Tuesday, July 24, 2012

How give a dog oral medication

By Jerry Welsh


Dog owners have a lot of "must do" to ensure the well being of the pet. One of the essential tasks a pet parent must learn is how to give the pet a pill. Giving the dog a pill is a task that must be done until the pet gets well. The need to give the dog its daily vitamins and supplements can be a very arduous task for an owner that does not know how to pill the dog the easy way. So how do you give a dog a pill?

The task is even made harder if the dog is an escape artist that would easily elude the pill being administered by the owner. Pilling the dog can be a major fight as once the pill filled treat is popped into the mouth; the cunning dog would eat the treat and spit out the pill. Dogs do not know that if they take the pill, they would get well thus a pet owner has to find ways to make the task a little easier.

An owner would be fortunate to have a dog that would willingly take a pill. But as soon as the master's back is turned, out the pill would go from the dog's mouth. After giving the pill, an owner must not leave at once to make sure that the pill was swallowed by the pet.

Another method of giving the dog a pill is using the dog's favorite treats to mask the taste of the pill. Pills that can be crushed or liquid medications can be mixed with a little amount of the dog's favorite treat. However, this technique can only be done if the pet is not under dietary restriction. A pet owner can take advantage of the dog's inclination to gobble its food by hiding the pill in the dog's favorite foods.

It is common for very sick dogs to refuse food. Masking the taste of the pill with the taste of food would not be an effective technique. The pet must be coached to swallow the pill by placing it directly to the base of the tongue. This technique would be easier if the dog is accustomed to being touched or to teeth brushing. Carefully open the mouth and insert the pill deep in the mouth. To protect your hand from being bitten by the dog, you have to make sure that the teeth are covered by the flews. To encourage the dog to swallow the pill gently blow on the nose.




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