[Dailydrool] pilling a dog

[Beverly Szaton]

I am reading about pilling dogs. I did this for a long time. A tech's job
usually includes being sure the dogs get their meds. Some dogs are really
problematic but we didn't have alot of goodies around to wrap pills in and
so this is how we did it. We had three methods, one of which is not
available to the rest of you.
1. Take pill.
2.Take dog.
3. Open mouth of dog
4. Cram hand halfway to the stomach and drop pill
5. Slam mouth shut, hold shut
6. Rub nose with finger
7. Wait till dog licks nose
8. Dog has swallowed.

Bassets are good at hiding pills in their flews, so be sure to get your hand
straight down the throat. And I mean, get your hand clear in there. Most
dogs don't bite. The more hesitant you are the lower your chances of
success, so approach it as if you know you can do it, because you can if I
can.

Second method
Buy a can or two of fairly solid cat food. Nothing that's going to fall
apart, because you are going to want to make a meatball. Hill's feline c/d
is ideal but you have to get it at the Vet's.
Make a SMALL meatball--about the size of a 50cent piece with the pill in the
middle.
Toss it in the food bowl.
DO NOT MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF IT. If it is in the food dish it becomes food.
Cat food is very rich, contains more meat than dog food, and is very stinky
which may disguise the smell of the pill. Do not use more than you have to.
Or you can make it a treat but I have found that once a dog is "onto" you,
putting it in a food bowl makes him think it is not a pill.

The more important the dog thinks it is to you, the more resistance you may
encounter. Especially with Bassets. Make sure no other dog is in the room,
you want the right dog to get the meds.
The only medication I cannot get down a Basset is Tramadol, and it must just
be nastier than all get out.

The third method is to do what we would do with the dogs who really could
not be pilled: take them to Doc with his sausage-sized fingers and amazing
hand-strength. He could open any jaw known to dogdom. He would hold open, we
would toss. Almost never failed.

Sometimes, pills can be ground up and added to a liquid, flavored base. Some
Vets are doing this for cat medication in particular. We had to do this with
Zelda because she could not open her mouth far enough to get a pill in
without really hurting her. It worked except for the Tramadol, which we
could not get near her. I never could get it down Mitchell, either, and I
know other Basset owners who have had major problems with it.

Anyway just my opinion.

MomPerson to Nigel, Llewis, Conley and Cooper
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