Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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So I need to give Supai about 10 pills per meal, cream cheese used to do the trick but doesn't work either she smells the pills or feels them and then she becomes un-cooperative. I switched to PB, problem is even if I give here 2-3 at a time she get's enough peanut butter that she doesn't really want to eat much of her dinner. I tried grinding up the pills and mix with yogurt and that is a big floop.
Any other trick out there that have worked on your dog?
Shaun & Suapi
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Yes, lots of tricks. We had lengthy conversations about this, in particular for Yoda around Sept or so, so those are in the archives. Lots of our dogs like butter. But more recently I found that the pill pockets work really well and continued to work for a long time. The pill is much better hidden than with cheese or even butter (although butter is hard to beat, although it might not be the best item in terms of nutrition).
But does Supai have a good appetite or does she have a chemo-reduced appetite? If she has a good appetite, pill pockets should work well. If she is off her food, you might need to work harder.
I know that it isn't the healthist solution but Emily lost so much weight towards the end that I put her pills in hot dogs. Sometimes she got suspisious about the pills and I would have to give her some hot dog without pills and eat some myself until she was fooled. I give my dog, Bentley, (a quadpawd) glucosomine in bread. If I hand feed him the bread/pill he eats the bread and spits out the pill. If I make him sit and throw it to him he gulps it down. Good luck.
Debra & Angel Emily
Debra & Emily, a five year old doberman mix, who was diagnosed with an osteosaecoma. She had a right rear leg amputation on May 19, 2009. On November 10, 2009 she earned her wings and regained her fourth leg.
Did you try searching for existing posts about this? This topic Yoda's Mom started has all sorts of tips for getting dogs to take pills.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
For Tasha eating was never a problem, what I did was put wet food on a spoon and hide the pills in the food, she loves to eat off a spoon so she thought she was getting a goodie. We have other dogs and they all love to eat off a spoon so everyone waited their turn and got bites, Tasha just got a few extra bites.
Jo Ann & Tasha
Tasha 8 years old, First cancer diagnosis 6/26/09, Last cancer diagnosis 9/26/09, Amputation 10/01/09, Loving our girl moment by moment.
Tasha lost her battle and became my Angel on May 4 2011. Forever in my heart….
This has always been an issue for Peanut. She's a finicky eater to begin with.
After her cancer diagnosis, I slowly changed her diet, for easy adjustment. I cooked more for her than I did for myself! But she grew bored with all the cooked food and prefers her Evo kibble and Evo canned food. Weird girl.
At first with Peanut, I kept a variety of "pill pockets" on hand. This meant anything from sliced cheese, for rolling up a pill... to hot dogs... to hard boiled eggs. She eventually turned her nose up at everything if it had a pill in it. Sometimes she'd even take the treat, fake chew or swallow while I watched, then spit out the pill as I turned around! She's sometimes too clever for her own good!
What I found actually worked best for her, was feeding her out of my hand. I'd mix her normal batch of food, with the pills in it. Then I'd hand feed her. It worked wonders. I don't know why, exactly, but it was the easiest way for me to get her to eat her pills.
Hopefully you'll find what works best for Supai. Good luck!
-Melanie, Peanut, Bubba.
~*~*~ Peanut is strength, love, and happiness. ~*~*~ 11/30/03 – 12/26/09
Hey Shaun,
If none of the above tricks work for Supai, then I suggest you get your vet or vet tech to teach you how to give the pills directly. It's quick and easy, and you just shove them down their throat, and they never have to worry about biting into some nasty, bitter tasting pill. It's important that Supai takes all her medications... Let us know what ends up working for Supai!
Good luck! 
Angel Jake's Mom
Jake, 10yr old golden retriever (fractured his front right leg on 9/1, bone biopsy revealed osteosarcoma on 9/10, amputation on 9/17) and his family Marguerite, Jacques and Wolfie, 5yr old german shepherd and the newest addition to the family, Nala, a 7mth old Bengal mix kittie. Jake lost his battle on 11/9/2009, almost 8 weeks after his surgery. We will never forget our sweet golden angel… http://jakesjou.....ipawds.com ….. CANCER SUCKS!
So I changed the routine tonight, when I got home Supai got a 1 mi. walk and Barley got his 3 mi. walk (I strategically parked truck so I only did 3 mi.). When I got home feed the guy's their dinner then we did pills about 30 mins. later. soft pills I used cream cheese or mozzarella and the stinky pills used PB. Everything went down. If i can only get her to drink her Ultra Clear! The Holistic Vet likes to de-tox the liver with Ultra Clear, mixed with water it supposed to taste great her dog dreuls over the stuff, smells like vinilla, Suapi won't touch it. I have mixed it with yogurt, cottage cheese, chix broth and beef broth. I mixed it with her dinner and she walked away from it.
Supai isn't a finicky eater but she has to be hungry to eat. Now Barley on the other hand, if it isn't kibble it is a treat and treats aren't to be ignored!
Hope your friends are doing well.
Shaun & supai
You might also consider asking your vet for liquid forms of any/some of the meds so you can use a syringe.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I tried the pill pockets when Jack was first diagnosed, and those were ultimate fail. PB worked for a while, and then he got bored with it. So I tried butter. This was my gift from heaven. He LOVES taking pills now. He hears me open the butter dish and he comes running down the hall and is excited to take his herbs. He also likes cream cheese and I've found that cream cheese sticks to the pills easier so you can use less of it. I found a whipped kind at our local bagel shop, and Jack's personal favorite flavor is blueberry. We're back to butter though because of the suger in the cheese. Good luck!
<3 Laura and Butterball (i mean jack)
If your holistic vet really thinks that Supai needs the Ultra Clear and she hates it, then you can try administering it using a syringe... Just a thought! Good to hear there are no problems giving any of the pills!
Angel Jake's Mom
Jake, 10yr old golden retriever (fractured his front right leg on 9/1, bone biopsy revealed osteosarcoma on 9/10, amputation on 9/17) and his family Marguerite, Jacques and Wolfie, 5yr old german shepherd and the newest addition to the family, Nala, a 7mth old Bengal mix kittie. Jake lost his battle on 11/9/2009, almost 8 weeks after his surgery. We will never forget our sweet golden angel… http://jakesjou.....ipawds.com ….. CANCER SUCKS!
Maggie is terrible taking pills, and it doesn't help that she is so small. Like Peanut Mag is pretty smart- once she would find a pill in something she wouldn't take that food from me again. And she usually chews everything so eventually she finds pills hidden in any food.
She didn't like PB or butter. I tried a pill shooter (I think thats what they are called) but in the end I have to just stuff them down. Its faster and less trying (at least for me) then she would get a real treat when we were done.
One thing that did work for awhile was melted cheese. I would melt a bit of cheddar cheese in the micro for a few seconds, just enough for it to get soft and a bit slick. I would wrap the pill in it and it would go right down- sort of like the butter idea, but she likes cheese.
Karen
I've switched to cream cheese. Trouble loves it, and it's sticky enough that the pill won't fall out.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Butter and cream cheese are fine when it comes to capsules, which seems to be pretty tasteless. But if there is a nasty bitter pill like those horrible TRAMADOL tablets (capsules are fine, tables are NOT fine), they might need to be wrapped better, depending on the size of your dog's snoz. (Tazzie had a HUGE snoz , as you know.) For that, the pill pockets functioned fine. But apparently some dogs (Jack) have too refined taste for them. The taste of tramadol can put a dog off of all his or her pills. That is just Tazzie's humble opinion as relayed by his human.
Karen, you are sooo funny! Microwaving cheese to make little pills tempting. The life those pugs live! But really, it's not that far to make a pill go down Maggie's throat...a matter of a couple inches at best. Imagine trying to shove a pill down Codie Rae's big Looooooong mouth! (just for visual effect!) Oh, the things we do to get our dog's to take their darn pills.
Caira Sue gave up on PB a long time ago....she's just now gotten to start trusting it again. Tramadol goes down better in turkey, in her eyes.
May 2001-Jan 21, 2010.....I'm a dog and I'm AWESOME!..... Always.
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