How to get a dog to take a pill when he won’t eat?
How to get a dog to take a pill when he won’t eat?.
This is when things get tricky. Your dog is sick, has lost his appetite, but he must have his pill since his medication should help him improve so that his taste returns. Or your dog has allergies and follows a strict diet and cannot give the pill in a treatment. In this case, you have several options, but your dog may not love them.
The first option is only that, forcing the pill down. In this case, you will kneel at your dog’s level and hold his snout with one hand toward the ceiling. On the other hand, he will open his mouth and push the pill as far back as possible. Then, massage the dog’s throat or blow on his nose to stimulate swallowing. Praise and pet your dog to reward him.
It is essential to check if your dog swallowed the pill. Some dogs are artists in this, and they will hide the pill in their mouth and spit it out later.
How to give a pill to a dog that does not want to eat (bites – sick)
Well, for starters, some pills taste bad. Hunting him with a pill in your hand is an overwhelming and abdifficult task. This leads to problems. Your dog can get defensive, and this can cause a bite. Often, this happens when your dog is in a corner with no exit or under a bed.
Trying to get him out from under a bed is not safe, and that is why he is chasing and cornering him. Of course, this does not apply to all dogs; many dogs have higher bite thresholds than others.
There is no denial about the fact that fighting with your dog to ingest his pills is not a pleasant task. It could also affect your future interactions with your dog. If you open your dog’s mouth tightly to push that pill down his throat, there may come a time when he won’t let you touch his mouth anymore.
So how can you make your dog take his pills without any problem? There are several tricks; we will see several options along with some methods to cushion that terrible taste.
WAYS TO HIDE DOG PILLS
Your veterinarian prescribed pills for your dog. As in humans, the pills come in different shapes and sizes. In any case, it is most likely that the pills have no flavor, so giving them can be an arduous task.
CHEESE BALLS
Does your dog love cheese? If so, your dog will love this trick. In this case, you will roll your dog’s slices into cheese slices and close the edges so that the pill is not detected. This works well with most dogs, but sometimes, cheese can be unrolled in the mouth, and your dog will discover the pill.
Another way is to make cheese balls. Put the pill in the middle of a ball. For this, have your dog do some training exercises so that you can reward him, so he will eat the cheese balls quickly.
How to give a pill to a dog that does not want to eat
Then, if you’re going to try cheese balls, leave the cheese out of the fridge for a while and heat it by keeping the slices sealed in your hands. That should do the trick to make it soft enough, like modeling clay.
* Note: some medications should not be taken with dairy products such as cheese. This information may be on the label or in the attached medical leaflet, but not always. Ask your veterinarian before trying this trick.
HOT DOGS
Most dogs will not reject hot dogs. In this case, you will need a piece large enough to hide the pill. Remember: if the dog detects the pill, he can lose confidence and then suspect any future trick he can try.
This works well for dogs that simply swallow the hot dog without questions. However, the disadvantage is that often parts of the pill can stand out from the hot dog that will be easily detected. You can’t make hot dog balls like cheese, so hot dogs can work or not.
MEATBALLS
You can make your dog have fun eating meatballs. In this case, you can soak some dried croquettes in water and then grind them until you can make some “meatballs” in which you can hide the pill. If you feed them raw, just make a Creamy Texture.
Meatball with minced meat. Another option is to use some canned food to make the meatball or some baby food based on meat without onion or garlic mix with some croquette to make it denser. You can be creative here and use anything your dog likes, crush it, and then add the ground croquette to get the right consistency. For a special touch, roll the meatballs in the ground croquette.
Foods with a creamy texture can also help camouflage a pill and transform it into a tasty delicacy. In these cases, we are talking about things like peanut butter and cream cheese. These work well because they are sticky, so it is difficult for the dog to separate the pills from the creamy texture. Most likely, the dog will take it all together and swallow the entire concoction.
CANNED FOOD
If you want to try this option, be sure to read the medication label and instructions carefully and, if in doubt, consult your veterinarian. Some medications should not be crushed, and the capsules should not be opened, as they can damage it in this way.
If your veterinarian gives you permission to crush the pill or open the capsule, you can spray it on your dog’s croquette in the hope that he will simply eat it. However, consider that you can lose a pill in this way if your dog refuses to eat his food and can leave some food, and this will prevent him from taking the full dose he needs.
A better option is to mix the powder pill with the dog’s canned food. Most dogs love the canned food, and since canned food is sticky, it will be difficult for him to separate particles from the pill from food.
PILL POCKETS
Alternatively, if you don’t like to feed people and are looking for a healthier option, you can try the pill pockets. These are sold at the veterinarian’s office or your favorite pet store.
They consist of hollow treats in different flavors that can be filled with the pill and then closed. There are pill pockets made for capsules and pill pockets made for tablets. The flavors to choose from consist of chicken, peanut butter, or American walnut smoke.
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