Basenji won't take pills

[btterfly111]

Help. My Basenji is on the 8th day of a 10 day antibiotic and he has completely given up the idea of taking his pills. The first 5 days went smoothly. I would put it in his throat and rub his neck till he swallowed. Now he clams up and wont let me open his mouth. He's never tried to bite me but keeps his mouth locked shut. Then I mixed the pill into some beef, thought I was being sneaky, but he picked it out and left it on the ground. So next I broke open the pill and mixed it into his favorite yogurt. That worked for a day but now he smells the yogurt first and won't touch it if he can smell the pill. (They smell is pretty strong). He is outsmarting me and I know the importance of fully finishing an antibiotic. We only have 2 more days, but I'm running out of ideas. Anyone found any tricks to get your B to take medicine?

[tanza]

They make "pill pushers"… most pet stores sell them... place to put the pill with a plunger... stick one end in the mouth (you should be able to wiggle it in and get him to open his mouth as least enough to get the pill pusher in and back in the throat)

[Kona]

We hide Kona's pills in cheese or bread dipped in wet food. Sometimes it takes a couple of tries, where she manages to eat the bread or cheese and spits out the pill, but she eventually eats the entire thing.

[Shaye's Mom]

At first, Shaye would not eat her Interceptor pills - I took a funnel and played with it with her - she kept grabbing at it with her mouth wide open and when she did that I threw the pill down the funnel and it was down her throat before she knew she had it. Only had to do that once though - for some reason she likes them now.

[thunderbird8588]

When Benji was ill, he had to have lots of pills. There was no way i could get him to take them by just putting them in his mouth. He gave me one try, spat it out and then i am afraid to say he would have bitten me.
Sometimes i could disguise them in a piece of chicken , beef , ham etc. If all else failed i had to use a blob of butter which i know was bad for him but the pills meant the difference between life and death. I have to say that the butter worked best of all,
Shelley

[tanza]

@thunderbird8588:

When Benji was ill, he had to have lots of pills. There was no way i could get him to take them by just putting them in his mouth. He gave me one try, spat it out and then i am afraid to say he would have bitten me.
Sometimes i could disguise them in a piece of chicken , beef , ham etc. If all else failed i had to use a blob of butter which i know was bad for him but the pills meant the difference between life and death. I have to say that the butter worked best of all,
Shelley

I agree…. when all else fails you used/do whatever you have to.... honestly never thought of butter.... thanks for the tip

[basi]

I am a butter user, have tried nearly everything else and that is the best as it just slides down:D

[Tayda_Lenny]

I use the EZ cheese stuff that comes out of a tube. I'm thinking of switching to the kong stuffing that they sell at petstores though… less calories. I cover the pills in the EZ cheese and wipe it on the top of Tayda's mouth. She usually swallows it w/o a problem....

[Alex]

Butter worked for Chance as well, but he developed a rash on his neck after a week of pill covered in butter treatment. Not sure if it was butter or the medicine, so I would be careful.

[tanza]

@Alex:

Butter worked for Chance as well, but he developed a rash on his neck after a week of pill covered in butter treatment. Not sure if it was butter or the medicine, so I would be careful.

Do you remember what Meds he was on? Just curious….

[sharronhurlbut]

I use kids cheese sticks..I break off a small piece and give it to them, pill free..then have another piece that I have put the pill in, give it to them, then have infront of their noses, before they ever stop chewing a small piece with the pill in it, I have another small piece of pill free cheese. I do it pretty quickly, and as I give the dog not getting the pill the same thing, the boy with the pill is afraid she will get his cheese.
It works for me. I hope this makes some sense. 3 bits of cheese with the second one having the pill inside…BUT you have to make sure there is cheese all around the pill...or it won't work.
Good luck.

[saba]

@sharronhurlbut:

I use kids cheese sticks..I break off a small piece and give it to them, pill free..then have another piece that I have put the pill in, give it to them, then have infront of their noses, before they ever stop chewing a small piece with the pill in it, I have another small piece of pill free cheese. I do it pretty quickly, and as I give the dog not getting the pill the same thing, the boy with the pill is afraid she will get his cheese.
It works for me. I hope this makes some sense. 3 bits of cheese with the second one having the pill inside…BUT you have to make sure there is cheese all around the pill...or it won't work.
Good luck.

I do this exact same thing with ours, only we are using some mild Salami, as we have tried most of the rest of these tips, without success :). We currently have Saba on meds and he is enjoying his Salami treats :). I havent tried the butter though, will keep this one up my sleeve…

[nkjvcjs]

We use canned cat food. The cheap, stinky stuff. She rejects it if we put it in the expensive stuff that we actually feed our cats.
She only gets it when she gets her pill so it is special.

We have actually had some success with the Greenies Pill Pockets as well.

-Nicole

[MacPack]

I coat the pills in butter to hide any taste or smell, then use all sorts of things, a dab of raw ground beef, cream cheese (low fat), canned food, anything he likes. I rotate every few days because he will decide he doesn't like something if he feels the pills. I often put the pills in a small bit of cream cheese, then something else. Topper has to take 4 pills twice a day so I don't make it a battle, more like "morning treats!" for everyone.
When all else fails, I resort to vanilla ice ream, spoon fed!

[kiroja]

velveeta is my weapon of choice

[JazzysMom]

I put pills in a blob of peanut butter. If you can get the mouth open, you can stick it on the roof and as the dog licks the peanut butter, the pill just slides down the throat.
It's not necessary to put in on the roof of the mouth though. If you can get the dog to eat the peanut butter it has the same effect.

[AliceB]

Cream cheese and peanut butter are my two weapons of choice. My parents have the greenies pill pockets for their 11 lb poodle/terrier/chi mix, but since she is small they divide the pocket to get at least three uses out of it. The first time they used one, my mom used a whole one and poor baby couldn't eat it! She held it in her mouth a few minutes, cried, spit it out and stared at it. Now that they divide the pockets she gobbles them down.

[btterfly111]

Thanks Guys. Hiding it in a piece of beef is working today. I did the three pieces sneaking it in the middle one technique. We will see how long it takes him to catch on.