Written By: Satata Karmakar | Updated : August 28, 2022 11:51 AM IST
5 Easy Hacks To Get Your Pet Dog To Swallow Medicines
Dogs need to be treated like children in many aspects of life, one of them being feeding them medicines. There are dogs that take their medications easily, it's a battle with the rest. So let us take a look at a few ways in which we can make administering medicines easy and quick.
Are you too struggling hard to feed medicines to your pets? We get you. Dr Dilip Sonune, Veterinary Officer, Wiggles has shared some amazing cool hacks to make your dogs take in medicines, take a look:
This ancient technique is especially useful with dogs that don't usually chew their foods. Mix it in, make sure it is not visible and watch them gobble it up in a hurry. We would suggest avoiding the use of their regular packaged dog food for this. If they chew on the tablet (which is usually bitter) by mistake, they may end up not touching that food in the future out of suspicion. Also, keep in mind that certain medicines shouldn't be mixed with some foods as they lower their efficacy. Make sure to ask your vet for food suggestions.
When dogs are excited, it is prime time to administer some medicines. It could be any activity that your dog enjoys like walking or going to meet their friend. Take some treats, and put the medicine inside one of the treats. Make the wait right before leaving and start by feeding them a normal treat or two and then proceed to feed them the treat with the medicine in it. Feed them one or two more normal treats and proceed with the fun activity.
Dogs want to partake in every activity their human is involved in. Oh, they also want everything we eat. Here's where pretense comes into play. Pretend to eat a treat-infused medicine, and then offer it to them nonchalantly. There is a higher chance that your dog will gulp the medicine in without any second thought. Follow with a few treats to not let them process what they have ingested.
It may look difficult to do, but many dogs can get used to feeding them medicine directly.
Here's how you can do it step by step:
In case you are worried about getting bitten, you can also find devices to insert the medicine into the dog's mouth. Another point you should take note of is that there is a hump near the base of their tongue. If the medicine is not placed beyond that, then there is a high chance that your dog will spit it out.
Other than this, there are also flavoured medicines available that dogs may find palatable.
Dogs are also very smart when it comes to tricking us, especially when it comes to these pills. After feeding them medicine, check to see if their tongue sticks out or if they lick their nose. If they aren't, there's a chance that cheeky one is hiding the pill in their mouth. Also, it's a great idea to get a friend or family member to help you out. The extra person will also excite the dog, making the use of any of the aforementioned methods easier. Finally, be patient with them no matter how many tries it takes, your four-legged kiddo deserves it.
