Giving Pet Medications at Home

It’s important that your pet gets the medications that we prescribe.  We understand that giving medication to your pet can be a struggle, so here are some tips to make things easier for everyone involved.

Hide It:

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At first try and hide the medication in something like canned food, a treat,  or even a pill pocket which you can find at your local pet store. Then give a total of 3 treats with the pill inside the second one. Pretty tricky right? Be sure the medication is safe to take with food, and don’t use your pets regular meal time food, use something more appealing.  Some pills have unpleasant odors and tastes, try using one hand for the treat and one hand for the pill.  Some pets won’t let you outsmart them and will be able to sniff out the treat with the pill each time. If that’s the case you’ll have to work even harder to give your pets their pills.  

Direct Piller Method:

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Sometimes it’s recommended that you place the pill directly in your pet’s mouth. We sell a pet piller that you can use to make this a little bit easier. A negative first experience with this method will often make it more difficult next time around so it’s really important to be sensitive to your pets comfort level. Don’t use excessive force, try to remove them from their hiding place, or interrupt their meal time to give them their medication. Instead wait until they come to you.  

Practice touching their head and mouth while giving them rewards. When they become comfortable, use one hand to hold and tilt their head upwards and insert the pill with your other hand as far back on your pet’s tongue as possible using the pet piller. A second set of hands would be helpful to ensure your pet stays still while you do this. Gentle rubbing on the bottom of their chin or blowing on their nose will help trigger their swallow reflex. Be sure they’ve swallowed their medication and as soon as you’re sure it’s down, be sure to reward your pet with their favorite treat.  Doing this will create a positive association! 

The direct piller method can also be used with liquid medications. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you want your pet to be comfortable, so it’s critical that you stop what you’re doing if you start to notice your pet showing any signs of aggression or discomfort.

If you’re running into any problems giving your pets their medication, don’t wait to let us know! Give us a call and we’d be more than happy to help find another solution! Call us at (845) 878-4833.