The following blog is reposted with permission from Merck Animal Health. For any questions about your pet’s health, please consult your primary care veterinarian, or if cancer-related, please contact Animal Cancer Care Clinic at (954) 527-3111.
Tips for making your pet’s medicine go down more smoothly
How to give your pet medication
When your dog or cat is hurt or sick, veterinarian‐prescribed medication may be part of their road back to health. Yet it can be a challenge to get a pet to swallow what’s good for them. Meds may have a bitter taste, and a pet may balk at being force‐fed for its own good.
The first time you need to medicate your pet, ask the veterinarian to show you how to administer the medication so that you can follow the best practice.
Be sure that you understand the instructions and frequency of dosage as well as the possible side effects. You’ll also want to know if there’s a particular time of day to give the medication. And ask how long to continue medicating and how soon you can expect your pet to respond.
When pills are prescribed
The easiest way to give a pet a pill is by disguising it in food (as long as your veterinarian tells you to impart it with food rather than on an empty stomach). You can buy commercially made treats for cats and dogs that are specifically designed to hold a pill or capsule inside.
You can also conceal a pill for a cat by wrapping it in cheese or another type of food that your cat likes. Or try making a tiny meatball out of wet cat food and embedding the medication in it.
Dogs, who are more eager to swallow a variety of things, usually accept a pill if it’s disguised as a treat. Coatings and wraps that usually work are cream cheese, peanut butter (make sure it does NOT contain xylitol), meat, and meat-flavored baby food.
Once you’ve prepared the pill, you may need to restrain your pet to deliver it. With a cat, wrap him in a towel, leaving his head exposed. That will prevent him from escaping or scratching you. Hold him in your lap or sit with him between your legs. Press his cheekbones to open his jaw, tip his head straight u,p and drop the pill at the back of his tongue. Then close his mouth and massage his throat to encourage swallowing. You can blow a little air on his nose to encourage a lick, which allows you to see if he’s swallowed the pill.
To give a dog who won’t accept a medicated treat a pill, get down on the floor with him or put him on a table with a non-slip surface. Hold his upper jaw open and tilt his head back. Position his upper lip over his top teeth to avoid getting bitten and drop the pill on the base of his tongue. Then close his mouth and blow on his nose or rub his throat to get him to swallow.