How to Encourage Your Dog to Take Their Medicine

You want to help your best friend get better as soon as possible, but they’re not always cooperative when it comes to taking their medicine. You have a few strategies for making sure that your dog is following the veterinarian’s orders. These tips are particularly useful if you have an older dog in your home.

Pill Pockets

Food-motivated dogs just need a bit of encouragement to take their medicine. They might spit it out if you leave the pill as-is in their food. A pill pocket is a treat that’s hollowed out with enough space for standard tablets. Your dog gets a treat and their medicine at the same time.

Chewables

that gets chewed up may escape the dog’s keen senses. Many types of doggy medication come in chewable versions, such as Trifexis for Dogs. As far as your pet knows, they’re just munching on some more kibble.

Trying to pill your dog can be an incredibly stressful situation, so formats can streamline this process. You also put yourself at less risk of either getting injured or injuring the dog.

Food Mixes

A pill splitter can reduce medicine down to levels that might go undetected by a suspicious canine friend. These tools are readily available and work with most solid tablets. If you’re not sure whether you can split a particular pill, ask your vet for more information. The small chunks won’t stand out when they’re incorporated into a , and any off-taste often gets masked by the gravy or juices from the can.

If you make your pet’s meals yourself, you can cut slits into the meat and pepper the pill pieces throughout chunks of food. You follow the same principle as a pill pocket, and it’s likely to avoid detection.

Before splitting any pills, talk to the veterinarian about whether it’s okay to do that with this particular medication. Sometimes the pill casing delivers an extended dose over time, with smaller components inside.

Misdirection

Does your furry best friend get excited about the prospect of eating food that they’re not allowed to munch on? This method involves a bit of trickery, but it’s for their own good. You can pretend like you’re eating the pill yourself, which will cause your furry friend to have some jealousy. If you “accidentally” drop it, they bound in and make sure to eat it before you can tell them otherwise.

Opening the Jaw

Sometimes your best efforts won’t be enough to get the pill in your dog’s mouth. If your pup feels too sick, they just want to be left alone. In these situations, you may need to open the jaws manually.

You do this by holding their muzzle and sliding their lips over their teeth. As you tilt their head back, move your hands closer to the hinge of the jaw. Once you have enough space to put the pill in your dog’s mouth, get it in as deep as possible and hold the mouth closed. You can encourage swallowing by blowing gently on their face and stroking their neck.

Your canine companion may need many types of medication over their lifetime. These strategies keep you well-equipped for taking good care of your best friend, no matter what pills they might need.

Lannie, a writer for Allivet. Allivet provides affordable pet supplies and pet medications, all of which can be purchased online. Listed below are some helpful resources referenced in the article that can provide some guidance for those looking for helpful information on pet supplies & medication: