Getting dog to take tablets

[Finlib]

One of my dogs takes tablets for cardiomyopathy.
He takes 4 tablets am and 7 tablets pm.
I am having real trouble getting him to take them.
He used to take them in a little cream cheese when that stopped working went to wrapping them in a roast chicken slice
That has now stopped working.
Any ideas on what to try now.
Some of the tablets are really small and crumbly
so need to be sure they are actually swallowed.

 

[AmyMay]

Pate
Tuna
Cheese
Salami
Sausage

 

[Finlib]

Tried cheese and Tuma in the past and no good.Will have to get some pate and thaw some sausages to cook and try that.Thanks

 

[teddypops]

Dairylea is the only thing my collie will take tablets in.

 

[Unicorn]

For us it's Primula squeezy cheese in a tube.

 

[Finlib]

Dairylea worked for the first six months now he won't touch it.
It's a shame because it stopped the pills crumbling.

 

[AmyMay]

My friends dog will only take tablets with a very expensive blue cheese ?. (She drinks the Claret herself??)

 

[Lipglosspukka]

I just poke tablets into chunks of tinned dog meat.

 

[meleeka]

pate is the weapon of choice in this house. If allowed I crush tablets for my jrt as she can fish them out of anything.

 

[deb_l222]

I've always used dairylea cheese slices although I've just improvised with Babybell recently and that worked just as well. I've got greedy dogs though, so you could be putting arsenic in cheese and they would still eat it!!

I was going to suggest just open the mouth and push down with your thumb but that's a huge amount of tablets to do that with so probably not practical.

You want something REALLY smelly, so pate, tuna (as already suggested) or maybe even tinned chappie. I've never known a dog be able to resist that.

 

[Quigleyandme]

Would a cube of raw meat work?

 

[Kat_Bath]

Possibly a bit weird and not sure if it would actually be possible but could you hide in a sprat...?!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Open dog's mouth, push tablet to back, lift jaw, hold mouth shut and stroke the throat until the tablet is swallowed. Or give the tablet as a treat.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Frankfurter

 

[CorvusCorax]

Open dog's mouth, push tablet to back, lift jaw, hold mouth shut and stroke the throat until the tablet is swallowed. Or give the tablet as a treat.

I had a bitch who could hold a tablet like that for 15 minutes rather than swallow it.

 

[neddy man]

Potted meat for ours.

 

[fankino04]

I used to half cocktail sausages and put tablets in some but not others and throw them for the dog so she caught and swallowed before figuring it out

 

[Finlib]

Pushing them down his throat is not an option 4 tablets are very small and crumble so have no resistance and get sprayed everywhere 2 tablets are large and if not pushed right down get projected back out also would have to be done one at a time so 4 times am and 7 times pm You end up covered in bits of tablet and he gets really upset not great when you need to do it twice a day for the rest of his life.
Will look at pate as it is soft enough to push the tablets into it without them crumbling into tiny pieces.

 

[skinnydipper]

I use:

Philly
Tubidog liver pate. It is in a tube. Soft, able to mould around tablets. https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dog_treats_chews/training_treats/169593
Sardines in spring water, drained and mashed

 

[Birker2020]

One of my dogs takes tablets for cardiomyopathy.
He takes 4 tablets am and 7 tablets pm.
I am having real trouble getting him to take them.
He used to take them in a little cream cheese when that stopped working went to wrapping them in a roast chicken slice
That has now stopped working.
Any ideas on what to try now.
Some of the tablets are really small and crumbly
so need to be sure they are actually swallowed.

We've put ours onto YouMove joint supplement and she has two a day, one morning and one evening.
I just roll it up into half a slice of meat (you can buy slices of pork, beef, chicken) cheaply from Aldi or most supermarkets, £1 for 20 slices.
And then we give her the other half first so she's not suspicious and the rolled up one for some reason she just swallows whole and doesn't bother chewing it. Job done.

 

[danda]

I use rillettes of chicken or pork. Not sure if this is available in the UK though.

 

[Sprout]

One of my dogs is Epileptic and has to take 16 pills/day. I hide the meds in either some sausage or wrapped in some cheese slice.
I hope you find a way that works, it sounds as though constantly changing what you use is the best way.

 

[fiwen30]

First thing would be speak to the vet and see if you can get the mg of the tablets increased so that he’s not having to take so many.

After that, it sounds like you need to keep switching up the vehicle for them every so of ten, so it still feels like a treat.

We use a slice of cheap ham (cheap, because it doesn’t break apart!), and roll the tablets up like a crepe so that it just slides over his tongue and down the throat without needing to be chewed. We also ask for a behaviour like a sit, or paw, where he expects to get a reward after and so is more eager to eat the tablet-ham.

There have been times where he’s refused (low mg Gabapentin, had to take tons of tablets each day, since changed to high mg), and it’s been a case of straddling, head up, mouth open, tablet allll the way down, muzzle held closed & elevated, and stroke the throat/blow the nostrils a little till they swallow. He quickly learnt that ham was the preferable way.

 

[wren123]

My lab is very, very greedy but she used to loathe her bravecto tablets, she got wise to wrapping them in cheese, ham, pate etc., if I forced them down her throat she'd try and regurgitate them out! We tried pretending it was a treat, she'd just catch it excitedly then spit it out.
What worked for us was having a bowl of food ready. Then I put the tablet as far down her throat as I could, then I let go of her and she rushed to eat her food and didn't try to bring it up.
Obviously this only works of your dog is greedy.

My sympathies as it is stressful for both of you.

 

[meleeka]

Open dog's mouth, push tablet to back, lift jaw, hold mouth shut and stroke the throat until the tablet is swallowed. Or give the tablet as a treat.

My dog actually cries if I do it that way, even with her mouth clamped shut. she’s such a princess ?

 

[Finlib]

He takes 4 different tablets in the morning and the same 4 plus 2 extra different ones in the evening o(only in the evening are there 2 the same ) and they only make 50mg and 10g and his weight requires 70mg no 20 mg available.
He is not that foodie though usually eats his meals so a challenge.
I think I will have to chop and change and keep trying different stuff
Forcing them down really distressed him not good with heart problems and given his life limiting cardiomyopathy and his age 10 and a half I want make his life as happy as possible and not stress him out.
Thanks will try a selection of suggested foods.

 

[Kimm]

One of my dogs takes tablets for cardiomyopathy.
He takes 4 tablets am and 7 tablets pm.
I am having real trouble getting him to take them.
He used to take them in a little cream cheese when that stopped working went to wrapping them in a roast chicken slice
That has now stopped working.
Any ideas on what to try now.
Some of the tablets are really small and crumbly
so need to be sure they are actually swallowed.

Hide the tablets in a Laughing Cow cheese !

 

[Annette4]

It sounds daft but I've found dropping them on the floor and pretending to scramble to pick them up worked best for Ginny.

 

[paisley]

Royal Canin do something called Pill Assist- looks like little jelly meaty lumps you can squish the pill into. Never tried them, but might help a bit

 

[blackcob]

Pill Assist are fab and the only way I can get the biggest nastiest tablets into one of mine at the moment (she's become wise to processed cheese slices, ham and cocktail sausages) - however they are really expensive.