How do I get her to swallow pills?

Lucy's sick Really sick.

Zach came home from work today to find that she had thrown up, urinated, and defecated all over the apartment. He took her to the e-vet (of course the regular vet was booked), and $400 someodd later, she's diagnosed with a bacteria in her system (likely from puddle water). The vet gave her some iv's of stuff to calm her tummy, and sent us home with pills.

She has zero appetite, and is still puking up bile every hour or so. I have a bunch of pills I want to give her, but

1) I'm afraid she'll puke them up
2) She won't eat peanut butter or cheese (her normal hide-a-pill methods), so I don't know how to get them in her.

What should I do?

Also, yay for white carpets, which look AWESOME after being puked on multiple times. :wall:

I am surprise that the vet didn't give her an anti-nausea shot. Are the pills antibiotics?

I don't know that I would even try to pill her tonight but would wait until tomorrow and see if she is recovering her appetite.

Recently I had something similar happen to my dog, and there was just no way she was going to eat anything that night. And the e-vet sent me home with anti-nausea pills. Yeah, right. So the next day, I called my normal vet and went in to see him. Got an anti-nausea shot. He may have even done something else. But I do know that later that day, she was up to eating chicken.

If you want to try tonight, there is a potted meat you can buy. Or could you grind up the pill and put it in some spray cheese? or chicken & rice baby food?

She did get an anti nausea shot. I don't know if it's just taking a while to work? She got it around 6, and threw up about 6:30, 7:00 and 8:30.

I'm just going to hope that she's got an appetite tomorrow, I guess. I bought some salmon that I steamed (chicken upsets her tummy more) and boiled rice, but she's not showing interest in any of it.

Poor baby

What I do with cats is open their mouth, put the pill as far back as I can, close their mouth and then rub their throat to get them to swallow. Never done it with a dog because I've never had one not accept a hidden pill! I'd give that a try though.

I've had dogs who would take in cheese , wrapped in peanut butter , take with bacon or canned food or would patowee the whole thing which meant a shove into the gullet . I usually am patient but two fingers with pill into the throat and rubbing the area is the best ! Not happy campers but a happy Mommy !

Okay, I guess if she still has no appetite tomorrow I will try to force them down her throat. Man, she's the type of dog who will open cabinets and pull things off shelves to get to food. She must be feeling really yuck to turn down cheese

Most vets carry pill guns. See if you can't get one of those, and a syringe. You put it as far down the throat as possible, and then shoot some water down to help the pill go down. If you can't get a pill gun, if the dog will allow it, simply using your fingers to shove it as back as far as you can, and a squirt of water after they swallow to help it goes down usually works well too.

I would let her stomach settle a bit before pilling her. If she won't take it with her normal methods, then open her mouth, put the pill as far back I to herthroa as possible, then hold her mouth shut and stroke her throat until you see her swallow; it can take a lot longer than you might think. Follow it up immediatly with some peanut butter to get her mind off the pill and to keep her from trying to hoark it back up.

Ordinarily I'd say peanut butter or cream cheese. I don't really know what to say about the nausea.... water or maybe some pedialite to keep her hydrated until she stops vomiting.... I've had to force both into cats before that didn't want to eat.

Good luck and I hope she feels better soon.

Like a couple others said, just stick them down her throat. I changed from a chewable glucosamine supplement for Gavroche to a regular pill, and that's what I do with it every day. It's really no big deal.

For one of my dogs I use a pill dispenser that I bought at the pet store.

Thanks, guys. Zach stayed home from work with her today, and she's still throwing up . Called the vet again, and were told to take away all food and water for 6 hours to see if that helped. If she's still losing her cookies at 2ish, she's going back in for more anti nausea meds, and they want to keep her overnight. Keep your fingers crossed that we dont have to, because the cost estimate for that is $1600!

In the meantime, zach carted his computer and paperwork into the bathroom and has set up shop in there with her (because it's the only non carpeted room in the house!)

Unless someone stays at the vet's office 24 hours a day, I wouldn't leave her there overnight unless the vet could give me a REAL good reason to. If no one is there, there is no way she can get better care than at home.

There are vets there 24 hours We picked this vet for that reason--so that when she decides to eat chocolate at 3am we can call for advice and take her in if necessary!

I'm so sorry to hear that Lucy is still doing so poorly. Poor puppy. And poor Zach and you! (I think that him staying home and hanging out in the bathroom with her is awfully sweet, btw.)

Poor thing I hope she is feeling better soon! The way I give pills is if they are not to big I drop them to the back of their throat close their mouth and rub their throat until they stick their tongue out. Then you know the pill has been swallowed.

How's she doing today??

No vomiting in 24 hours, and she ate breakfast today! (Refused to eat rice/salmon, but dove into her kibble!)

I think my little girl is better Thanks for the help guys!