Medicating your dog

Fyi, taken from internet.......
When a dog is in pain, people are eager to give medication to ease that pain, but giving human medications such as aspirin and Tyelenol® to pets can cause more problems than it cures. Learn why in this article.

Q: Can I give my dog aspirin?
A: It is important not to just give a drug because the animal is 'not himself' or is in pain where the cause is unknown. A trip to the vet is definitely in order to find out the root of the problem. It may be pain-related, it may not be.

With regard to arthritis, aspirin is sometimes used for dogs, but only with caution and under veterinary supervision. Drugs containing acetaminophen (e.g. Tyelenol®) are very toxic, potentially fatal to both dogs and cats.

Aspirin is in a class of drugs called NSAIDs - Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, and dogs are particularly sensitive to the gastrointestinal effects of; pain, bleeding, and ulceration that can be a side effect of these drugs. Coated aspirin helps with the gastrointestinal effects.

Aspirin may cause birth defects, so it should not be given to pregnant animals.1

Aspirin also interacts with several other drugs, particularly cortisones, digoxin, some antibiotics, Phenobarbital, and Furosemide(Lasix®).2

Check with your veterinarian about what is going on with your pet and what would be the best drug for the problem.

Newer and better drugs are now available for dogs and cats.

Canine NSAID drugs such as Rimadyl, Deramaxx®, and Previcox may be good alternatives to aspirin for canine arthritis.
Glucosamine/chondroitin supplements, such as Cosequin, are another aid for arthritic pets and may be used alone or with NSAIDs or other therapies.

As always, please see your veterinarian to have your pet evaluated for pain, overall health (and bloodwork to check liver and kidneys, if indicated) prior to using these medications.

If you suspect that your pet has gotten into a poison or overdosed, call your veterinarian or national hotlines, such as ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center. or Pet Poison Helpline.

As with any drug, only administer under the advice and supervision of your veterinarian.
 
Also from the internet but works for my Lab...

How to Give Medications to Dogs
Don’t give your dog any medication until you have spoken to your veterinarian to make sure it is the right medicine for the dog and the circumstances. You should also ask for instructions on how to give the drug and the correct dosage for your dog.

Pills, Capsules and Tablets

To give a dog a pill, slip your thumb into the space behind one of the canine teeth and press upward on the roof of the mouth. As the mouth begins to open, press down on the lower jaw with the opposite thumb. Alternatively, press in on both lips from above the muzzle. As the skin pushes in behind the canines, the dog will open her mouth.

Insert the pill well to the back of the tongue in the middle of the mouth. If you place the pill too far forward or to the side of the tongue, the dog will spit it out. Close the dog’s mouth and massage or rub her throat until she swallows. If the dog licks her nose, the pill has been swallowed. Blowing briefly into the dog’s nose may also cause her to quickly swallow the pill. You can also give her a syringe full of water to make sure she swallows, or give the dog a small treat after the pill goes down.

Do not break the pill up into a powder. Powders have an unpleasant taste that dogs don’t accept well. Some pills also have a protective coating that is important for the delayed release of the medication, and crushing the pill will destroy the coating.

Some pills can be given in food. This can be done by making up small “meatballs” of dog food. Give the dog one or two undoctored meatballs, then one with the pill pushed deep into the center. Follow up with an undoctored one so the dog will continue to take the treats even if she gets a small taste of the medicine.

There are also commercial treats available made specfically for administering medication that are sticky enough to make it difficult for the dog to extract a pill while eating the treat. They are soft so they mold easily around the pill. Pill Pockets and Flavor Doh are two examples.

Always check with your veterinarian before giving any pills with food.
 
I use to fight giving my "ol girl" glucosomine pills (they are size of a small eye glass case-- Ok, not that big, but they are huge as pills). What I found was that the best method was I would open her mouth with one hand and basically flick the pill as far back into her mouth as possible. You got to throw it back far enough, that the dog can't use her tongue and "flick" it back out.

We tried peanut butter, sausages, cheese and all other assortment of "hiding" the pill. No dice, she would just eat whatever and spit out the pill.

Anyway, if the limp is due to arthritis; try switching to Eukanuba Healthy Joints. It has Glucosamine and MSM in it. It did wonders to my dog. She could barely stand when she was about 9, due to bad hips (Sheppard/ Lab X). She's now 14 and she can now do stairs and walk around.
 
my old girl ( 11 year old geyhound) takes 5 pills a day. i use something called pill pockets. i get them at any pet store and its a treat that hollow that you can put the pills in. it works for her, everything else dident.

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My old girl was awesome. I could just toss them to her and she would gulp them out of the air. We would get her to do this at the Vet's office just to annoy the other owners.

My other dogs were more picky. Had to wrap pills in cheese or press them into a Timbit.
 
Lots of good advice here on pilling your dog. I use my thumb to pop open their jaw, use my FU finger to shove the pill to the back of the tongue, close the mouth and pet their throat a couple times to stimulate swallowing. Bam- its done in one second and the dog is happy and not stressed. I'm not picking up goobered pills off the carpet either!:p

Others here have advised against Tylenol and despite some confusion by posters in this thread over what exact chemicals are in that trade name it has proven to be toxic to many dogs. Lethally toxic, so please don't be giving it to your dog. If you are thinking that there are a whack of CGNers giving you bad advice, just ring up the vet for two secs and double check. He did go to school! ;) Dogs also have sensitive stomachs to pain medication so your best choice is Bufferin. My old dog had a bum knee and we gave her Bufferin off and on for years with no ill effects.

Metacam works great too if you are feeling rich..........:D

Good luck to your pooch.
 
Yes Jaydog i agree there has been some good advice here on giving pills. I`m going to have to check with my vet on the tylenol thing cause i`m sure it was recomended. I have access to quite a few different drugs and am aware of the problems. The old girl is getting pretty stiff at night but still runs around the barn yard in the daytime. By the old girl i was refering to the dog not SWMBO.:D
 
gopherxs said:
Do not give your dog tylenol, give it aspirin. Ibiprophen is not good for a dog.
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This is why you shouldn't petition veterinary advice from the internet. Tylenol isn't ibuprofen, it is acetaminophen.

Acetaminophen is fine for dogs. Toxicity starts around 3500mg which would be toxic to humans as well:

h ttp://www.petplace.com/dogs/acetaminophen-toxicity-in-dogs/page1.aspx
h ttp://www.vetinfo.com/dnsaid.html

Ibuprofen and Naproxen are NOT safe for dogs at any dose. Don't substitute generics of any medication either. Just because the drug is safe doesn't mean the buffer/filler is!
 
gopherxs said:
Do not give your dog tylenol, give it aspirin. Ibiprophen is not good for a dog.
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Tylenol is comprised of acetaminophen, not ibuprofen (Advil). Aspirin is comprised of ASA or acetylsalysilic acid. Not sure on what's good for dogs or not, but if a Veterinarian suggests to give a dog tylenol, I would imagine it would be fine.

Perhaps you're just confused on what active ingredient is in each brand of medicine?? So if ibuprofen is bad for dogs, don't use Advil or any generic drug comprised of ibuprofen.

I know my uncle was giving his Rottie aspirin as per his Vet, so I'd say either acetaminophen or ASA are good to go.

As for getting a fussy dog to eat it...good luck!!!
 
Our current dog (German Shepherd) is a master of separating anything you use to coat/enclose/hide a pill. Chomps/licks/chews everything and a minute later the untouched pill pops out on the floor...

So, as described above, grab the upper jaw, lips covering her teeth, and with the free hand stick the pill down her throat. Can't just flick it in, her tongue is too agile.

However we had previous dogs, just throw them any pill, they catch it in the air and it was gone.
 
i use peanut butter on my finger. works without fail but my lab and beagle are pigs and eat everthing anyway. they lick off the peanut butter so fast they don't even know anything is hidden in there.
 
Just got off the phone with my vet, tylenol won`t kill your dog. Aspirin is much better though, For an older dog glucosamine, diet and some other stuff that i can`t spell. Going to use glucosamine for a few weeks then see what`s up at the regular check up in a month or so. Thanks guys for the good ideas on giving pills, it looks as though the pill way back in the throat is going to work. Little beggar can find a pill in damn near every treat i tried. May even have a line on a new friend for her, she`s pretty lonely since her last buddy past away.
 
I used to feed Naturmix lamb and rice with Hokamix 30 to my old boy, but he's still active and had a hard time keeping his weight up. It did do wonders for his joints, though.
 
looch said:
I just grab the muzzle from the top, thumb towards the front and curled around into the mouth, holding some lip between my thumb and the teeth. Take the pill with my other hand and place it deep in the back of the throat. While still holding on, tip the head back and stroke the throat. It takes about 3 seconds and there's no fuss. That said, my old boy will take glucosamine pills out of my hand like they are candy. He even crunches them.
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Yea this is the way I do it, works every time

Has your vet mentioned Metacam, it's a non-steroidal anti-inflammitory that you can get from your vet and it is really good for pain in dogs, you should ask your vet about it, I'm not sure if this is something that can be taken long term but it's worth asking about. Oh I almost forgot it comes in drop form and it's tasteless, you just put a few drops on your dogs food
 
Sorry, I missed *why* your dog needs pills. Old dogs with creaky joints can be in a ton of pain and its sucky the joy out of their life!

Ask your vet about Cartophen- its a subcutaneous injectable that works well for arthritic elderly dogs and doesn't aggravate their stomachs like some NSAIDs do. Also, after an initial build up, you only do a monthly injection which is super easy to learn to do at home.
Pain meds like you are considering mask the pain (good!) but don't address the problem (bad). Cartophen helps rebuild cartilage in the joints and does some other stuff that is unpronounceable!! :p

My last border collie was on cartophen for probably 14 years after she had to get her knee rebuilt and it totally kept her happy and agile all that time. Considering I'm a bad owner who forgot a couple times until she got a bit lame and then got back on the injection schecule I know it worked!

Good luck to your pooch!
 
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