Dog medicine
If you’ve read any of my latest posts, you know that I now give Belle antihistamines daily. Well, we’ve also changed her flea control, upon advice form the vet, from Frontline Plus to Comfortis, which comes as a pill. She had another flea infestation recently, so the vet suggested we switch flea treatments as some dogs build up a resistance to topical treatments.
The first time I gave Belle one of her pills, I had no cheese in the house, which is what I usually stuff dog pills into. I wanted to give her the pill right away though. I had seen a friend of mine give his dog a pill by putting it in her mouth as far as he could and then forcing her mouth closed. So, I thought I would give this a try. See detailed instructions for this method from a veterinarian.
Goodness, dogs really don’t like taking pills. I tried to get her to swallow it about 5 times and each time she would eventually spit it back out the corner of her mouth. I wasn’t very good at holding her mouth shut either. All that experience did was really stress me out and her too! I eventually just had to throw the pill out.
Now she’s pretty sneaky when I put it in cheese too. If she finds it, she’ll eat the cheese and spit the pill back out, so it doesn’t work very well with sliced cheese. Chunks of cheese seem to work better because I can get it in the middle of it.
Recently, I’ve discovered that a dab of peanut butter on a corner of bread with the pill mushed in works the best. She had been taking it right out of my hand and eating it, but now she’s gotten picky and will only take the pill in the bread when it is covered up with her regular dog food.
Her heartworm medicine is also a pill, but the smart people at that company decided to make it beef flavored. So I don’t have to hide it in anything, she usually just gobbles it up like a treat. Wouldn’t it be great if they all came that way?
NOTE: Some pills can’t be given with food or shouldn’t be broken up or cut. Check with your veterinarian before giving your dog any pill. Also, peanut butter is a common food allergy, so make sure your dog isn’t allergic to it before using it to give a pill.