Getting Dog to take tablets

[DogualCat]

AIBU to ask how you get your dog to take tablets? Old dog has been prescribed pain relief three times a day for arthritis. He’s normally ok but these must taste vile. I’ve tried in his food, sausages, ham, chicken, hot dogs, cheese and treats but he just drops them on the floor. I’ve wasted more tablets than I’ve got him to take and the bloody prescription for the check up and 10 days of meds was £185!

Any tips or tricks I haven’t thought of? He doesn’t like peanut butter, they can’t be crushed or dissolved and I can’t open his mouth and make him take them as he’s a rescue who was badly treated and hates his muzzle being touched. Rang the vet but they couldn’t think of anything else to try.

Cheese triangles! My girls is way too smart and literally the only way is to wrap it entirely in a cheese triangle, it's so sticky she barely chews it so it just slides down.
My boy now refuses his flea tablet as he knows if he does it'll get wrapped in cheese spread 😂

Didn’t matter how the tablets tasted or what I put them in my lab wouldn’t take tablets, so we just used to have to stick them at the back of his throat, clamp the muzzle shut and stroke his throat and then give him a treat for not running away. Neither of us liked it but only way. Stroking throat was vital as for a few weeks he’d been spitting them up behind a tree in the garden until DS dobbed him in.

Dairylea triangles were my first port of call but they failed me this time. Looks like I’ll need to go with the nuclear option of a truly stinky Camembert

I’d love to open his mouth and pop them in but he’s had his jaw broken and his head beaten so he goes into meltdown if you touch his muzzle

In smaller bits perhaps? But also in cheese or very small amount of cat food?

The Librela injection was wonderful for mine. It gave us a lot of time- and quality time.

They can’t be broken or crushed as they’re slow rekease and coated

I do the 'three treat trick'..

Treats 1 and 3 have no pill. You give them quickly, making sure the next treat is visible as they eat the previous one so they eat fast, gobbling them down in their urgency to get to the next one. This has never failed excepting dogs who just don't want to eat as they feel poorly!

Definitely this! Have the treat after tablet ready so they rush the tablet down to get it.

Hidden in butter on quavers worked for us!

Yes, this.

I forgot to say that that's how I do the camembert. Speed is essential.

Primula cheese spread. Recently our dog needed a dozen meds per day and quickly learned to spit them out, but coated in Primula he scoffed them down quite happily.

@Missingmyusername

Or ‘drop’ it on the floor and scramble to get it but DDog just beats you to it?

Ahahahahahaaaa! ❤️

My dog loves wafer thin ham. I give him a couple of 'balls' of that without the pill then quickly give him the preprepared one with a pill. He's never twigged.

I've had this problem recently with my cat, who needs to have thyroid meds twice daily. I was becoming desperate, but the solution has been (as suggested by Mumsnetters 🏆) to put liquid meds in Lickylix, which is a sort of yoghurt thing that cats love like Dreamies. It took a day or two to get going, but now that he feels he knows what I'm offering he just scoffs them both down, morning and evening :-)

Could your dog's meds be given in liquid form?

(My little Border Terrorist used to scoff down any pill wrapped in any piece of cheese, but I can see you've tried that.)

I'd ask for librela in your situation. My vet also didn't offer it until I asked and she then enthusiastically agreed it was a great option 🤷‍♀️

As peverse as it sounds I find just popping the pill on top of their normal dinner can work as they are then not suspicious and don't chew it so it doesn't taste so bad.

Or just try a different medication. Something like galliprant is designed to taste like a treat.

I cover in cream cheese and wrap in ham.

Squeezy cheese is your friend here! Primula do a ham flavoured one which is always a winner.

Or the luxury option... tightly wrapped in Parma ham - as it's a bit sticky they can't get the tablet out.

Has your vet shown you how to give them in the way they would? Ie on the back of the tongue with mouth held open? Obviously some dogs are far easier to do this with than others but they are usually far more amenable than cats!

Have you tried Vivi Treats? You mould them round the tablets. My dog will take them that way. But if she's having an off day I just keep on prising her mouth open, putting them towards the back of her mouth and keep doing that till she swallows it. Good luck

Slow release and 3 times a day really don't go together. And even if you get a few into him he will soon catch on. I think that the vet needs to think again

Pill launcher is your friend, right down back of throat.

Mine has four tablets every day of his life. I buy Aldi Smooth Brussels pate. It is sticky and you can roll it into a ball that dogs cannot get the tablets out of, no matter how good they are! The Aldi pate is the only one my dog loves.

Open his mouth, drop the tablet as far down his throat as you can, shut his mouth and gently blow up his nose. He will swallow the tablet.

Can he have librela injections once a month instead? My dog's doing great on it.

i bought empty capsules they come in various sizes and broke the tablet in half and put them in the capsule and dropped them in their food.
The capsules are clear or coloured and are made of gelatine you can get them from Amazon or EBay about £3ish for 100.
they worked a treat for my old dog when he was on tralieve which tastes awful.
i had spent hours messing around with pate and chicken and cream cheese etc.