At some point, your cat or dog will need medication, whether it’s to prevent internal or external parasites, treat an injury, or manage an illness. Giving your pet oral medication can be difficult, but not impossible, especially once you know a few tricks of the trade.
Here are seven sneaky and not-so-sneaky tricks to medicate your pet. Be sure to speak with your veterinarian first about how to give a particular medication to make sure there are no issues such as giving with food, crushed pills, or opening capsules.
#1 Hide your pet’s medications in strong-smelling wet food.
For medications that aren’t flavored (or those that have a flavor your pet doesn’t like), hiding the capsule or tablet inside a treat is one of the easiest ways to give medications. Tasty treats specifically designed to hide pet medications are available at pet stores and many veterinary clinics. However, you can also hide tablets and capsules in pet and human food that your dog or cat finds appealing. Peanut butter (no xylitol!), butter, cold cuts, cheese, and bread (no raisins!) all work well for hiding medications. You can also hide some tablets, capsules, and liquids by mixing them into canned pet food.
Be sure to check that your pet has eaten the medicine and has not spat it out after eating the surrounding food. The super-sensitive nose of some dogs and cats can tell when you’re hiding something in a treat, so using a strong-smelling wet food is often recommended. The aroma of the food will mask the smell of the medicine while remaining naturally appealing to your pet.
In some cases, even appetizing treats cannot guarantee successful dosing. One strategy you can try – and it works with some cats – is to give a non-medicated primer treat, the “tampered” treat containing the drug, and finally a non-medicated “chaser” treat. If your pet is a dog, fussing over the treats to help build excitement is helpful in ensuring that the hidden pill or capsule will be consumed.
For food-motivated pets who eat the treat but leave the medicine, you can try holding two treats, one with the tablet or capsule and one without. Give your pet the first treat with the medicine inside while showing the second treat without the pill or capsule. Often, in their excitement, they quickly eat the dosed treat so they can take another.
#2 Use the competition to your advantage and offer a treat to all pets.
If you have multiple dogs, you know the hubbub that can happen when you give out treats. You may be able to use this contest to your advantage. After hiding the medicine in a treat, distribute the treats to all the dogs, making sure to give the medicated treat to the dog that needs it. Because some dogs tend to eat faster in competitive situations, your dog may simply swallow his dosed treat so quickly that he won’t know he took his medication. Just make sure the pill or capsule doesn’t end up on the ground or in another animal’s belly.
#3 Make medication time a game.
Concealing and distracting can work with some dogs. Break out a few treats, hiding the pill or capsule in one of them. Next, play a game of “catch” with your dog by tossing a treat. They may become so focused on catching the thrown treat that they won’t notice when you finally toss the tricked treat.
#4 Put the medicine in a capsule.
Some medications can taste especially unpleasant or bitter to your pet, even if they’re hidden in food or treats. You may be able to buy empty capsules to hide the tablets inside, then store the capsule-covered tablet in a treat. The gel cap will ensure your dog or cat won’t taste the objectionable medication. Speak with your veterinarian before trying this tactic, as oral medications are often designed to work in specific areas of the digestive system.
#5 Ask your vet for flavored medicine or have it formulated as a tasty treat or liquid.
Many commonly prescribed medications for pets, such as oral pain relievers, flea and tick repellents, antihistamines, and antibiotics, are readily available in tablet and tasty chew form. But if the prescribed medication is unflavored and you have difficulty giving it even when hidden in a tasty treat, you can ask your veterinarian to have a veterinary pharmacy make the medication in a more flavorful preparation. tastier or easier to use. give shape. Just be aware that not all drugs can be compounded, and of those that can, not all drugs can be made into all different formulations, including flavored liquid suspensions, flavored chews, or transdermal gels.
#6 Put it on top of your pet’s front legs.
If your pet has been prescribed a powder or liquid, you can try mixing it with a small amount of peanut butter or “pressed cheese” and spreading it on their paws. Dogs and cats generally don’t like anything on their paws, but they do tend to like peanut butter or cheese. Your pet will lick the medicated food from its paws (assuming it doesn’t shake the paw, sending the doctored globe flying across the room) and it will receive its dose of medicine at the same time.
#7 Take your dog for a walk.
Sometimes if you stop in the middle of a walk and give your dog a dosed treat, he will take it without realizing that he is also getting his medicine. Dogs are often distracted by the smells, sights, and sounds they encounter during walks, and they tend to find these things more interesting than what’s inside.
When disguising the pill doesn’t work
Even with all the disguises and games, there are still cats and dogs that just won’t eat treats or medicated food. A liquid medication may be easier to administer, but this may not be the case. In some cases, an injectable form of the medication may be given, or you can bring your pet to the clinic to be given medication.
As a last resort, you can learn to “pill” your dog or cat directly. Your veterinarian or a veterinary technician can show you how to administer the tablet or capsule. If you find sticking your fingers in your cat’s mouth scary, you can arm yourself with a “pill gun”, a syringe-like device that allows you to place medicine deep in your cat’s throat. .
Administering medication to your pet can be difficult and even stressful for both of you, but it doesn’t have to be. Just a little trickery, bribery, and gambling—instead of sugar—can bring the medicine down.
