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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Help! I need a foolproof way to get my dog to take a tablet

65 replies

Deadnettle · 05/02/2017 10:35

Its taken 1.5 hours to get her to take 1 half tablet. She's supposed to take 2 half tablets twice a day. I couldn't find the other one so have no idea if she's had any of it but I did find the painkiller.

We hid it in her breakfast, in chedder, in cream cheese, in peanut butter, in bread, and finally in some butter. By the time she took the tablet she was in pain which is, I think, the only reason she took the butter/tablet mix. I highly doubt it will work again.

She either ate around the tablet or smelt it and refused to eat it or anything it had touched.

Any ideas? Our last dog needed 6-10 tablets a day and I had no trouble getting him to take them but this dog is a nightmare!

OP posts:
Veterinari · 05/02/2017 15:43

Open mouth by pushing top lips under the teeth, place pill on back of tongue, close mouth blow into nostrils - she'll swallow - offer her a drink or treat after to reassure her and help the pill down the gullet

WeAllHaveWings · 05/02/2017 16:47

we either drop it down his throat and hold mouth shut/rub throat until he swallows

or wrap it up meatball style in raw mince, one meatball without then one with, with another in eye sight to quickly follow

Original poster
Deadnettle · 05/02/2017 18:10

One tablet down, one to go.

I hid it in sausage and gave her several pieces in quick succession. Unfortuately she noticed it so I don't think that will work late but we'll see.

Thank you for all the advice.

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TondelayaDellaVentamiglia · 05/02/2017 21:09

just remembered, MIL swears by jam

blob of jam, pinch tablet in it, dog scoffs jammy tablet. ...she had bigger dogs though!

5hell · 05/02/2017 21:19

One of our dogs has 11 tablets per day!...we found the best approach is to wrap them in burger cheese slice and then make him work for it (I think someone else may have suggested this), so sit > cheesy tablet, paw> cheesy tablet, lie down > cheesy tablet etc. But I guess some dogs are just less greedy & more picky...good luck!

NiceCuppaTeaAndASitDown · 05/02/2017 21:23

Ours is terrible for not taking tablets, but grinding the tablets up and stirring into squeezy primula in a tube) particularly the ham or prawn one) works every time

Original poster
Deadnettle · 05/02/2017 21:26

I'll add jam to the list of things we don't have! Grin

I do think the size of my dog is making a difference to her tablet eating. The tablets she has to take are bigger than most treats she gets and they are only half of a tablet!

Only one more to do tonight and then 4 tomorrow.

5hell although my dog is very very smart she doesn't really have any drive and doesn't really care for food so she wont take a treat if she doesn't want it. It's super annoying.

NiceCuppa I crushed one of the tablets this morning but she didn't eat it, I think she could smell it.

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BillyDaveysDaughter · 05/02/2017 21:27

My dog is EXACTLY like this. I use a strong, mature cheddar and cut three or four pieces - smoosh a tablet into a chunk and really squash the cheese around it till its warm and gooey and stinky.

Just as a pp said, feed a clean piece, feed the drugged piece, chase with a couple of clean pieces. It doesn't touch the sides and she's a proper fussy old bag.

I've also done it with pate although it messier. But another poster had a great idea, make it an absolutely forbidden treat and "accidentally" drop the cheesy tablet on the floor.

My dog also plays up to an audience. If she has refused the suspect cheesy chunk and is circling it suspiciously, I casually saunter out of the room. Give it a few minutes, go back in, and it's vanished...

Original poster
Deadnettle · 06/02/2017 09:37

feed a clean piece, feed the drugged piece, chase with a couple of clean pieces. It doesn't touch the sides and she's a proper fussy old bag

Sadly that doesn't work all the time. This morning it didn't but last night it did. My dog is one of those rare ones that chew so she found the tablet and spat it out. Being the smart dog that she is means that she now wont eat any of the clean pieces incase there is a tablet hiding in them.

I did manage to get her to eat both tablets eventually.

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BillyDaveysDaughter · 06/02/2017 11:06

Hmm tricky. Mine has been known to carefully suck the pate from around a tablet and carefully spit out a clean pill, but she only briefly chews cheese so it tends to go down.

Interestingly, my husband can't get her to take a tablet in cheese - but that's because he makes the piece too big, so that she has no choice but to chew it to get it down. Then she identifies the tablet and spits the whole lot out.

If they are molded tablets as opposed to filled capsules, you can use a pill cutter to trim them down to halves or quarters, then hide them in a smaller piece of cheese that she scarcely has to chew? My DH makes them malteser sized, thats too big...I make them pea sized or even smaller. Squishing the cheese around it so it's soft and fully covers the pill.

Other than that - I'm out of ideas! Good luck though!

Original poster
Deadnettle · 06/02/2017 12:39

Thanks BillyDaveysDaughter a quarter of the tablet is about the size of the treats we use in training, so there is no way to cover the tablet and it make it small enough for her not to notice. The trick is for her to notice too late to do anything about it.

The biggest problem is that she doesn't care about food so if she's even a tiny bit suspicious she'll leave it. She will literally starve herself until she is sick rather than eat something she doesn't want, even if that food was totally acceptable the previous meal!

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BillyDaveysDaughter · 06/02/2017 18:50

Oh man, you have got a problem! Mine used to cheerfully starve herself as well, she was so thin as a puppy. Took me 3 years to get her onto food she'd eat consistently, now she's 9 she eats pretty well and I can get her tablets into her (she has chronic spinal pain so takes a lot of painkillers). She's a patterdale terrier, only 6 kgs.

Well if I come up with any other genius ideas I'll let you know...!

Crush it in cat food? I disguised wheatgerm like that...

Original poster
Deadnettle · 06/02/2017 19:29

She does actually eat regular meals now and has done for the last 6 months, she's put on nearly 2kg in that time and is now a healthy 8.5kg. Previously she wouldn't eat the same meal twice and was regularly sick.

I welcome any and all ideas!

I don't think cat food would work or if it did I think it would only work once or twice and then I would be stuck with a load of cat food!

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Tamberlane · 07/02/2017 05:49

Pill popper...the one that includes water spot in the syringe.it lets you put the tablet in quickly far back the throat and avoid the teeth, the water gets them to swallow. If doing a daily id flavour the water gravy/tuna etc to make it more appealing.Think pets at home sell them

Original poster
Deadnettle · 07/02/2017 09:08

Thanks Tamberlane I'll look those up.

Last nights and this mornings tablets were all taken without any issue. Long may that continue!

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