How do I administer oral medication to my dog?
Most commonly, dogs are sent home with tablets, pills or capsules that have to be administered by mouth. There are two basic ways to administer these medications, voluntarily and involuntarily.
Voluntary administration means we get the dog to eat the medication. How hard this is varies based on the dog's willingness to eat! Some dogs will take a pill out of your hand and swallow it just because it is offered to them! Other dogs will take a pill hidden in a tasty treat, like a piece of cheese or the center of a slice of bread rolled into a doughy consistency. For the ready eaters, you can often put this treat right on top of the dog food in their bowl and put the bowl down at mealtime and they will come over and gladly eat it all. Other dogs need the pill hidden in a sticky treat that cannot be separated from the pill. A ball of peanut butter or cream cheese works well for those. Dogs that may be suspicious of medicated treats can often be enticed by the trick of 3. This is where you have 3 pieces of something terribly attractive to eat, like pieces of hot dog or cheese, and put the pill in the middle piece. Then give the first treat, making sure they know there is more. When they have eaten that and are excited for more, give the second, medicated treat and follow quickly with the third, unmedicated treat.
Involuntary administration is when we hold the pill in a pincher grip in our dominant hand and place our nondominant hand over the top of the dogs nose and lift up. As the dog's nose goes up, use the fingers holding the pill to open the jaw fully and deposit the pill at the very back of the throat over the base of the tongue in a confident, swift and gentle manner. Keep your fingers in a cone shape to prevent being bitten by the large, crushing teeth on the side of the mouth. If you feel the pill has been left too far forward on the tongue, hold the dog's mouth closed and gently stroke the throat or blow on the nose to encourage swallowing. When you release the dog, watch for the dog to swallow or spit out the pill. Depending on the size and temperment of the dog, you may have to have an assistant to keep the dog from walking away while you give the pill. Also, having smaller dogs at your waist level, on a table or counter top, may make your job easier.
Sometimes liquids are sent home. These can be administered into a up turned, closed dog mouth by stretching out the cheek pouch and depositing the liquid in this spacious area. Or directly into an open mouth works too, just make sure not to squirt so enthusiastically that it goes in one side and out the other!
More rarely powders are used. These are best administered in a treat pouch or pocket. Take part of a slice of bread without crust, and place the powder on the bread, then fold the bread in half. You now have a treat pocket and can feed the powder without the dog tasting it. For very particular dogs, you can spread a touch of butter or peanut butter on the outside of the bread pocket to make it more pallitable.
If you are still having problems, call your veterinarian at 439-9361 or look on the Cornell Small Animal website (see the links area) for a video demonstration.
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