Our initial directions for supplements we purchased when we were told Sampson had Degenerative Myleopathy was one dose, twice per day for the first week and then increase it to two doses twice per day. I was slightly concerned as the Immuplex was over $60 a bottle and at that dosage we would be tearing through a bottle like an iguana through a head of lettuce. We would have figured it out though, because my boy is worth it.
After the diagnosis changed to a partial ACL tear, my vet said we could just continue the Immuplex and the Neurotrophin at the lower dosage, but increase the Canine Musculoskeletal Support as she felt this would be the supplement that would do him the most good.
So for those keeping track, Sampson was talking 1 Immuplex, 1 Neurotrophin, 1 Gaba Pentin, 1 Tramadol and 1 Carprofen two times each day. That’s five pills per day at the low dose!
The Musculosketal Support is a powder which is sprinkled on his food and it must taste alright because he eats it with no problem. (Thankfully he has finished the Gaba Pentin so our pill count drops to four.)
Anyone who has ever given a dog a pill knows, it’s not always easy.
Once long, long ago I could hand Delilah her thyroid pill and she would swallow it, but I think she’s wised up to the fact there are other ways to take pills and it’s better to hold out for the good stuff.
Sampson on the other hand has always been very picky with what he eats. Once the teller at the drive thru window gave him a Milk Bone which he politely took and then dropped it into my purse.
So the issue became, how do we get him to take all these pills? I mean we could use peanut butter, BUT it’s fairly fattening and he’s on really limited exercise so he’s not burning as many calories on a daily basis. I can’t imagine the size of a peanut butter ball that was full of five pills.
One of the pills, the Tramadol has a bad taste and my vet said some dogs will drool if it touches their tongue and some will stop taking it. I can deal with the drool (I have labs after-all) but the refusal to take it is never pretty in my house.
You do the math.
One stubborn lab + one stubborn Mama = Bad Times.
Hubby came up with a great idea using Coconut Oil for the evening dose. Since they are getting Coconut Oil anyway, he puts all the pills in the cap of the jar and then drops the Coconut Oil into the cover and wads the pills up.
Gulp, it’s gone.
The morning dose was slightly more problematic, until I had the BRILLIANT idea (if I do say so myself) to use some left over Ricotta cheese.
Typically Ricotta cheese is not the best thing to give your dog as it can be very high in fat and calories and some dogs don’t do well with dairy.
I however bought the no fat Ricotta cheese which has 40 calories for one quarter cup. Don’t freak out I’m not giving the dogs 1/4 cup of Ricotta!
You guys, this stuff is SO EASY to use. We use a cereal spoon.
Smear the spoon through the Ricotta. (It might look like a lot in the photo, but it’s barely 1/2 the spoon.)
Using your finger, spread the Ricotta and flatten it down, making a small hollow in the base of the spoon.
Add your pills.
Fold the Ricotta over the pills.
Roll it around if you’re concerned about the presentation.
Viola, five pills in one gulp.
Of course I would advise you to make sure you are giving this in small doses and you’re aware of what your dog can tolerate. Some dogs will NOT tolerate dairy well and others may be able to handle little bits. My dogs get yogurt or Keifer every day so I’m comfortable with small doses of Ricotta Cheese.
If you are unsure at all, always consult your vet!
Totally switching topics here, how many of you will be joining us tomorrow for the inaugural Barks and Bytes blog hop? Did you remember we are having a giveaway for all participating blogs.
You can get your badge here, from my side bar or head on over to 2 Brown Dawgs and check out her badge.
Then come back tomorrow to add your link.
I only eat cheese straight from the fridge for that very reason. If she starts fiddling with it no way. Same with pate or anything she can try and hide pills in. Now I don’t trust peanut butter and jam too. I am no fool. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
Best wishes Molly
A fine way to get pills down your dog. Shame it doesn’t work for cats.
Loving your new blog design!
Ricotta is a brilliant idea. But picky eater?? What’s that? I could hold out 3 stones, a marble, and a stick of dynamite, and Cupcake would sit, beg, give her paw, swallow them whole and beg for more.
Im so glad he doesnt have DM its such a scary disease. Giving pills to dogs is a pain, particularly large dogs as larger dogs equals more pills. Ping has liver disease and takes a ton of suplements, the cost is manageable because she ways 14 lbs, if it was my 100 lb Norbert I dont know what Id do. ITs one reason I am drawn to small dogs
retro rover
Never thought about trying this with cheese but we use the same technique at our house. We put a can of dog food in the fridge to make it firmer. Then add the pills and add a little more canned food on top of the pills. The pups are so happy to get the little ball of canned food that they just swallow it whole!
Bailie and I take pills no problem, Katie is impossible! Mom has tried everything from buried in wieners to liverwurst, to cheese, pill pockets, she always eats the stuff and spits out the pill, so she has to take them the nasty shove down the throat way. Glad you found some things that work for Sampson. I’m joining the hop tomorrow. Post is ready to go.
First … love the new layout on your blog!! Next … Ricotta is a fabulous idea and one I hadn’t thought of. Right now we use peanut butter and scrape it behind Teach’s front teeth, but that’s just for one pill. If we ever have to take more than one I need to remember this method. He can be picky as well so I would have to be creative. Have a great Wednesday! (and I hope to be back tomorrow for the new blog hop!)
Before I read the post, I HAVE TO tell you that I LOVE your new look!!!!! It really fits your style, and your personality perfectly!!
Love the new look! Very nice!
We usually give pills in peanut butter. I also really play it up like it is the most special treat ever. Hey I have Chessies they can figure it out…lol. I am going to keep the ricotta suggestion in mind. That is an excellent idea!
All 3 of my girls would probably LOVE the ricotta cheese. Thankfully, Shadow is a really good girl about letting me drop a pill down her throat and then swallowing it. She knows the chewable Cosequin DS always follows to help “wash down” the horrible tasting Tramadol.
Callie and Ducky, on the other hand, need to be fooled. But the peanut butter works; and when I have some, so does the canned organic pumpkin.
You mentioned that Delilah takes thyroid pills. So does Callie. But Callie’s thyroid pills are chewables, and she takes them without a problem. You might want to check with your vet. It’s the Thyroxin brand, I believe.
Morgan salutes you! We’ve been using pill pockets and the salmon sauce to get her pills in her, but that looks like something she would like for a change of pace!
Holy Crap Lady I LOVE YOUR NEW PAGE! did you do that yourself, you might have to do mine 😉 As for giving pills great advice and pictures!
Giving Roxy pills is tricky too, she inspects everything she eats. Thankfully, i can put 2 pills in her wet food and she doesn’t even know they are there.
Wow, these are some great ideas! Oddly enough, Duke never has had any trouble with pills. He takes them just like they were a treat. But I can only imagine how difficult it would be with a picky pooch, way to go for finding a way around it!
Love the new look!
The RICOTTA is a Brilliant idea. Love the pictures and description of how to do it. BRILLIANT we say.
Great idea, Jodi! I think I could even get Buster to take his pills this way. And I love the new design! It’s clean, easy to navigate, just gorgeous. Congratulations!
Funny – I have my pill solution in my post today too – cheese is a common theme! For pills in the evening with dinner, I’ll just smush them into Mo’s big pile of raw food and they disappear and doesn’t even notice.
Adding my tip: Silas’s Prozac quickly dissolves and gets bitter, so he won’t eat it if it gets wet. This cuts out a lot of traditional pill giving devices, like butter, peanut butter, etc. So I poke the pill down into a freeze-dried treat or a piece of freeze dried dog food. It only works because they’re a small tablet rather than a capsule, but he hasn’t given me any trouble since.
Glad the ricotta’s working. with gwynn, i just put it in a small bit of peanut butter, though i can definitely see the advantage of reducing his calorie intake if he’s not getting much activity. Growing up, my mom had to go over and help my friend’s parents get their husky to swallow pills. she wouldn’t fall for any food disguises, and my mom was pretty much the only one who could get her to get it down. step 1 – shove as far down dog’s throat as possible, step 2 – put dog in headlock, stroking her throat until she swallows a few times, step 3 – follow dog around for next 10 minutes to ensure that this time she didn’t manage to keep it in her mouth, and bide her time to spit it out. strangely enough, the dog never held a grudge, and was always happy to see my mother.
Would something like the Kinn Kudose work for his pills? I have one that I’d be happy to give to you. Google them and check out some reviews on YouTube so you can see how it works. If it’s something you think might help, just email me.
Great idea! I’m going to have to remember both of those, Petal loves cheese and coconut oil too. Thanks for sharing!
Also, I loooove the blog look! Very pretty. Great colors!
Very smart! I’ll remember that, since Rita hates peanut butter – the usual go-to pill hider.
The coconut oil is a great idea as well – since Rita also gets some in her dinner.
We used to have to give Abby tons of pills. Some I would just pop in the back of her throat, and give her a great treat after. They were too big to hide. Others we hid in cream cheese or peanut butter. (Luckily she was always rail-thin, and we were even encouraged to put weight on her so the calories weren’t a problem.)
Love the new look of the blog! Very sharp! Love the color combo.
Great tips on giving pills. Are you coming to BlogPaws in May? Paws crossed. I am in the hop tomorrow, too. SlimDoggy told me about it. YAY!
Great idea! I’ll have to try it! Our rescue dog Charlie is really picky too (I lol’ed when you shared the story of your dog politely dropping the milk bone in your purse! That is definitely Charlie! He only takes one pill, once a month, Trifexis, but it is so difficult to get him to take it! And I don’t have the heart to stick it down his throat like the vet does!
Tucker too smart when it comes to pills! We have tried pill pockets, cheese, in canned food, peanut butter, and anything else we could think of. We might get it into him once, but then he will stop eating that food because there was something in it. I now have to stick his pill down his throat each morning. Fortunately, it’s just one, and he’s a good sport about it. He will sit in front of me, lift his paw and shake, then keep his paw on my arm while I give him the pill.
I never thought of Ricotta! I just put Riley’s pills right on top of her kibble and she gobbles it all down. When Chloe was alive, she was impossibly picky about food and pills! She was like that all her life though…if she even suspected there was the possibility of a pill nearby, she’d make herself scarce! I bet she would’ve liked some Ricotta cheese (I mean, who doesn’t like it?!). 😉
My “go to” pill concealer is fat-free whipped Philly cream cheese. My dogs literally run and line up when I announce pill time! I checked with my vet and she said she didn’t think there was any dog in any condition who would be harmed by a dab of FF cream cheese as long as they could swallow. Once in a great while my Bichon, Sparky, will think he is being clever and will suck the cream cheese and then try to spit out the pill under the table. My work-around for this is to smear a little extra cream cheese on my fingers and let him lick them right after getting the glob of concealed pills. This causes him to keep swallowing and voila! Pills are gone.
PS. I am prettty sure dogs will eat anything with the name “cheese” in it!
I love the new design!! It’s so fun, and it really feels like it reflects the personality of your blog. Ricotta is a brilliant idea… you have me thinking: Could that work for the cat? 🙂
I never gave any pill to my pug yet.. He is just a puppy. I took him to home when he was just 15 days old.. I have visited to a Vet Doctor once but everything was normal..
But this way looks much promising and quite easy… 🙂
I will surely do the same if I had to give pills to him..
Superb guide Jodi Stone 😀
Keep sharing!