Getting my doodle to take medicine

[Kati & Shawn]

Hey All! 

We took our doodle to the vet after he woke us up with some runny poo and vomiting. They diagnosed it as a bacterial issue in his GI tract and gave us an antibiotic for it along with orders for an all chicken and rice diet for the next couple of days. Thing is we cant get him to eat the anti biotic. We tried mixing it in to his food, forcing him to swallow it, shoving it in to some chicken. Nothing works, he just spits it out. I usually give him his pills in cheese and he takes them just fine, but the vet said "no table scraps". Any suggestions???

Kati

[F, Calla & Luca]

My dogs let me shove any pills they won't take right to the back of their tongue where they can't help swallowing them.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep, that's my method too. And JD takes 9-12 pills a day. You get the pill way back, then hold their mouth closed and rub the throat 'til they swallow it. 

However, I disagree with the vet on "no table scraps". A tiny bit of cheese (or peanut butter or liverwurst or baby food) given with a pill only won't do any harm. 

You are also going to want to order a good probiotics, as the antibiotic is almost certainly metronidazole (flagyl), which is going to destroy all of the good bacteria in his gut along with the bad, and when the meds are finished, the diarrhea usually comes roaring back. Order some Proviable DC, and give it at least two hours apart from the meds, and longer is better. You're going to need to continue the probiotic for a couple of weeks after the meds. And don;t worry, you can sprinkle it on his food.  

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Make me number 3 ... Lucy has food allergies so we are very limited on what we could stuff them in, so we just open the mouth and use one finger to stuff it all the way back and then hold her mouth till she swallows.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

That's what I do too.  Murph takes lots of meds and I can't wrap them in any human food because of his limited diet.  He can have one kind of hydrolyzed treats, so I hold the treat so he can see that I have it and then I put him in a "sit" and open his mouth....then place the pill (I can actually do three at once now) all the way at the back of his tongue...literally as far back as you can go then immediately follow up with the treat.  He swallows the pills at the same time as he's swallowing the treat.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Jane! Three pills at once. You are a magician! Congrats! Murphy is so lucky to have such a talented mom. ;o)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

It's just that I've had lots of practice....this guy takes lots of meds and because of the steroids he'll do anything for a treat.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Well, yes.  My dogs also resist medications and I just slip the pill into the back of their throat and slip it down with my index finger.  They get used to this and don't mind at all.  Actually, I learned this from taking care of my friend's goat when he had to take antibiotics.  She asked if I wanted to try shots or pills and told me this was the way to get the pills down his throat.  Works fine for goats and dogs.  Haven't tried any other animals.

[BG and Gavin]

Put the pill right to the back of his throat, hold his muzzle shut and tip his chin up, hold until he shoots his tongue out to lick his lips, that means he has swallowed. Fail proof :)

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

That's funny, I wait for the tongue to shoot out too! I think Lucy loves getting pills because it can take quite a while of me rubbing her throat and holding her mouth shut before I see the tongue. It's like a game to her.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Oh Lucy,  you know how to get the lovin' you want! hahaha

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Peanut butter works for us, but I don't know if you can give him any.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

When Charlie needed to take some meds several years ago, my vet suggested using string cheese.  I bought the stuff, and Charlie would not touch it!  Yuck - neither would I.  So I use the drop it way back in the throat method too.