# Cannot get my little guy to take his pain meds!



## ChiThor (Jul 24, 2013)

I joined this forum to get some ideas/help because I cannot get Thor to take his pain meds. I took him to the ER Vet last week because he was in pain everywhere and would not stop crying. Turns out both of his knees are bad and he tore a tendon in one of them. The vet did a blood test and found that his kidney levels were too high for the medication he wanted to give Thor, so instead he is on Tramadol 3 times a day. Now that I've tricked him with several different types of food he won't eat anything I give him and I've been forced to put the pill in some food and shove it in his mouth then hold it shut. It's awful! I don't know what do to. 

I've tried hot dogs, cheese, yogurt, wet dog food, homemade dog food, butter, a piece of pork chop. The only thing that worked was a scrambled egg, but he only ate that twice before he realized the pill was in it. 

Does anyone have any good ideas for these little guys. Other dog owners don't realize this breed is very small so they are much harder to trick into eating a pill willingly!

Here is a sad picture of my little guy on the way to the ER Vet, he cried every time I slowed down or took a corner  


And one when he's not so sad in the car


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## joeandruth (Aug 11, 2012)

Since Simcha has allergies, he gets half a 4mg generic Chlor Trimeton pill after each of his two daily meals. I have been doing this for nearly a year by burying the pill in a wad of cream cheese. He views the wad of cream cheese as his 'dessert' and begs for it after finishing his meal. I extend my finger with the cream cheese wad, and he eagerly licks it up. The pill is very small, and he never spits it out.


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## ChiThor (Jul 24, 2013)

joeandruth said:


> Since Simcha has allergies, he gets half a 4mg generic Chlor Trimeton pill after each of his two daily meals. I have been doing this for nearly a year by burying the pill in a wad of cream cheese. He views the wad of cream cheese as his 'dessert' and begs for it after finishing his meal. I extend my finger with the cream cheese wad, and he eagerly licks it up. The pill is very small, and he never spits it out.


At this point I'll try anything. I'll have to pick up some cream cheese tomorrow and try!


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## Angel1210 (Mar 14, 2011)

Aawww! Poor thing! Looks like such a sweetheart! I would try grinding the pill fine and mix it with a small amount of canned food. Have you tried the typical way for giving pills? I know it can be difficult sometimes because their mouths are so small. How old is he?

I am currently having to give my golden antibiotics. I crush them up with a mortar and pestle and mix it with her food. Also, I took that once and it was awful! It made me so sick! Maybe it is upsetting his tummy and he's associating the treat with not feeling well! Perhaps the vet can give you something in case it is. I threw my pills away! I'd rather deal with the pain!!

I hope he is feeling better soon!


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## woodard2009 (Aug 4, 2010)

Chunks of raw meat are irresistible. Or you can put the pill down the back of the throat close his mouth and blow in his nose which triggers the swallow. Works like a charm when he won't take with food. Poor thing. I'm sorry your baby is in so much pain. Sending healing thoughts your way. He is really cute.


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

Anything tasty and squishy is good, so cream cheese, pate, or peanut butter would be my suggestions.


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## lilbabyvenus (Feb 8, 2009)

I have the same problem with Ocean. She is not food orientated at all. When I give her heartworm medication I have to place the tab as far back in her mouth as I can, gently hold her mouth shut so she can't push the pill out with her tongue, and gently rub her throat to make her swallow. It's sad to do, but it's the only way that works for her.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Zarita gets a quarter of a pill for her digestive problem every morning. It is given in p.butter. Also if you have to give the pill in their mouth, it is harder to spit out with p.butter!


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## flowersnsunshine (Apr 27, 2013)

You could just try putting the pill as far back in his throat as it'll go, then holding his mouth shut and stroking his neck to make him swallow. You may need two people to do this. Have you tried those treats that they sell at pet stores where it has a place to put the pill in? Those look interesting, but I've never tried them.


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## Tessa'smom (Mar 25, 2013)

I am so sorry you beautiful baby is in pain! I had the hardest time getting Tessa to take meds when she was sick. I ground her tablet and mixed it with cream cheese and a bit of really smelly canned food (an idea from someone on here) I found the smellier the food the better! Good luck and keep us posted!


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## Chihuahuaobsession (Apr 27, 2013)

Here is what I do and it works every time. I grind the pill/pills and dilute it with water inside a small cup. Then with a syringe I pick it up and put it in the back of the throat. You must do it at a good medium pace, slow enough so that he is swallowing but not fast enough so that he spits it out. I had to do it daily with my oldest and she's very picky, would not eat anything. Its a little uncomfortable but it works, I tried mixing it in the food but she wouldn't eat all of it so I was struggling until I saw this on a veterinary site. Now I do it for everything including heart worms preventative. Let us know how it goes!! You can ask your vet for a syringe if you don't have, shouldn't be more than $1-2


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## ChiThor (Jul 24, 2013)

Angel1210 said:


> Aawww! Poor thing! Looks like such a sweetheart! I would try grinding the pill fine and mix it with a small amount of canned food. Have you tried the typical way for giving pills? I know it can be difficult sometimes because their mouths are so small. How old is he?
> 
> I am currently having to give my golden antibiotics. I crush them up with a mortar and pestle and mix it with her food. Also, I took that once and it was awful! It made me so sick! Maybe it is upsetting his tummy and he's associating the treat with not feeling well! Perhaps the vet can give you something in case it is. I threw my pills away! I'd rather deal with the pain!!
> 
> I hope he is feeling better soon!


I have tried grinding it in all sorts of things, wet cat food, homemade dog food (liver, rice, eggs, and veggies), and a bunch of other smelly food, but he always tastes it and starts shaking his head sneezing. He definitely does like the taste, but maybe it does make him sick too  

Oh, and he's 6 years old. He's definitely doing a lot better, still sore sometimes. I haven't been taking him on walks or letting him play with the big dogs. I have a doberman pincher that I'm sure hurt one of his knees, she steam rolled him a couple years ago and hurt his poor little leg. She didn't do it on purpose, just running like a crazy fool in the back yard. 



woodard2009 said:


> Chunks of raw meat are irresistible. Or you can put the pill down the back of the throat close his mouth and blow in his nose which triggers the swallow. Works like a charm when he won't take with food. Poor thing. I'm sorry your baby is in so much pain. Sending healing thoughts your way. He is really cute.


I have not tried raw meat yet, I'll have to do that! I have been resorting to putting the pill as far back in his mouth and holding is mouth shut, but he doesn't swallow for a long time. I didn't realize blowing in his nose would do that, that's a great idea!

And thank you! He's a good boy, it's so sad seeing him mope around. Before he was on the pain meds he would stand in the middle of the living room with his head hanging, I only let him do that for a day before I took him in. 



lilbabyvenus said:


> I have the same problem with Ocean. She is not food orientated at all. When I give her heartworm medication I have to place the tab as far back in her mouth as I can, gently hold her mouth shut so she can't push the pill out with her tongue, and gently rub her throat to make her swallow. It's sad to do, but it's the only way that works for her.


I hate doing it. I feel like such a terrible mom and he looks up at me like I just poisoned him 



susan davis said:


> Zarita gets a quarter of a pill for her digestive problem every morning. It is given in p.butter. Also if you have to give the pill in their mouth, it is harder to spit out with p.butter!


Thanks for the idea!



flowersnsunshine said:


> You could just try putting the pill as far back in his throat as it'll go, then holding his mouth shut and stroking his neck to make him swallow. You may need two people to do this. Have you tried those treats that they sell at pet stores where it has a place to put the pill in? Those look interesting, but I've never tried them.


That's what I have been doing, it's definitely easier with a second person! I have tried them, the problem is he doesn't trust anything we give him so he bites whatever I give him, spits it out to inspect it, bites it again, spits it out again, and repeats. 



Chihuahuaobsession said:


> Here is what I do and it works every time. I grind the pill/pills and dilute it with water inside a small cup. Then with a syringe I pick it up and put it in the back of the throat. You must do it at a good medium pace, slow enough so that he is swallowing but not fast enough so that he spits it out. I had to do it daily with my oldest and she's very picky, would not eat anything. Its a little uncomfortable but it works, I tried mixing it in the food but she wouldn't eat all of it so I was struggling until I saw this on a veterinary site. Now I do it for everything including heart worms preventative. Let us know how it goes!! You can ask your vet for a syringe if you don't have, shouldn't be more than $1-2


I read about that and have seriously considered it. I do have some syringes so I could definitely try it. Thanks for the idea!


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Please make sure that the medicine can be crushed up. Some can not be. Capsules mainly should not be crushed. Some you can take apart, but the powder may be absolutely terrible in taste! Also put the syringe in the 'pocket' or cheek area. Squirt slowly and make sure he doesn't choke. Don't put his head back too far as that opens the trachea, and you don't want the medicine there. You could mix the pill with peanut butter, and put it on the roof of his mouth. Hard to spit out!


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## T~N~T Chis (Jan 31, 2013)

My little Tid Bit is awful about taking pills. It doesn't matter what I try to hide it in she manages to clean the goody off & spit the pill back out. I just keep trying and eventually she gets it down. The crushing & mixing with water sounds like a good idea, but make sure it isn't a time release medication that needs to be swallowed whole. My suggestion is to talk to your vet & see if he can give you a liquid pain med like Metacam or something similar. My 20 year old dog (Tikki ~ R.I.P.) had arthritis real bad & she loved the stuff. She actually followed the syringe licking it --> wanting more.


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## svdreamer (Feb 20, 2010)

Babushka is awful about medicine. I just had to give her both pills and liquid. The pill I crushed and sopped it up with a small piece hot dog (cut in half lengthwise so she couldn't inhale it and get it caught in her windpipe) and she gobbled it up. For the liquid, I had some left over mashed potatoes. I made a pocket and squirted the med in, then added more potatoes to make a ball. That took a bit to get down, but she ate it all, especially when one of her brothers came over to help her eat it. Lol. 


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## Chiggerboy (Jun 21, 2013)

My baby looks just like your!  
He came down with steroid responsive meningitis almost 2 months ago & on prednisone broke in tidbits and pepcid along with a chemo med that is a oil immersion solution and taste horrible! 
I was able to get the pills in him by buying shaved turkey and rolling it into little bite size balls and hand feed them to him..he practically swallows them whole. 
The liquid was a challenge..after many doses being wasted I bought some turkey gravy and squirted in and mixed with more tiny pieces of shaved turkey and he gobbles it up...you could use roast beef, chicken or cheese sticks cut in small bites and hide the pills in them. 
If all else fails...rotisserie chicken 


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## ChiThor (Jul 24, 2013)

Thank you so much for the great advice everyone! I really appreciate it!


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## Winstonsmum (Jul 2, 2013)

I had to give my baby tablets today, all i did was break the tablet in half and covered it in the kong stuff n treat canned stuff (if that makes sense) he licked it straight off my finger and took the pill down with it


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