Chaos Critters: A Tough Pill to Swallow

Two videos and lots of pictures! Watch Anna and Tod make giving pills to big and small dogs look easy. (Anna makes it look easier.) Also, we sold another story! This and more!

Welcome back to the blog! And welcome back to high temperatures of Summer’s Final Fling (hopefully)! Do your dogs and cats look like the above when it comes time to take pills? If so, this blog is for you. If not, it’s still for you to enjoy!

Tod here! This week, the blog is inspired by one of Anna’s co-workers. The co-worker was having trouble giving their dog a pill. Anna noticed because the co-worker’s thumb chewed on and black and blue. (Actually it was just swollen. She pointed at her thumb and asked for suggestions since I ALWAYS talk about my puppies.)

The question this week is: what do you or your pet like doing least, that is something you have to do?

Start Early. Practice Often.

The secret to giving your pet (dog or cat) pills is to start early. Our dogs and cats all know: in our house, if you yawn, one of the hominids is going to stick a finger in your mouth. If your tongue is hanging out, we’ll probably grab that too.

For the dogs, they both learned young (well, the puppy still learning) that we can and will take away food or treats whenever we wish. Even if they are in the middle of chewing on it. We started this early, when they were too small to make too much of a fuss. And we do give the treats or toys back sometimes even something better. ;-)

At first this just seems like a new way to annoy your furry pal. But when done properly, you are teaching a valuable life skill. If you’re on a walk (or even inside) and the animal grabs something it shouldn’t and starts eating it, you don’t want that to be the first time you’re reaching into its mouth to grab something.

It also helps at the vet when they need to be checked for health. Having the animal used to their throat being examined is something the vet will thank you for. (And maybe give you a strange look if you do the below.)

Open Wide

The take-away here is: get your dog or cat used to you messing with their mouth, tongue, teeth, and food. You want them to understand, everything is yours and anything you decide, they just have to live with.

What About Real Pills?

In the clip below, I demonstrate giving Crokell a pill.

First, you press the dog’s lips over their teeth. This makes them open their jaws, since they don’t want to bite themselves.

Second, you continue holding the upper or lower jaw, with the lip over the teeth.

Third, place or drop the pill onto the back of the tongue.

Fourth, hold the mouth closed and stroke their throat to get them to swallow the pill.

What About Cats or Uncooperative Dog?

Of course, giving a pill takes lots of practice for both the human and the animal. Fortunately, (what a weird turn of phrase) Dante needs pills this week. So let’s see how Anna does with that.

First, for uncooperative pets, if it doesn’t make them act worse, it helps to wrap them in a towel. Wrap the towel firmly, so the animal can’t push on you with its claws. (This is especially important with cats.)

After that, it’s just like before: press their lips over their teeth to open the mouth, fold the lip over the teeth, drop the pill in, and hold their muzzle shut and stroke the throat.

In the video below, Anna makes giving Dante a pill look easy. It takes me a few more tries.

Some Tips

For some critters and pills, it helps to put the pill in a Pill Pocket or cheese. (Some will just eat the pill that way.) The wrap helps keep a dry pill from sticking and being spit out when you are done.

With cats, I sometimes just gently open their mouths by pushing up and down on their teeth - gently prying it open. But that’s with our cats, who are used to this sort of treatment.

Don’t be afraid to ask the vet if a liquid option is available as that is sometimes easier. You just insert the syringe between the molars and squirt. They can bite on the plastic. We’ve even “compounded” at home - crushing the pill or opening the capsule into tuna juice or broth. But ask your vet about this first, as some medication should not be treated that way or should not be combined which specific foods.

Week in Review

The awesome news is that we had a story accepted into the Black Cat Tales Anthology! We’re very happy and proud of this acceptance as it first story we ever wrote together! (While it was the first we wrote, it wasn’t the first we sold!)

Check out their Black Cat Chronicles Comic at https://black-cat-publishing.com/. Black Cat Publishing is also doing a Kickstarter to… kick off the anthology. You can get notified at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/black-cat-publishing/black-cat-tales-an-anthology-of-black-cats.

We hope everyone had as fun and exhausting a week as Crokell had at his new class orientation today!

Tip of the Week

Serious Tip: Consult your training instructor before doing any of this - not all animals are laid back about this like ours.

Fun Tip: Always wear mismatched shoes; it confuses your enemies and keeps your feet guessing.