Medicine Impossible

Photo: pxFuel

There comes a time in every paw-rents’ life where they must feed pills to their furkids. Whether it’s for daily supplements or prescription medicine, it can be pretty difficult to get them to swallow a pill. Here are our top five tips that’ll make the task easier!

Let’s be honest, most of us have to wrestle Fido into eating his medicine if they come in the form of pills. And very often, just when we think we’ve managed to successfully put a pill down his throat, we see it—drool-drenched, no less—on the floor 15 minutes later.

This can be quite challenging if your pooch requires daily medication, so we’ll let you in on a secret: The best way to get your pup to take his medication is to sneakily “trick” him into eating it!

1. Crush the pill into powder form
One of the easier ways to hide the pills is to crush it into a powder form, and mix it into your pup’s meal. Avoid putting in too much powder as your pup may sniff it out and decide to not finish it all.

2. Hide the pill inside meat
If your pooch has a favourite type of meat, hide the pill inside it and feed it to him. Chances are, he’ll be so excited that he won’t even notice the pill!

3. Buy treats made specifically for medication
Some treats have openings in them, and designed specifically for paw-rents who wish to hide medication inside! Your pup will be so distracted by the treat that he won’t even taste the pill.

4. Spread some peanut butter
Spreading peanut butter around the pill distracts your pooch from the medication—Fido will be so busy licking and eating all the delicious peanut butter goodness that he might just swallow the pill too!

5. Do it when your pup isn’t looking
If Fido catches you fiddling with his food or treats (trying to hide the pill in it), he’s bound to get suspicious and will be more likely to reject it. To avoid this, make sure you do it while he isn’t looking.

If he follows you around the house, either hide in a room and close the door, or if your dog is short, do it on a high counter that he can’t reach and see.  

*This article was updated on 15 Aug 2020. It first appeared in PetsMagazine.com.sg on 8 Jun 2016.