Treat Them RightManaging our dogs' meds |
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Giving medication effectively to our dogs
It can be really difficult to give our dogs their medication exactly as prescribed, especially if we have more than one dog and they are on more than one medication. Problems can include:
- giving the medication to the wrong dog, or at the wrong time or wrong dose or even in the wrong part of the body! It even happens that people take their dogs' medication or give their dogs their human meds!
- not being able to remember if we gave the medication
- stopping the medication to soon
- running out of medication
STRATEGIES
1. Deciding – if/which vet
Process of initially deciding whether to go to vet could include:
- Discuss with vet receptionist or vet nurse if possible
- Contacting an online vet nurse. This is sometimes a free option with pet insurance
- If your dog has a specialist (eg for skin, sight etc), it might be possible to email or ring them. Photos and videos are particularly useful when the vet isn’t directly with the dog.
- If you keep notes about your dog’s health, check these. You might keep notes about symptoms noticed (with photos), questions for vets, what vet said etc.
- The following options can provide brilliant information or it could be useless or even dangerous, so should be used with caution, and ideally checked with the vet or vet nurse:
- Some pet shop owners can be very knowledgeable about some issues
- Facebook dog forums – local, breed specific, rescue organisation.
2. Discussing – with vet
a]. Preparation:
- Make notes when they occur to you, rather than waiting til just before the appointment, including timings – of symptoms, medication taken, visits to vets about it etc. Some of this they’ll have on their records, some they won’t.
- Stuff to bring to vet:
- photos and/or videos to show vet
- list of or their actual current medication
- list of info and questions eg:
- Symptoms, when you first noticed them, if they’ve changed etc. Remember to show photo/video
- Concerns about the symptoms, possible diagnosis/prognosis, treatment etc
- What you’ve tried
- What do they think is wrong?
- Implications – how bad, how long might it last
- Treatment choices, pros and cons of each
- Medication – buying online usually much cheaper than getting from vet, even though we also have to pay for the prescription from vet.
NHS has useful list of questions to ask your doctor, which apply equally to visiting the vet - click here
b]. When with vet:
- Go through list of details and questions
- Show photos/videos
- Make a record of what the vet says eg:
- Write via your phone or with pen and paper
- Ask vet’s permission to do a voice or video recording
- The vet could record the info onto your phone
- Your vet may be able to print out a written summary or treatment plan, which could include recommendations of what to read, watch etc to understand situation better
- If medication is non-urgent, you might want to ask for prescription to buy online. Can be much cheaper – eg £6 rather than £60!
3. Dispensing – getting hold of medication
If it’s not urgent, it’s often much cheaper to buy the dogs’ medication online. I find Weldricks excellent.
4. Doing – planning and giving the medication
a]. Organising
Sorting out the space, for storage and giving the medication. This will depend on loads of things, such as:
- How much space you’ve got available and where·
- Where you give the dogs their food, medication etc·
- Who else uses that space (eg kids, people with cognitive impairments) and
- how safe it is to leave it easily accessible
This is our cupboard for supplies at home:
Here’s how a friend organises her dog’s medication & health notes etc:
This is the set-up on our kitchen counter for day-to-day meds etc:
Travel kit for dogs' medication:
When the girls are away from home, whether with me or their dog minder, I have separate zipper bags for each of them and a full set of spares in case any of the medication runs out. The medication checklist goes in there, and a pen for marking off each medication given.
Compartmentalised storage:
There are all sorts of containers to keep the medication in, including specific medication ones (some with locks), or ones with different sized compartments for crafts, stationery, toiletries, kitchen, snacks etc. It’s handy to have one that will take occasional medication in different formats – eg pills, liquid in bottles, tubes etc.
b]. Keeping a record
Spreadsheet:
- I find a spreadsheet essential to show me what needs giving when, and that I've given it (to the right dog at the right time, right dose etc!)
Calendar for monthly medication:
- Calendar for monthly medication (flea and worm prevention pills) and separate spreadsheet in the plastic folder that holds the medication.
Pill boxes for each day of the week:
- Pill boxes for each day of the week, with separate compartments for morning/afternoon. Obviously only works for pills! Most of my dogs’ medication is liquid – eye drops etc
c]. Understanding the medication – using the medication info leaflet
In addition to the information and advice given by the vet, there are valuable details in the information leaflet which is in new boxes of medication. (Sometimes the medication is dispensed without the box or leaflet but you can ask the receptionist for this information, which is also available online at the medication website.) It’s very hard remembering everything the vet says, and even if you take notes they might not cover all the details, so it’s important to hang onto the leaflet and consult it if you’re unclear about something to do with the medication.
Medication information leaflets:
The sorts of important information and guidance that comes in medication packaging includes:
- What the medication is for
- Warnings about when not to use it
- How to use it – eg with bottles, whether it should be shaken first, squeezed etc. A really important feature is what to do if you get it wrong! For example, if you forget a dose, take too much or too little or use it incorrectly in some way.
- Possible side-effects. This list can be a bit daunting as it includes everything from common to rare side-effects.
- How to store the medication – eg some needs to be in a fridge, some mustn’t be in a fridge!
d]. Reminders, alerts, etc.
I. Medication products:
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There are all sorts of products (intended for humans taking their own medication) which could also be helpful for reminding us when to give our pets (which) medication. A Google search comes up with lots, for example these, some of which include pill containers and others which don’t, eg:
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II. Alarms:
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III. Apps for smartphones:
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IV. Other memory joggers:
- Building it into a routine (as lots of people do with their own medication) eg co-ordinating it with breakfast, teeth-cleaning and other daily occurrences
- Write on medication label (on bottle, ointment box etc) – eg WITH FOOD
- Post-it notes
e]. Giving the medication
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f]. Types of medication
Pills:
- If it’s particularly difficult to give your dogs pills, some medications such as antibiotics & skin treatments are available by long acting injection – it’s worth asking the vet if it's appropriate. They are usually more expensive than pills but guarantee the medication is given correctly and much less stressful for dog and their human.
- Prepare the medication out of sight, especially with very bright dogs.
- Wash your hands after touching pills, so they don’t pick up the smell with their super-power schnozz
- Big pills can be made smaller using a pill splitter. This can make them taste bad (because some of the contents isn’t covered by outer coating) so….
- Disguising look and/or taste is often vital. Particular favourites for disguising pills for dogs include hard cheese, soft cheese, ham, pate, sausages, peanut butter. The pill sandwich technique works well. Give treat, then pill hidden in treat, then another treat.
- If the medication is in the food, you could use a ‘meal topper’. I use a crumbly version of the Thrive treats the girls love, or grated cheese.
- Perhaps the most effective pill taking method, if you and your dog can manage it, is to put the pill directly into their mouths, using a special technique. You have to gently open their mouth, get the pill to the back of their mouth and stroke their throat so they’ve definitely swallowed it. A vet shows how to do this in this video, and recommends dipping the pill in something tasty before putting it at the back of their tongue.
- Some dogs are receptive to you enthusiastically pretending or actually eating some human food and then giving the medication hidden in another bit of it. (Essential to concentrate for this one, so you don’t accidentally take the dog’s medication!)
- Making a game of it can sometimes work – eg throwing bits of sausage around the floor for the dog to find, and then having one of the pieces with a pill hidden in it.
- Some creative ideas to help with pill-giving can be found here
Liquid medication:
- Always shaking liquid medication even if some don’t need to be shaken.
Eye-drops:
- If you dog takes multiple eye-drops, your vet can tell you which order to put the drops in (eg liquid drops before ointment).
- Liquid drops go in middle of eye, ointment onto bottom ‘ridge’. The dog’s eye should be opened and closed a couple of times after each drop/ointment. Helpful video by PDSA, although as some comments below it on youtube say, it’s definitely easier when there are two people doing this.
Ear drops:
- Particularly if you are giving the ear drops without a second person, these might help:
- dog lying down, on their bed. If they are standing/sitting on the sofa etc, they might try to run off, and is also at a more difficult angle to get to their ear canal.
- before starting, I say “ears then treats” and as soon as the cleaner/drops are in, they get yummy treats
- keeping their hair cut short around the opening of their ear so there’s less of a palaver getting the nozzle in
- With some drops etc, the nozzle needs to be inserted in the ear canal (I think these are usually the ones with long nozzles), whereas other (in bottles with short tip), the drops are squeezed into the entrance to the canal. This is explained in this video which also has other info about giving ear drops.
- After the drop goes in, you need to massage their ear canal
Ointment, medicated skin cleaner, etc:
- Usually, applying ointment etc on dogs’ paws or elsewhere other than eyes is straightforward. The important thing is that they don’t lick it off (doubly problematic because it’s removed and could also be toxic for them), rub it off (on furniture etc), that another of your dogs doesn’t lick it etc.
- Ointment etc can often be part of a recovery package of treatment, and the dreaded ‘cone of shame’ (Elizabeth collar or nicer, softer versions) may be necessary to protect the wound and/or stop medication being licked off. Alternatives to cones include clothing – eg mini-socks, medical/recovery shirt, adapted t-shirt, or even baby gro! BooBoo managed to lick underneath the edge of her recovery suit so I added a doggy nappy to protect the wound. The photo below shows her rocking the suit/nappy combo.
- Some medicated cleaner (eg for paws) has to stay on for a few minutes before being washed off. If possible, do this in a room where there’s no soft furniture or rugs for the dog to jump on, rub against etc so that the cleaner remains on the skin. I set a timer so that we both know when the time is up and follow this with treats.
- It can be good to prevent licking ointment off by distracting the dog – eg timing their meals/walks/games immediately after the ointment etc is applied.
5. Debugging - trouble-shooting
When things are going badly (eg you can’t get the girls to take their medication or can’t get the ear drops in etc), or for some other reason you want to stop giving the medication. it’s similar to deciding whether/when to see vet:
- Discuss with vet receptionist or nurse
- Ring vet nurse, especially if it’s a free option with your dog insurance
- Email their specialist or perhaps ring them
- Check health updates docs if you keep these for your dog.
- With caution, consult Google, pet forums etc.
6. Disposing – dealing with left over medication
Left over medication (including during that heart-breaking time when a beloved dog has died), has to go to the vets, or to a charity set up to take donated pet medication. Worldwide Veterinary Service distribute all sorts of medical supplies around the world and Vets in the Community support homeless people in the UK. We’re not supposed to keep and use any medication which another of our dogs also takes.
7. Dealing kindly with ourselves!
There’s this lovely advice from a vet nurse who looks after my girls: “It's worth remembering that some days are easier than others, and both dog & owner are doing their best to be tolerant of each other! A missed dose occasionally is not cause for alarm and will be unlikely to affect your dogs long term health. You're all just doing your best!”
For a printable Word doc version of this info, please click on link below
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