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How do you give your dog pills?

Sydneys Mom

Well-known member
Sydney has always been really good about taking pills. I use to wrap it in a small amount of cheese. But as he started taking more and more pills, he started resisting and just eating the cheese and spitting out the pill. Then I started wrapping in roast beef. That worked for a while.....now I'm using a small amount of peanut butter. Between his heart meds, thyroid pill, antibiotic and supplements (some of these pills are large and I have to cut them in half) I give him about 14 pills twice a day! I hate forcing him but sometimes I have no choice.

So, I guess my question is, what do your wrap the pills in? I'm running out of ideas.
 
I buy the thin hot dogs, you can then cut a little piece off and wedge the pill in the middle of it.
Worth a try, it workd for Leo
 
I add just the tiniest bit of butter so it tastes good and is slippery so it's hard to spit out. I've used cream cheese in the past.

My brother has trained his dog to catch treats and then he works on getting them to swallow quickly to be ready for the next one, put the pills inside hot dog bits or something so they won't fly out in the air and are easy to swallow. His dog is big (100 lbs) I'm not sure it would be as easy to do with a cavalier, or the number of pills you give.
 
I failed to mention, I'm also trying to keep it low calorie and low salt. I tried banana this morning. That got pretty messy.


I buy the thin hot dogs, you can then cut a little piece off and wedge the pill in the middle of it.

I'll look for low sodium hot dogs.

I add just the tiniest bit of butter so it tastes good and is slippery so it's hard to spit out. I've used cream cheese in the past.

My brother has trained his dog to catch treats and then he works on getting them to swallow quickly to be ready for the next one, put the pills inside hot dog bits or something so they won't fly out in the air and are easy to swallow. His dog is big (100 lbs) I'm not sure it would be as easy to do with a cavalier, or the number of pills you give.

Cream cheese might work. As for Sydney trying to catch his treat, he won't even pick it up if it drops in front of him, he has me trained to pick it up for him!
 
I'm lucky with Pippin, he's so greedy that as long as he has to work for it (sit, down, heelwork etc.) he thinks its a treat and takes any tablet without it even touching the sides! :p

Maddie sniffs everything first and can work any size tablet out of anything yummy and spit it out, so I'm afraid I just open her mouth, place the pill to the back of her tongue, then gently hold her mouth closed while stroking her throat until she swallows. She has been known to still avoid swallowing it, but this is the method that works best for her, and though she doesn't like it she calmly lets me do it.
 
I also use the pill pockets for 3 of my dogs who take daily medications, but then again I have greedy little buggers when it comes to anything they can get into their mouths.
 
I've tried the pill pockets and he does like them, but they're not low in calories and by the end of the day, he ends up with over 200 extra calories a day! I'm really trying hard to keep his weight down. I've stuffed some of his smaller pills inside green beans, but he learned that trick too! Somehow, no matter how well I wrap his pills, he always knows they're in there and turns his nose up.

Maddie sniffs everything first and can work any size tablet out of anything yummy and spit it out, so I'm afraid I just open her mouth, place the pill to the back of her tongue, then gently hold her mouth closed while stroking her throat until she swallows.

When all else fails, that's what I do too. I would rather he just enjoy the little packet and think of it as a treat.
 
I really like the pill pockets by Greenies too. They are a little expensive in my opinion so I usually buy the capsule ones (they are larger ) and break them in 1/2. For the smaller pills I even break the pockets up in 1/3s. Also works with the tablet pill pockets but they are smaller so I can only get 1 or 2 pills down "per pocket".

You can break up the pockets or smoosh them back together to fit the size of your pill. Then I just hide the pill in the middle. Helps the pill pockets go a little farther when you are giving lots of pills!

All of mine LOVE them! They are convinced they are treats and they usually go right down. Occasionally they try to chew them but I have never had a pill come out.
 
If the dog won't eat the pills along with its food, we offer them with a dab of peanut butter or almond butter or cream cheese or spray cheese. We usually open capsules and dump the powder into the food.
 
I use the spray cheese (Easy Cheese) also, but it's not low-cal-- though you only need a small amount. I've also used the spreadable cheese in a jar that is orange and pink.
 
When Capers had heart failure and kidney failure, I had to keep a low sodium, low phosphorus, low fat diet for him so cheese, deli meat, etc was all out. I used raw honey to coat his pills and he took them quite eagerly even when his appetite was off.

Pat
 
Haven't thought about using honey....I've got lots of good suggestions here. I'm going to have to spend some time in the supermarket looking a labels and maybe changing things up for him every few days so he doesn't get bored.
 
Luckily, Clancy is a shark when it comes to pills. He gulps his morning zonisamide down with his breakfast (a bit of canned food and hot water mixed in his kibble). His KBr is a liquid, which I put on his evening meal. He takes his night time zonisamide wrapped in a small bit of lunch meat.
 
I have the best luck with low fat cream cheese. Sticky and lower in salt and cals, they just lick it off my fingers. Pill crushers are at the pharmacy, you could mix with lowfat yogurt and add to food. Good luck.
 
When i was giving mimi her antibiotics after her surgery i put it in the tiniest piece of chicken and as she cant resist it she never realised what we were doing (or she did and just thought well at least im getting chicken lol) so she would sit there when we got up in the morning by the refridgerator waiting for her 'chicken' and the same when i got back from work. Always worth a try with most things, especially if there are so many pills, good luck.
 
I have good success with pill pockets, cream cheese, peanut butter, cheese, meat, etc. Whats funny is I have also gotten Coco to take a pill for me by dropping it on the floor, telling her to wait, then OK! She assumes it is a treat and doesn't bother to sniff it and swallows it whole hah!
 
Well, this week I tried cream cheese, roast beef, chicken, peanut butter, pill pockets, soft bread........and the winner is LIVERWURST with cream cheese a close second! He actually chases me around the kitchen when I take the liverwurst out and I only need a small amount on each pill.
 
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