How to give a dog a tablet

[puffinnuffin]

Our KCKS has got to take antibiotics for the next week for an iffy tummy/infection probably from eating something slightly toxic.

He has to take tablets and some squirty stuff for the next week. The vet made it look easy when she popped it in his mouth and said we shouldn't have any trouble as he is a docile dog!

My husband and I have just had several goes at trying to give our dog his tablet. Every time our dog somehow manages to store it and then spit it out, despite us stroking his neck like you do with a cat.

In the end I had to crush it and mix it with a teaspoon of his special chicken food to get him to take the tablet. I know this isn't ideal.

Does anyone have any good tips for giving a dog a pill please? Thank you!

[TakingTheStairs]

I either crush the tablet and sprinkle it into his food or cut it in two/three and hide it in pieces of cheese.
I don't think it matters if its crushed. He is still ingesting it.
Good luck!

[MeerkatMerkin]

Why can he not have it with food?

I normally put tablets inside a cube of cheddar and they think it's a treat. :)

[BoysBoysBoysAndMe]

Crush it
Or wrap it in ham/chicken
Or Hold dogs head up, open jaws, pop pill to back of throat, hold jaw closed for a second or two. Give a treat

[toboldlygo]

It does matter if some tablets are crushed - check with your vet before doing this.

I also hide them in a piece of cheese. :)

[Beamur]

I hide it in a bit of bread and peanut butter - nice and sticky so the pill can't easily come free

[Tortoise]

I hide tablets in ham or cheese. My greyhound is so greedy he swallows it all without any problem .

[tanfastic]

I've got the knack for this. Mine was on long term huge anti b's and I spent the first week faffing about hiding them in bits of cheese etc which he ate and then spat the damn tablet out.

Depending on the size of the dog, I have a Lhasa Apso. I sit him on a table (somewhere he can't wriggle or jump off), tip his head back, open his mouth and put the tablet as far to the back of his throat as you can and then gently massage his throat. Works a treat every time.

[TakingTheStairs]

Is the squirty stuff the stuff in the big syringe with the twist measurement at the plunger end? The pro-biotic? I found that my dog liked the taste of it so rather than stress him and shove the syringe in his mouth, I'd measure the correct amount onto a spoon and let him lick it off instead. No stress for either of you and medicine still taken

[Tobagostreet]

Smear a small amount of butter on the tablet, place it as far back on the tongue as you can, hold mouth (gently) closed and give the throat a little rub to encourage swallowing.

Worked every time for my family dogs.

Good luck!

[RegularVoltaire]

I'm another who uses a cube of cheese

Good luck.

[TakingTheStairs]

Good idea about the bread & sticky peanut butter Beamur. I'll use that in future

And thanks for the info about crushing tablets tobodlygo, I'll keep that in mind next time.

[BOF]

Yes, hide it in a small block of cheese.

[DalekInAFestiveJumper]

I used to work for an animal shelter, where I learned the fine art of just shoving it in there. My DP finds this practice rather alarming to watch, however, so we usually use cheese or peanut butter.

As a result, my dogs think medications are the greatest thing ever.

[puffinnuffin]

Wow! Thanks for all those fast responses-lots of ideas to try.
Taking the stairs- yes it is in the syringe- took ages to work out how to squirt the thing!

Thanks again. I shall try some of them tomorrow.

[sugarandspite]

In our house, the only way to get pills down DDog is to coat each pill in marmite and drop 'accidentally' onto the floor whilst enacting a rather enthusiastic pantomime along the lines of 'oh no! I have just dropped some of my lovely lunch on the floor'

But you do have to make it believable or he knows something's up and won't touch the marmite-pills!

[ClaraOswald]

My Border was as thick as pigshit when it came to tablets.

We used to ask if she would like a sweetie. Pretend to give it to her, and just tease her a bit as you might do with a treat.
It worked 90% of the time. The other 10 was wrestling her to the ground and popping the pill in from behind her and having some meat paste on hand to rub on her lip to get her to lick and swallow instead of cough and spit.

[TerraNotSoFirma]

Cocktail sausages with the pill shoved right into the middle.
They don't touch the sides with my two.

[BeQuicksieorBeDead]

One of those spreadable mature cheddar tubs. Roll the tablet in the cheese spread, make a few placebo cheese balls with no tablet. Ours gets in to a rhythm of catching and gulping down the placebo, then we throw the real one... Most of the time she falls for it, but she is devilishly clever and a couple of times we have caught her hiding the tablet behind the sofa later I on!

[Vibbe]

I hide them in some kind of food that smells strong, or in some raw beef.

If she keeps spitting them out, I'll crush them and mix them with something she likes such as spreadable liver or fish.

[GemmaTeller]

In a little marmite sandwich.

[FanjolinaJolie]

Crush it with a teaspoon and mix with a blob of philly.

Job done

[JuliaScurr]

with cats - mash with eg cream cheese, then smear on cat. Cat licks it all off.
do dogs do that?

[mistlethrush]

Curl of butter wrapped around the pill... slips down easily. First few times you might give a little butter first before butter coated pill. My old dog used to remind you if you hand't given her her pill in the evening...

[pigsDOfly]

I started a thread on here awhile ago about how to get pills into a small dog. I was given a lot of helpful advice and food for thought. Anyway, after a lot of trial and error I found that I could get them into her by hiding them in the middle of the soft treats she has been having for most of her life (bit like the sausage idea).

I would second the not crushing thing; my vet told me not to do it for these particular pills. And it's always a good idea to check if any foods are not compatible with any medicines, apparently the effectiveness of the antibiotic my dog is on can be compromised if given with cheese.