Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My dog Hairyit is on the interceptor heartworm medication. In the past, I have been able to put it in a piece of steak or hamburger and she would swallow it right down. The past three times she started to chew the meat and spit the medication out before finishing the meat. I think she may smell the medication or maybe she knows what the box looks like.
I had to give it to her manually last night by shoving it into the back of her throat and holding her mouth closed until she swallowed. I didn't enjoy doing that to her and I am sure she didn't either.
Is there any sure-fire way to give a dog this medication?
Isn't it like chicken-flavored or something? My dog takes Heartgard and thinks it's a treat as it's basically a beef-flavored chew. Anything bad tasting he usually takes with peanut butter. What's her favorite treat? Some dogs love cheese.
^^^ Where do these dogs come from who willingly eat their meds? I've never had one and I've had lots of dogs! Right now I'm pulling my hair out with one of my boys who has Cushings and heart disease and he can find a pill inside anything. I've even melted cheese around the pill in the microwave and he's still managed to get the cheese off of it and spit the pill out. So like the OP, we have resorted to the down the throat method and it just breaks my heart to do it.
Actually I have to amend this post. We did have the best little girl in the world who had diabetes and would willingly jump up on my husband's lap when it was time for her injections twice per day and she wouldn't fuss at all when I gave it to her. Any oral meds she took right down as long as it was wrapped in cheese or turkey. Pill Pockets had sugar in their list of ingredients so we weren't able to give her any orals with a pill pocket but she was perfectly happy with turkey or cheese. My boys are a whole other story!
Competition. If you have another dog in the house, wrap the pill in some sort of treat (like cheese), call the dogs in and toss them each a piece of cheese - they will gobble it down. Now pick up the wrapped pill and a regular piece of cheese - and treat them each again, giving the wrapped pill to the one who needs it. They will gobble their treats down.
We have another boy and he stands at the ready for anything that the Cushings boy doesn't eat. The hard part is to make sure that the one not on meds doesn't get the rolled up cheese with the meds in it. We have a little circus here The Cushings boy is looking at me right now with the biggest most innocent looking eyes as if he knows I'm writing abut him He's around 13 years old and was on death row at a shelter I volunteered at. I want to keep him around for another 13 years! I just wish he would cooperate with me.
We have another boy and he stands at the ready for anything that the Cushings boy doesn't eat. The hard part is to make sure that the one not on meds doesn't get the rolled up cheese with the meds in it. We have a little circus here The Cushings boy is looking at me right now with the biggest most innocent looking eyes as if he knows I'm writing abut him He's around 13 years old and was on death row at a shelter I volunteered at. I want to keep him around for another 13 years! I just wish he would cooperate with me.
The trick is in giving the pill like you would any other treat. The second you treat the pill-treat like it's special your dog will get tipped off.
If you're worried about the other dog grabbing the pill, toss their treat a little ways away so they have to go looking for it and then toss the pill treat to Mr Cushings. I squish the pill into a little piece of Kraft single.
You might be onto something I might be subconsciously signaling to Mr. Cushings that there's a pill in there so he knows to refuse it! When I was a kid I used to go to baseball games with my dad and he would tell me that certain pitchers would "signal" the type of ball they were going to throw such as a fastball or curve. I never really understood how my father could tell but maybe that's what I'm doing with Mr. C.
Tonight I'm going to set the pills up in their camouflage and a little while later, have my husband give him the pills. Thanks for the tip
Heartgard is the chewable form. Pick 3 or 4 other tiny treats. Toss them in front of her one at a time then after they are gone toss the heartgard and one last treat. Heartgard is beef flavored.
My dog Hairyit is on the interceptor heartworm medication. In the past, I have been able to put it in a piece of steak or hamburger and she would swallow it right down. The past three times she started to chew the meat and spit the medication out before finishing the meat. I think she may smell the medication or maybe she knows what the box looks like.
I had to give it to her manually last night by shoving it into the back of her throat and holding her mouth closed until she swallowed. I didn't enjoy doing that to her and I am sure she didn't either.
Is there any sure-fire way to give a dog this medication?
My dog used to take it if I smothered it in peanut butter. He caught on to me, though. Now I cut it into small pieces and hide it in a chunky canned food.
We give our dogs OTC livestock ivermectin at about 1% of the cost of dog heartguard medication.
With our canine vet's blessing.
We put it in a little bit of canned food and they inhale it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The Cushings boy is looking at me right now with the biggest most innocent looking eyes as if he knows I'm writing abut him
He's around 13 years old and was on death row at a shelter I volunteered at. I want to keep him around for another 13 years! I just wish he would cooperate with me.
