Is anything more challenging than medicating your pet? Gel capsules, eye drops, ear ointments, or liquid medications have all been spat out, gagged up, or avoided through biting, scratching, or alligator rolling. Most pet owners have nothing on Steve Irwin, which makes medication administration difficult. Here are our tried-and-true techniques for medicating your pet. While we don’t always condone tricking your pet, sometimes it’s necessary.
Tempting tricks
While we don’t always condone tricking your pet, sometimes it’s necessary. Try these tricks for ensuring oral medications disappear down the hatch:
Use tasty treats to disguise pills — Ease your pet into accepting her treat with a plain treat first, then pop a pill in the next treat. Hide the medication in a moldable treat or creamy food, such as peanut butter, cream cheese, or spray cheese. Offer your pet treats in quick succession, sticking the pill in the middle of the treat parade.
Competing for treats — Competition works well if you have multiple pets. Most animals are reluctant to share high-value treats and will snatch a morsel away from their housemate. Toss your pets two treats, one with the medication, at the same time. A competitive streak will have both pets gobbling their treats.
Use variety —Try a variety of tempting treats to disguise your pet’s medication—the smellier, the better. Finding a food item that is irresistible to your pet may take trial and error.
Wrap it up
Teeth, talons, and ticked off pets, oh my! Nothing freaks out a pet more than someone who is coming at her with an odd-smelling bottle of medication, intending to pin her down for treatment. Use a towel to remove her weapons and calm her at the same time by following these five steps:
- Place your pet on a towel several inches from the front and about a foot in from one edge.
- Wrap the short end of the towel around your pet’s neck like a scarf.
- Pull the short end of the towel over your pet’s body, exposing only her head.
- Wrap the front edge of the towel’s short end under your pet’s neck.
- Wrap the rest of the towel snugly over her body.
Gentle, even pressure calms animals, and a towel wrap contains the “weapons.” Once your pet is calm and secure in her wrap, you can safely and easily administer eye, ear, or oral medications.
Are you still struggling with pilling the unwilling? Call us for other options.