160 Bear Christiana Rd
Bear, De 19701
302-322-6488
Dr. Jim Berg
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Give a dog a pill
Dear Dr. Berg,
What’s the best way to give a dog a pill? I only need to give my dog a heartworm pill
once a month, but it seems like every month he somehow manages to spit it out
several times before I finally get it in.
Thank you.
K. D., Wilmington
Dear K.D.,
Medicating pets can be quite a challenge, and often the pet
will win the first round, spitting the medication out. Giving medication is a skill that takes
practice, but there are a few tricks I can suggest that may help.
First, if the medication is a capsule or pill, try
lubrication with butter or Vaseline so that the pill doesn’t tend to stick to
the roof of the mouth or tongue. To give
a pill, I put my left hand over the muzzle and hold the dog’s lips together
right behind his K-9 teeth. By gently
pushing the skin in the dental gap behind the K-9 teeth, if the dog closes his
mouth, he tends to trap his own skin before he is able to bite your hand. I then pull down on the lower jaw with my
right hand, then quickly place the pill as far back in the throat as possible and
hold the mouth shut. At this point, the
dog is usually staring at me, but I wait until either I see swallowing muscles
in his neck move or else I see tongue poke out just a little, which tells me
that he’s swallowed. Lifting the head
while holding the mouth shut may help to straighten the throat and encourage
swallowing, and blowing in their face may also help to distract them into
swallowing.
Check carefully after you feel your dog has swallowed,
because some dogs can be quite convincing while carefully holding the pill in
their mouth. It is essential that you
place the pill in the BACK of the mouth; when put in the front, most animals
can easily spit it right back out. If
necessary, you can use the eraser end of a pencil to push the pill further back
once you’ve placed it in the mouth.
Years ago, I knew an owner who’s very clever poodle would
quietly act as if she had swallowed her daily heartworm pill. One day, the owner found a pile of about 30
pills behind the couch where the dog was carefully accumulating them when the
owner wasn’t looking.
To give a liquid, you can use a turkey baster, rubber ear
bulb syringe, or plastic eyedropper.
Place the tip of the dropper in the natural space right behind the K-9
teeth, and slowly squirt it in with the head tilted slightly back, making sure
that you give your pet adequate time to swallow.
Depending on the type of medication to be given, it may be
perfectly OK to hide them in a small amount of food such as peanut butter,
cheese, or liverwurst. You can also get
most medications “custom made” at a compounding pharmacy where they can add
your pet’s favorite flavor…chicken, liver, or tuna fish…..YUM!
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