on her menu (we feed our dogs a raw diet, so they eat raw meat), but the hearts were bought for the "pocket." I make liver cubes out of chicken liver and yogurt--frozen in ice cube trays and stuffed in kongs. I can PM you the recipe if you are interested. I also make liver brownies...

 

[sparrowgrass]

I generally use bread with peanut butter. One piece with the pill, and a 'followup' piece without. If they think there is another treat coming, they generally gulp the first one quickly. It helps that I have 3 dogs--they do not want the other dog to get the treat.

 

[Rocklobster]

I have always wondered why they don't make pet medication in the form of tasty treats. Have they ever?

 

[Andy M.]

I had a Golden years ago that could find a pill in anything and spit it out.

I ended up just opening his mouth and pushing the pill down the side of his throat as instructed by the vet.

This was the routine for his heartworm pills years ago when it was a daily pill. When he heard the pill bottle rattling he'd come over and sit in front of me and relax his mouth for his pill.

 

[pacanis]

I have always wondered why they don't make pet medication in the form of tasty treats. Have they ever?

Dog meds and our meds are very often the same, just using a different name. And I imagine anything tasty would not have the shelf life they want.

 

[CWS4322]

I have probably pilled more dogs than any of you. Sometims it works, sometimes it doesn't. This is why I used to do a "training" exercise of opening the dog's mouth and shoving a treat in. I didn't do that with Roz. I did, however, do that with my Missy. This is why I could keep her to die at home. I could pill her and she would swallow the pill. Believe me, Roz is a "chow hound" and will typically eat any thing and everything. However, because of being "sick" she's off her food, fights back when I try to open her mouth and shove a pill in, and so getting her to take peanut butter, etc.wrapped around her meds, is tricky. I would encourage all of you with young dogs to work the mouth so that you can open it and "shove" a pill in (but play this game with soft treats--pb, liver, etc.).

 

[jennyema]

I found a dog pill under the kitchen radiator the other day and all of my pups have been gone for 1 1/2 yrs.

My greyhound, Opal, wouldn't take pills or eat any vegetables. She would snarf mouthfuls from her bowl, chew, and simultaneously spit the vegetables out from the sides of her mouth, with the wiener dog down below on dirt devil duty.

 

[CWS4322]

Pill pockets are the industry's answer to getting dogs to take pills. But, dogs are smart (as are cats) and they spit them out. So, we are challenged!

Thursday night I "wrapped" Roz's meds in raw hamburger...she coughed for about 2 hours. I was afraid I had caused her to aspirate.

 

[medtran49]

I think the smell from the chicken liver cooking drives them crazy cause they know it means they are getting a treat and are usually so anxious by the time it cools down enough to eat that it just gets gulped whole, no chewing involved. Perfect pill giving scenario.

I do make treats with chicken liver, as well as beef/veal/ham/chicken baby food and peanut butter, not all at once, different recipes. We stopped feeding them purchased treats after the problems with pet food and treats from China a few years back. Depending on how big the pills are and how big I make the treats, I can drill a little hole in them, put the pill in and down it goes. They love their little nuggets. They know what the smells are from those too, even when the dough is still getting mixed. One of them will sit and stare up at the counter and chuff, especially when the baking sheet comes out of the oven and is sitting on the counter cooling. Good thing about them too, I can make a whole bunch and freeze them, then just pull enough out for a few rounds of treats, let them defrost, and presto-chango fresh pug nuggets.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

At the rescue group we use pill injectors to dose our charges with things like deworming pills and antibiotics. I have one feral cat that lives in my couch and he'll gobble up the pill pockets with no problem when I mix them with other treats and that's how I de-flea him because I don't feel like stressing him out by trapping or cornering and scruffing him to use Advantage. My Alpha cat, Tyson, however, after about a week and a half discovered the pill pockets had a surprise inside and refused to eat them.

I also have a Himalayan that, when given a bowl full of mixed Purina Cat Chow and Science Diet, will give you back a half bowl of Science Diet! Of course, cats are much more particular about what they eat than dogs.

 

[Saphellae]

When we first got our cats, they were all very sick, and I was giving them medicine in a squirt syringe twice or three times a day. One of them would fight me, the other would just open his mouth wide and take it like a man! lol It's funny how some animals don't mind.. while others fight tooth and nail!

 

[Claire]

I once had a dog who would actually eat a blob of liverwurst, then spit out the pill. Luckily she was small, so between hubby and me, we could force the issue, not something I'd try with a larger dog. I actually had to change brands of heartworm pills because pilling her was such a pain, and she liked Heartguard. I was told the other brand (cannot remember the brand) was actually better, but it isn't better if the dog waits until you're out of sight and spits it out.

 

[Dawgluver]

Many years ago, my old cocker Jeff loved beef stew, except for the peas. They were always found in his bowl, licked clean, with the rest of the stew gone.

 

[JMediger]

I scoop out a ball of velveeta using a melon baller and shove it in there. Jack doesn't need meds often so I figure the cheese is worth it to get the pill down!

 

[buckytom]

Dog meds and our meds are very often the same, just using a different name. And I imagine anything tasty would not have the shelf life they want.

yes, in a pinch i've taken woof-itor, for cholesterol.

my total cholesterol is down to 175, and i have a sbiny coat.

 

[pacanis]

yes, in a pinch i've taken woof-itor, for cholesterol.

my total cholesterol is down to 175, and i have a sbiny coat.

... and a hard time walking by fire plugs.