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Chuck-roaniecowpony

Chuck-roaniecowpony

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No, seriously. On purpose.

We have a 10 yr old male English Pointer bird dog that has had a host of issues. He's had so many meds orally, that he is very skeptical of getting any food. He has to take 3 little pills a day, plus he is currently on a 10 day antibiotic therapy where we have to give him a couple large pills, twice a day. He turns down schredded cooked chicken lately. We've tried cheddar, spam, etc.. It all worked at least a few times until he found the pills. Then no more of that food for concealing a pill. So, we had to get his meds down and I tried just tossing it down his throat and holding his mouth closed and stroking his throat. It worked off an on. Until he started locking his jaw. LOL.

Then, I noticed we had a little brisket in the fridge. Man, he went for that. No rolling it around it his mouth and snooping for the pills. So, I bought a "watermelon" roast (a.k.a. sirloin tip roast, diamond cut roast, etc.) Pretty cheap beef. I cooked half today. First I injected this super lean meat with a melted stick of non-salted butter, then roasted it covered in the oven to 120F (300F for 1 hr), then I reverse seared it on a super hot charcoal fire. A bit of rest and I sliced some for me and the dog. While it was plain, it was incredibly juicy and beefy. Me and the dog sampled a lot. I may have to make one of these for me. :ROFLMAO:

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Been there
Tablets are easier, i shove into back of mouth with thumb, then clamp mouth shut

Might get a good bite on thumb

Capsules.....are horrible. Often i break open , slurry in a little water, then shoot into mouth
With big syringe

All animal meds need to be liquid, imo. Where a few drops can go on food or in mouth.

I give pills to cat every day......no way but to crush them and distribute thru food. Fortunately they don't taste bad apparently.

Our big dog, had to be put down about 4 weeks ago. Almost 13 yo. Sudden liver failure, ..anemia..hemmoraging into gi tract. was beyond normal vet , ended up at university teaching vet hospital......$4000 later they could still only say what was happening....not why...or how to save her....No path forward for her but continued transfusions and experiments to try and find out. We miss her everyday ....she was the center of our family, just like a child.

Anyway....she totally stopped eating before being hospitalized, which makes it pretty hard to get a pills in a dog.......
 
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MartinB said:
Been there
Tablets are easier, i shove into back of mouth with thumb, then clamp mouth shut

Might get a good bite on thumb

Capsules.....are horrible. Often i break open , slurry in a little water, then shoot into mouth
With big syringe

All animal meds need to be liquid, imo. Where a few drops can go on food or in mouth.

I give pills to cat every day......no way but to crush them and distribute thru food. Fortunately they don't taste bad apparently.

Our big dog, had to be put down about 4 weeks ago. Almost 13 yo. Sudden liver failure, ..anemia..hemmoraging into gi tract. was beyond normal vet , ended up at university teaching vet hospital......$4000 later they could still only say what was happening....not why...or how to save her....No path forward for her but continued transfusions and experiments to try and find out. We miss her everyday ....she was the center of our family, just like a child.

Anyway....she totally stopped eating before being hospitalized, which makes it pretty hard to get a pills in a dog.......
Click to expand...
Sad story. We lost two in one year, a while back. Our current one is a large dog at around 70 lbs and has a bunch of issues but is very well behaved. I agree on the liquids. Much easier with a syringe. But he likes good bbq and I'm using that while I can. Enthusiasm for eating is also becoming a problem. My wife and I are both retired and buying meats and cooking to supplement his meals is no financial impact to us. So, like your situation, we're doing whatever it takes. He is still surprisingly fit and active. I may actually be able to hunt him next bird season. But for now, it's bbq therapy. :D
 
Chuck-roaniecowpony said:
Sad story. We lost two in one year, a while back. Our current one is a large dog at around 70 lbs and has a bunch of issues but is very well behaved. I agree on the liquids. Much easier with a syringe. But he likes good bbq and I'm using that while I can. Enthusiasm for eating is also becoming a problem. My wife and I are both retired and buying meats and cooking to supplement his meals is no financial impact to us. So, like your situation, we're doing whatever it takes. He is still surprisingly fit and active. I may actually be able to hunt him next bird season. But for now, it's bbq therapy. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah before mine totally quit eating when she had just kind of quit eating her food she would still take pills in chicken or brisket. The vet really did not like the idea of giving her brisket I guess due to the fact content. I don't know where doctors , or vets, get the idea that fat is so bad........ It's largely man-made fat that is bad. That's pretty much proven. The legacy of the crusade against fat in diet, which was horribly misplaced, in the 1980s still lives on.
 
MartinB said:
Been there
Tablets are easier, i shove into back of mouth with thumb, then clamp mouth shut

Might get a good bite on thumb

Capsules.....are horrible. Often i break open , slurry in a little water, then shoot into mouth
With big syringe

All animal meds need to be liquid, imo. Where a few drops can go on food or in mouth.

I give pills to cat every day......no way but to crush them and distribute thru food. Fortunately they don't taste bad apparently.

Our big dog, had to be put down about 4 weeks ago. Almost 13 yo. Sudden liver failure, ..anemia..hemmoraging into gi tract. was beyond normal vet , ended up at university teaching vet hospital......$4000 later they could still only say what was happening....not why...or how to save her....No path forward for her but continued transfusions and experiments to try and find out. We miss her everyday ....she was the center of our family, just like a child.

Anyway....she totally stopped eating before being hospitalized, which makes it pretty hard to get a pills in a dog.......
Click to expand...
Cats seem to be able to pick a flavor they like out and block most everything else. I make myself a tuna and kimchi salad for lunch once or twice a week (about a 50/50 mix). The wife's cat will lick the bowl clean when I'm done with it. If I put a bowl of kimchi in front of her, she screws up her face and hauls ***.
 
Been there, Chuck. Or at least on the same highway.

I used one chicken bouillon cube, made a broth with hot water, and added a mashed-up baked potato. No joke. Worked like a charm.
 
These pointers are finicky eaters. Not food driven like most breeds. But it's funny, when any other dog is in the house and we feed that other dog anything, our dog is suddenly all about eating anything. I mean stuff he wouldn't even look at before. BTW, I did a pot roast for him the other day. Seems to be working most of the time.
 
Pets are tough to medicate, in Stockton there is a custom pharmacy that compounded a med for our cat that was tough to pill. They made a creme that was applied to the inside of her ears once a day alternating ears each day. That made life easier for us and the cat, it was kind of expensive but worked until she got old.
 
Our German Shepherd (the whiniest dog on the planet) was very hard to medicate — until we stuck her pills in warm Tater Tots, which she gobbles with no hesitation whatsoever.
 
Grant, we tried the warm tater tot. The good ones...Ore-Ida. No dice. Not even two sniffs.

We have success with the slice beef, pot roast beef (warmed) and the thick sliced Columbus brand turkey from Costco, cheddar molded around the pill like a fish hook. My wife even uses Kerrygold Irish butter around a pill when all else fails. He turns his nose up to a commercial "Pill Pocket". Everything seems to work for a bit but fades from favor now and then. It varies depending on his mood or appetite. Lately, it's become a trial and error of about 3-4 different things for each pill session.
We do have some appetite stimulating liquid, which itself is given with a syringe. It takes a couple hours to work. We also stopped snacking him with the Costco biscuits. So no snacks the past couple days at all. He's wining a bit when he expects a biscuit.

I've put them directly in his mouth at the back of his tongue, closed his mouth and held his snout high while massaging his throat. Sometimes it works and sometimes not.

I wish all this stuff was available in liquid to administer with a syringe. I'm 100% at administering with a syringe on him. I'll give the vet a call.

I'm thinking of making a pill blowgun and shooting them down his throat...o_O
 
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