Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I have a 10 year old Golden Retriever who goes to a holistic vet. Right now Buffy is taking 14 pills/supplements three times a day which equals 42 pills a day ! I need some ideas for wrapping all these pills that is low carb. If I wrap all these pills in bread that's about 3 slices of bread every day. Way too many carbs. Pill Pockets give her diarrhea (and are expensive) and she can pick her pills out of yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. Any suggestions ?
Hi! My 10-year old goldendoodle, Griffin, also takes a lot of supplements each day, although not 42! I started cooking for him (ground meat, veggies, and quinoa) and I'm lucky that he scarfs down all of his meds when mixed in with that meal each day. Some of his supplements are in powder form (vitamins and Stamets 7), which makes it easier to mix in. Some of the Chinese herbs are in tea pill form (20 of those each day), which are really small and also easy to mix in. While I don't have an answer about low carb ways to hide pills, I wonder if you are able to administer them in a different form in order to reduce the number of total pills and make them easier to mix into your pup's regular meals. I know others on here will chime in with good ideas - stay tuned! ~ Stacy (Griffin's Journey)
Griffin lived an amazing life for 11 years! Diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 17, 2020, Griffin's right forelimb was amputated on April 2, 2020. Ten days later he was running and playing fetch! Lung metastasis discovered in July 2020 did not slow down Griffin and he lived joyfully for the next 7 months, passing peacefully at home on February 11, 2021. https://griffin.tripawds.com
I use sharp cheddar cheese when I need to get pills down, but I melt it first.
Here is a video I did explaining what I do, the melted cheese part is in the second half:
42 pills a day...yikes!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
A few tried and trues from our house:
Kraft singles - We would put about 10 pills in one and fold it in half and squish together. Our dog could absolutely tell the difference between Kraft singles and off brands.
Slice of ham with cream cheese spread and folded or wrapped. The pills stick to the cream cheese and the ham.
Peanut butter with a tortilla (not sure if they have Lower carbs than bread), basically a PB quesadilla (this was our go to at the end).
These are GREAT tips! Gotta love that good ol' Kraft cheesy goodness. Thanks for sharing.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Those are the best ideas! Deli cheese and peanutbutter have always been my go to foods. On occasion I have a pill that no matter what I cannot get them to take. In that case, get some real butter, softened, and rub it on the pill. I open the top part of the muzzle with my left hand, and slide the pill down the tongue with my right and quickly close their mouth. Rub the throat until you see their little tongue stick out, that means they have swallowed. I have even done this for Huckleberry. The butter stops the pill from sticking to the throat. Right now I have to do this for Bo's Interceptor heartworm pill because he is finicky like a chihuahua, lol.
Jackie and Huck 
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry 
Is it not possible to crush the pills and mix them with food / yogurt etc.?
If not, have you tried those pastes that comes in a tube & are especially made for dogs? Those have worked well with many dogs.
Razbeg the rescue borzoi (born in 11.06.2009) became a tripawd in 20.09.2018.
He and his adopted "brother" Myrsky have their own facebook page:Razbeg & Myrsky
I used to work at our local animal shelter and money was always scarce, so this is how we medicated our dogs and most of the cats.
Get some cheap hot dogs, the cheaper the better. No all beef ones for this, they won't work. Cut a piece of hot dog about the length of the pill being given, if they are small and you need to give them multiples you can fit more than one in each piece. Take a standard plastic straw and push it completely thru the piece of hot dog, creating a hole. Push the small piece of meat out of the straw. Then just push the pills into the hot dog holes and medicate your pup. Most dogs love hot dogs and will gobble them right up. Works as good as a pill pocket and super affordable. I get 8 hot dogs for 79 cents at a discount store. Stock up when you find em on sale, they freeze and thaw wonderfully.
vetheridge said
...this is how we medicated our dogs and most of the cats.
Thanks for the tip! And welcome, your future forum posts will not require moderation.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
One word: liverwurst. Pliable like plyadough, it will cover any size or shape of pill. Never met a dog who doesn't love it. Or a cat for that matter!
And I'll chime in with Velveeta cheese. A block is pretty inexpensive, it can be cut into cubes of any size, easy to mush around pills/capsules, and quite tasty according to Griffin (who actually didn't like liverwurst - go figure!). I'd always have a few plain cubes of cheese ready to keep Griffin focused on eating the ones with pills because more were waiting for him. 
Griffin lived an amazing life for 11 years! Diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 17, 2020, Griffin's right forelimb was amputated on April 2, 2020. Ten days later he was running and playing fetch! Lung metastasis discovered in July 2020 did not slow down Griffin and he lived joyfully for the next 7 months, passing peacefully at home on February 11, 2021. https://griffin.tripawds.com
Braunschwager meat! That worked for Jerry!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I like to use yogurt, plain Greek is a hit here. Meat and dairy usually work pretty well. I've had to resort to some creative recipes for a few dogs that that seemed to be on to me and protested on principle. Stew worked a couple of times with some particularly hated capsules. Sometimes I can get away with broth or yogurt in their food and dropping the meds in the mix.
Pictures of Bell and family on Instagram DuckSaga
I melt any cheese in the microwave for about 20 seconds or until like bubble gum and wrap the pill. For our other dog who is less picky we pop the pills into grape tomatoes. He loves them!
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