Best way to get my dog to eat sedative capsules

[giants89]

My dog Samson, is a 3 year old Boerboel X Rhodesian mix. I have to give him 8 Capsules (4 Gabepentin and 4 Trazadone to get him sedated for his X-Ray. The trouble is, whenever i give him it with food, he chews the food, bites the tablet. taste the powder and spits it out. Is there any tricks i can use to get him to eat them. Some are capsules with powder inside and the other is just a round tablet. Any ideas?

 

[hugntran2401]

@giants89 My big boy is a pill spitter, will eat anything a pill is wrapped in and spit the pill out. He had surgery 2 years ago and we had to give him over 25 pills a day at one point, and shoving my whole hand down his throat didn’t seem sustainable, so I tried everything. The one thing I’ve found that works is Velveeta. It wraps around the pill and coats it, tastes like cheese, and is low ish in fat. He gobbles those pills down.

 

[giants89]

@hugntran2401 That sounds nice, I’m in the UK, and haven’t heard of that brand before, I’m going to the supermarket later so will see what they have.

 

[hugntran2401]

@giants89 Try any “American cheese product” (aka not really cheese but also not not cheese lol). So
Something like a rotel in a jar cheese sauce or ez cheese (spray cheese). Cream cheese also would work but isn’t as smelly.

 

[giants89]

@hugntran2401 i’m thanks, i got some cream cheese, but crushed the pills and put them in some wet food and he ate the lot,

 

[hugntran2401]

@giants89 Yay!!!

 

[123lx]

@giants89 My guy has to take a few pills a day, one of which is really bitter. Only thing that has worked for us is peanut butter. Anything else he’ll eat around or spit out. With the peanut butter I’ll put a glob on my finger with a thick cover. At this point my guy sits and opens his mouth and I’ll just wipe it off on his tongue and then let him lick remaining pb off my finger to distract him (but we’ve never had an issue).

If you go with peanut butter just make sure yours doesn’t have xylitol. Most don’t but just confirm it’s pup safe. And also it’s pretty calorie dense so I’d lay off other treats for the day

Good luck!

 

[giants89]

@123lx great idea, he doesn’t like peanut butter tho, so it’s a no go.

 

[bettythemedium]

@giants89 Anything similar to peanut butter that requires licking vs chewing would be helpful. My dog hates chewing with pills. But will lick them. A thick yogurt maybe

 

[giants89]

@bettythemedium he doesn’t like peanut butter, but a thick yogurt is a good idea, thanks

 

[8786cypress]

@giants89 Cream cheese is the only thing that works with my pups. I make four small balls, one with the pill inside, and give them a ball or two with no pills at first, then sneak the one with the pill in there.

 

[ronaa3747]

@giants89 The trick I use with my dog to take a pill is to drop it on the floor like I've dropped a chip and go "NO, NO, NOOO!!"

.. And he eats it up quickly so I don't take it away from him...

 

[giants89]

@ronaa3747 hahaha this is brilliant

 

[sl12]

@giants89 This last winter we had to give our dog meds for his heartworm treatment (he had it when we adopted him). Peanut butter, American cheese, and refried beans, were all things that we tried that worked for a bit until he got a taste of the medicine. By the end the only thing that worked was stuffing them in hotdogs. Best of luck!

 

[giants89]

@sl12 hotdogs is a good idea, i’ll try that. Thank you.

 

[suzietors]

@giants89 Cream cheese is the best I’ve found.

 

[carterishere]

@giants89 Whipped cream cheese. Has to be whipped. Regular cream cheese is to easily separated by my pup. I wish someone had given me this recommendation when I was first searching for something that worked.

 

[angelina70]

@giants89 Our GSD girl is too smart for any tricks, so we have to do the ol fashioned way. My son puts it as far back in mouth and rubs her throat to help slide it down. She seems to like this and think it’s a game?? Go figure

 

[madotsukiinthenexus]

@giants89 We use a glob of wet dog food and that works most of the time.

I also have used tiny beef meatballs, sliced ham/cheese, and chicken

 

[giants89]

@madotsukiinthenexus yeah i crushed the tablets and put it in with wet dog food and he ate it all. Thanks