Help! How to give a capsule to our dog? - Page 3

CrazyDaisy · ‎03-20-2010

If it is a capsule I would open it up and mix into a little bit of can dog food. You can crush it up if it is in pill form. Can't spit it out

Someday, when scientists discover the center of the Universe....some people will be disappointed it is not them.

KathyM23 · ‎11-20-2010

I used to put it in butter and down the hatch it went.

Ainhisg · ‎03-09-2010

OP here. Thank you to everyone who posted!!!! I have gotten many good ideas, and the hubs has returned from the store. The next round of pills is in a few minutes; wish us luck!

ETA: For those who are curious, because he is a biter, we do have a muzzle. He is a Boston terrier, so is a short-nosed breed. The only muzzle he can wear is a basket muzzle, which covers his eyes, so a muzzle is out. Even if we could get it on with the cone that he is wearing (which adds a whole other issue with doctoring his eye), we 100% believe that he would start equating the muzzle as something he doesn't want and would fight us on that. Which we have to have it for vet trips and to trim his nails. He is a rescue, and we've had him for 6 years. 2 years ago, for no reason we can decipher, he turned full cujo for vet trips and nail trims...and now eye drops... I fully look for him to stop allowing us to give baths and applying a drying solution to his ears in the coming years. Double

Boomernichols · ‎11-22-2013

@Ainhisg You can try marshmallows, peanut butter, cheese or even sardines.

geegerbee · ‎03-09-2010

I had to give our dogs gabapentin and tramadol. My picky pug wouldn't eat cheese or peanut .butter, nor the marshmallows our vet suggested. What worked for me was gooseliver, otherwise known as braunsweiger.

Ainhisg · ‎03-09-2010

OP here reporting back. We have until Thursday (at least) to go when he will get a vet check to see if his eye has healed. What is working the best is mozzarella string cheese sticks of all things. I think the gummy texture of those things hides the capsule texture. I sit down in the living room like I'm having a snack, eat a bite or two myself, give our other pup a bite or two, while giving him non-mediated pieces mixed with medicated pieces. So far, so good. He did great with hot dogs, too, for the Trazodone pills, but the Gabapentin capsule? Nope. The hot dog didn't hide it well enough. I have hamburger to try, too, if all else fails.

I am just hoping and praying that his eye has healed. My husband goes back to work tomorrow, and truthfully, I'm not sure how I'll get the drops in as it is taking both of us to get his eye doctored. I hold him like a baby in a recliner, and then my husband sneaks up from behind and drops a drop in. With a cone, it is so difficult. And to make matters worse, it is his right eye. I am left-handed, and for the eye to be nearest to me (holding him like a baby) to see what I'm doing, I have to put him in the crook of my left arm making me have to use my right hand and navigate around the cone. Removing the cone is not an option. It accidentally came off last week after our vet recheck, and we didn't think we were ever going to get it back on as he was trying to bite us. We have never had a dog like this before. Our past dogs and the other pup we have right now were/are so docile with medications, nail trims, etc. This is a whole other ballgame. We love him so much, but this situation is really difficult, and it is worrisome and frustrating when we can't doctor him like he needs.

gardenman · ‎03-09-2010

I've joked in the past that they need to make tranquilizer dart guns for pet owners with hard-to-manage pets. Give them a little dart in the rear region then wait for them to drop and rush in and do what needs to be done. (I've talked about it more with cats than dogs, but it sounds like your pup could be a candidate.) Quietly dart the pet, sneak in and do whatever grooming is necessary (ear cleaning, tooth brushing, nail clipping, flea meds, pills, eye drops, etc.) then sit back and watch the pet wake back up, stagger to their feet. and look around and wonder what happened.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!

Tinkrbl44 · ‎08-23-2010

@Ainhisg wrote:
We need ideas of foods/techniques we can use in which to stuff pills!

Our pup has an eye ulcer that we are treating. Or should I say, trying to treat. We are having to use Gabapentin and Trazodone three times a day to sedate him enough in order to be able to apply the eye drops as he is a biter. Well, he is getting wise to the pills (one is a capsule, and that one is the one he deciphers and spits out).

We have tried his regular soft treats, boiled chicken, Pill Pockets, and processed American cheese that we wrapped around the last capsule. That was the only way I was able to get it down him.

What are some other ideas we could try? I am going to send my husband to Petsmart to get a different flavor of Pill Pocket as I think he has caught on to this flavor. We are also going to get some hotdogs and maybe liverwurst. I read to try string cheese, and I have some of that, so that is also on the docket to try.

Any other ideas? It's not just two pills. It's one large capsule, and 1.5 tablets, which equals about three "treats." And when his pain pill is added, that's four. He's a 34-pound dog, so while small, isn't huge either. The pill pockets are about too big for him to chew, but I know it's important for him to not smell the meds, so I am very careful to put the meds in with one hand, and close the pocket with the other.

Any help or technique ideas are appreciated!

@Ainhisg

Based on trial and error, I have found that a pill with some liverwurst wrapped around it goes down very fast.

IMO, most dogs will eat liverwurst quickly ... and ask questions later.

Gracie1763 · ‎04-26-2010

Greenies worked every time. Our Bichon was an expert at spitting out pills. Somehow, my brother was able to get the greenie around the pill. However, that Dog lived for Greenies!

Tinkrbl44 · ‎08-23-2010

@gardenman wrote:
I've joked in the past that they need to make tranquilizer dart guns for pet owners with hard-to-manage pets. Give them a little dart in the rear region then wait for them to drop and rush in and do what needs to be done. (I've talked about it more with cats than dogs, but it sounds like your pup could be a candidate.) Quietly dart the pet, sneak in and do whatever grooming is necessary (ear cleaning, tooth brushing, nail clipping, flea meds, pills, eye drops, etc.) then sit back and watch the pet wake back up, stagger to their feet. and look around and wonder what happened.

@gardenman

OMG, what a GREAT idea. I've seen "calming" treats for cats and dogs, but a short term tranquilizer dart would be a much better option.

If it's never offered, I'm guessing it wouldn't work because of the variances in animal size. a tranquilizer dart for a 70 pound dog could be dangerously high dosage for a 10 pound cat.