Need Help

brittk

As some of you may have read, Kaiya has both whipworms and Giardia. Initially we started out on a liquid for of panacur that we were able to get her to take the first night by putting on her food. Well, she vomited that night and we couldnt get her to take any more. Called the vet, got another dewormer (single dose) and another med for the Giardia. We got the dewormer down on Wednesday night (2.5 pills) by wrapping in cheese and acting as though it was a treat, no issues. Last night, when we tried wrapping the new med in cheese, she wouldnt take it. We attempted giving it to her while we were training and tried using plain cheese and one of her treats (she loved this last week). She would not even take the plain cheese, let alone the pill wrapped in it. We then attempted to coat in peanut butter, honey, mask it in a little spoonful of frozen yogurt to no avail, so we wound up forcing it into her, which I HATED doing. I need some advise. There is a disclaimer that states the pill is bitter and not to grind up. How do you get your most stubborn dogs to take pills without forcing them into their mouths!

dlroberts

Owning a dog with some major health issues, I administer between 2 and 4 pills to her everyday. At first I thought trying to make it a treat for her with some flavoring or a piece of cheese would be a good idea. That quickly got old. I know you have a hard time "force feeding" pills, but trust me, its way worse on you than it is on them.

I always administer pills using the following method: Hold the pill between your thumb and pointer finger in your dominant hand. With your other hand, gently reach over your dogs muzzle and using your thumb and first two fingers, gently curl their upper lip over their upper teethe. This action will encourage them to open their mouth a little. When they do, take middle finger on your dominant hand and gently apply pressure to their bottom teethe to encourage them to open their mouth. When the do, push the pill to the back of their throat with your pointer finger and then close their mouth quickly using both hands. A kiss or gentle blow on their nose will encourage them to swallow. When they do, LOTS of praise and pets.

With a little practice, you can administer a pill in about one second using this method. It's not traumatic for your dog and it gets the job done.

TaraA

Have you tried using something really smelly, like a little bit of wet-food, even wet cat food? That always worked for me. I just stuck the pill hole in a little bit of wet canned food. Beef flavor because that's Panda's favorite.

sunyata

Sardines. And wear rubber gloves.

Luckily my girls take pills wrapped in cheese, but a few years ago, I fostered a dog that would NOT take pills to save his life... And I was not cool with 'force feeding' if there was another way.

Go to the market and buy a tin of sardines in spring water. (and some rubber gloves if you do not already have some)

Open the can and take out a chunk of sardine. With a knife, slice a small opening big enough for the pill... Feed a piece without the pill first. Then feed the piece with the pill. Then feed another piece without. Worked like a charm.

ETA: Force Feeding really is not that bad. Like Dave said, it is way worse on you than on the pup. So if all methods fail, do not feel bad about having to make Kaiya take the pill. Much better in the long run for her to have a minute of discomfort versus not taking the pills at all.

brittk

Ok, Im going to try sardines and as a last resort, Ill use Dave's method. Thanks for the suggestions! I know its more traumatic for me than her, but I just cant stand doing it. The look in those little eyes just kills me. I'm such a wuss. I've never met a dog that wouldnt eat cheese! Such a little DIVA

BradA1878

How many days of Panacur did you give?

I'm assuming the single dose dewormer you got after the Panacur was Drontal+???

For the Giardia, what meds did they give you? Is it Metronidazole or was it Amoxicillin or something?

We have to force pills down our pups throats all the time. With all these imports coming in, and our environment being so "wild" (lots of animals) our imports usually get hit with some type of protozoa (like Giardia). The pups are prone to it as they don't have immunity to it yet, but the adults rarely get it. Giardia is common in rabbit poo and deer poo, which our dogs love to eat...

Point is, we have to force Metronidazole, Panacur, and/or other antibiotics down the throats of almost every import we bring in. It sucks to do it, but if it gets them over the hump then its worth it. Popping a pill down her throat won't hurt her - even tho it feels like you are choking her or something.

You probably had to give like 6cc of Panacur to her, right?

This will make you feel better - We have had to Panacur a few of the adult CO imports in the past - you wanna talk about horrible, they take like 40cc of that stuff! It ends up sprayed all over the house and drooled all over the yard. Super gross. There is just no way you can "trick" them into eating 40cc mixed with their food.

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shishiinu

I have to force feed all our pill meds to all our dogs. They just will not take it normally. Its actually not too bad and doesn't take much time to do it.

brittk

After the Panacur we got Metronidazole for the Giardia and the name of the dewormer has slipped my mind, but I will look when I get home. She was supposed to get 5cc of the panacur for 7 days, and gets 1/2 of a Metronidazole every 12 hours for 7 days. I guess we will be force feeding for the next 6 days. I know that's way better than her staying sick. It just doesn't help that she acts like im trying to kill her.

I couldnt imagine trying to give 40cc of a liquid med to a CO. Hope you were wearing old clothes We are still finding drops of our little 5cc dose on the cabinets.

tjbart17

They have those pill pockets. As far as wrapping pills, that's all that has worked with me. I had to give Mei meds when she first got here because of her infected wounds. And Koda's nose can not be fooled with cheese (his favorite food in the world BTW). He takes the pill pockets as well with ease.

Both really seem to like Interceptor on it's own. Strange.

brittk

oh yea, she took the Sentinel without any cover...I think its the beef flavor Now if only they would make all pet meds flavored like that!

BradA1878

Oh, Panacur and Metronidazole for 7 days is perfect. I would stick to it - I know it sucks - but that will wipe it out and then she will probably never have Giardia again.

That Panacur is hard to clean up, isn't it? We finds bits all over our house too. It's horrible. Jen HATES that stuff. lol

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lindsayt

You can ask for the metronidazole to be compounded by your local pharmacy where they mix it with beef or poultry paste to mask the taste. It tastes TERRIBLE otherwise, very bitter. Most of my dogs get their meds against their will, it's just a part of keeping them healthy.

sjp051993

I use pill pockets for my dogs and they take their pills 100% of the time. When I get the pill pocket bag out they fight over who is going to get it.

sunyata

Stacey, when you give one of your dogs a pill with the pill pocket, do you give empty ones to the others?

When I give one a pill wrapped in cheese, I have to give the other cheese too... Silly siblings and their rivalry.

brittk

well surprisingly, after the second "force feeding" it is much smoother. She know knows that it means this is uncomfortable for a minute, but if I allow it, mommy will cuddle and I get a yummy liver treat

So far, so good!

We attempted the pill pocket, but she still spat out the pill...loved the pocket though.

ETA: Thanks everyone for the help!

sjp051993

No, I only give out the one with the pill. The rest deal with the fact that the treat was not meant for them. They all seem to view the pill pocket as a special treat as a result so they are even more eager to take it when I give them out.

BradA1878

Great!