Giving Medication To Pets

Giving pills or meds to pets is so very easy if you just use the right method. I take the pill (if it's a large one I use a pill splitter and cut it up small) and a bite-size piece of their favorite people food. People food is always a special treat for pets since they only very rarely get it. I use either cheese or meat (cooked preferably or raw); "smish" the pill into the cheese or meat and just offer it to them. They gobble it right up, pill and all.

If it's a capsule and they do manage to keep spitting it back out while still eating the treat, I simply open up the capsule and sprinkle it into another piece of treat and "mish" it all together. No spitting out this time! If they've figured the trick out and refuse to eat it the second time around, just put it in the fridge for 10 minutes and offer it again. They'll have forgotten it by this time and will definitely gobble it down. I use this same method with my cat, too.

For smaller pets such as pet rodents, I take away all of their food for no more than 2-3 hours. This will leave them plenty hungry. Then I dissolve the med in water or any liquid they happen to really love and mix it in with just enough food for just a few bites. Once they've eaten this all up, then I refill their food dishes with whatever is normally in it.

For birds, now that's when I ask the vet for the best method. They can be a lot harder to give meds to. And any type of amphibian or snake or lizard, again, I would ask the vet on those.

By Cricket from Parkton, NC