What Food Can Your Dog Not Resist?

[Loving my Oldies]

Monday 27 October 2014

The following daily regime has all been superceded since Danny's tests and procedure at SASH on Tuesday 21 and Wedneday 22, but I've left it in in case it helps anyone else.

Danny now gets all his medications in liquid form syringed, but getting him to eat is still a problem. Can't feed him anything with too much fat.

Danny is a 15 years old Finiish Spitz cross. He has recently been diagnosed with oesophagitis and hiatus hernia. He has had a mild heart murmur for some time and has been on medication for that. His daily medication routine is as follows:

AM:

Eyedrops both eyes

Aminyllin (heart)

Losec

Carafate

Metomide

MIdDAY:

Carafate

Metomide

PM;

Aminyllin

Carafate

Metomide

Despite all this, Danny still picks at his food and giving him his medication is no mean feat. I have been through cat food, liver paste, chicken paste, cheese, roast chicken and on it goes. I don't have meaty treats on hand because I am a vegetarian, but more than happy to try whatever anyone suggests. I haven't given processed meats (cabanossi and the like) consideration because of their spices.

Again, despite this medication regime, Danny throws up regularly and this morning, I found a throw up of undigested dinner. Because of this, I wonder how much of his medication is actually going down.

I am making a veterinary appointment for today for another check up, but was wondering if anyone had something that never failed with tempting their dog's or dogs' appetites.

Edited October 9, 2015 by Dame Danny's Darling

[tdierikx]

Ice-cream or honey... worked a treat for getting Trizene tablets (very bitter) down puppies' throats...

It's a bit messy, but worth the effort.

T.

[BarbedWire]

peanut butter works a treat here

[aliwake]

I use peanut butter too. It's messy, but the only think I've had any luck with.

[Christina]

Little meatballs made from sardines ( only the ones in spring water ) & roll a pill in them & warm in the microwave. They usually just swallow the small meatball in one gulp.

Stinks. I hate fish but it works.

[Polgara's Shadow]

Vulcan has daily meds for his allergies. The tablet is big and a liquid capsule so I can't break it up and it would be very hard to hide in anything. I open his mouth with one hand and put the med right at the back of his mouth with the other. Then I hold his head up and stroke his throat to help him swallow. I follow this up with half a teaspoon of manuka honey. He loves the honey so much as soon as he hears me popping out a tablet he's by my side waiting for the meds.

With smaller tablets (like the comfortis flea treatment) I feed him a few bits of cheese to get him excited. I throw them at him and he catches and swallows in one gulp. Then I'll press the tablet into a peice of cheese and toss it to him - he gulps it down. Mince meat works too if I have some, but cheese on always in hand at my place. Occasionally he'll taste the tablet and spit it out - if that happens I'll start the process again making sure I cover up the tablet better, sometimes I need to break it up into smaller peices and wrap cheese around the different bits for him.

I hope you find something that works!

Edited October 12, 2014 by Polgara's Shadow

[griff]

For pills why not try a pill popper. :)

[Furkidsforever]

I have had success by crushing the tablet and adding a little water - enough to use a syringe and just pop it in the dog's mouth. You could use yoghurt instead of water.

[cavNrott]

I just surround the tablet or capsule with cream cheese if the dog is a bit antsy about taking the meds. Though I'm lucky in that both of my dogs are easy they take the meds from my hands.

[SchnauzerMax]

I have had success by crushing the tablet and adding a little water - enough to use a syringe and just pop it in the dog's mouth. You could use yoghurt instead of water.

I do the same thing with Max because his mouth is tiny and forcing pills down his throat is unpleasant for both of us.

Some medications can be dispensed as a paste which you then squirt a measured dose into their mouth. The last lot of antibiotics Max had was like this.

I think it is designed primarily for cats but Max doesn't know that

[Maddy]

I have a dog who needs medication twice daily (and has since he was 9 months old) and the only thing I've found entirely reliable is just putting the tablet straight down the back of his throat. He doesn't love it but we finish with a bum scratch, he gets minimal tablet taste and he'll actually come when called for his tablet.

I think the problem with using food for long-term tablet hiding is that one taste of the actual tablet in any given food can be unpleasant enough to put the dog off eating that food again, leaving you to move onto the next thing and so on it goes. By just putting it straight down the throat, I think it's probably a more enjoyable experience in that they don't get the unpleasant surprise of biting down into "yummy" food, only to discover it's the tablet.

[JulesP]

I pop them in the mouth too. Apparently one of Amber's tablets tastes disgusting to I don't even try and hide them in food. I also want to know they they have gone down. It can't be too traumatic as she comes over and sits and waits whilst I get the tablets out.

[Rosetta]

Little Natures Gift vacuum packs = perfect consistency for hiding a pill and good quality food, nothing to upset the tummy.

[aliwake]

I go straight down the throat for normal size tablets, but the panoramis one is enormous, and he's been known to eat yoghurt from around small pieces of it, because he hates it that much. so now I have to crush it up and wrap the little pieces in peanut butter and hand feed until it's all gone - takes forever...

[JulesP]

I go straight down the throat for normal size tablets, but the panoramis one is enormous, and he's been known to eat yoghurt from around small pieces of it, because he hates it that much. so now I have to crush it up and wrap the little pieces in peanut butter and hand feed until it's all gone - takes forever...

Will it fit into a gel capsule once crushed? You can buy empty gel capsules.

[RiverStar-Aura]

I wonder too if Danny has worked out that all these different foods mean tablet time. It's probably not a case of him not liking the food you're offering but the fact he knows there's a tablet hidden in it. Dogs are annoyingly smart and perceptive like that! :/

I second trying ice cream, honey, peanut butter or all of them mixed together if need be! I love me a good peanut butter and honey sandwich and so do my dogs! :laugh:

[aliwake]

I go straight down the throat for normal size tablets, but the panoramis one is enormous, and he's been known to eat yoghurt from around small pieces of it, because he hates it that much. so now I have to crush it up and wrap the little pieces in peanut butter and hand feed until it's all gone - takes forever...

Will it fit into a gel capsule once crushed? You can buy empty gel capsules.

Maybe? Would probably need 4 o 5 of them :)

Where do you buy them from?

[JulesP]

I go straight down the throat for normal size tablets, but the panoramis one is enormous, and he's been known to eat yoghurt from around small pieces of it, because he hates it that much. so now I have to crush it up and wrap the little pieces in peanut butter and hand feed until it's all gone - takes forever...

Will it fit into a gel capsule once crushed? You can buy empty gel capsules.

Maybe? Would probably need 4 o 5 of them :)

Where do you buy them from?

I saw some in Chemist Warehouse, so I guess most chemists would have them? I just sacrificed some old vitamins that were in gel capsules.

[HazyWal]

Devon.

I could wrap a phone book in a slice of devon and Stan would swallow it whole.

[Loving my Oldies]

All of the above brings about another question: How did I ever find time to work LOL? Of course, nearly 10 years ago when I involuntarily retired, my dogs and I were 10 years younger and didn't have a multitude of ailments.

Have just come back from and vet with Danny and then a little bit of very necessary shopping (undercover parking so he was okay LOL). I bought some Philadelphia and smoked salmon spread. Greater love hath no mother yukk yukk. Even before I was a vegetarian, even the smell of smoked salmon turned my stomach.

It took a while, but eventually all the meds were safely (I think) down the hatch.

Okay - many many thanks for all the responses. He loves yoghurt and icecream, but would simply lick around the tablet. I haven't tried peanut paste because I can't be trusted with it. But if all else fails, I will be trying it.

I've never liked the pushing down the throat because my dogs have always been littlies ie 6kg and under. I have been actually reduced to this a couple of times lately with Danny because it is so important that he gets all his meds. Once he gets the taste of the pill disguiser, he generally takes the rest of them from my hand.

I have had to give meds via syringe before and have been thinking of doing that with the Carafate as that has to be either mixed into a paste or made into a slurry. This med is to line his tummy to stop any burning from reflux, so I will start to give that via syringe. From time to time, he is happy to lick this up when mixed into a paste with liver or chicken spread. Apparently it is quite sweet and obviously tastes okay to him.

Confession time again: I didn't link the fact that he thinks he is getting something he loves, but then discovers the taste of a bitter pill. So that is definitely something to remember and a reason to alternate between food he loves hiding his pills.

He is obviously an unhappy little chappy from time to time with his tummy problems, so I need to help him.

Thank you all again.

Oh. Just remembered the suggestion of a pill popper. Many years ago, I saw a vet give my cat a tablet like that. I didn't believe in magic until I saw that. :laugh: