Medicating and Injecting Pets

Conditioning Your Pet to Take Medication  

From: Herron, Meghan E., ed. Introduction to Animal Behavior  and Veterinary Behavioral Medicine. John Wiley & Sons, 2024.  Adapted with permission from Rebecca Estel King, 2024  

It is easiest and most effective to condition your pet to take medication when they are young and  healthy and before your pet’s appetite may be affected by illness or injury. Having them  conditioned prior to a time when giving medications is critical will make future treatments much  easier for you and your pet. Begin working at mealtime when your pet is already hungry. Portions  of the daily meal may be used for training if needed.  Dogs and cats may refuse familiar foods when taste and texture are altered by the addition of tablets, capsules, or  powders. Adding a textural element helps disguise the presence of medication in a portion of food, as does  developing a predictable medicating routine that your pet knows and enjoys.   

Find foods your pet likes  

 Make sure they contain no garlic, onions, raisins, or artificial sweetener:  • Cream cheese  • Salmon cream cheese  • Processed/soft cheese  • Bacon-flavored processed cheese  • Processed meat  • Braunschweiger  • Marshmallow creme  • Peanut butter  • Pate-style canned food  • Pill Pockets  • Hot dogs or Vienna sausage  • Mashed potatoes  • Plain Greek yogurt  • Softly scrambled egg  • Tuna fudge  • Whipped cream  • Nutri-Cal paste  

Practice with a variety of foods. Size matters - the food should be about twice the size of the capsule or tablet. If larger,  the medication inside is easier to detect and separate from the food. When practicing with no medication, use pea-sized  pieces.  

Add texture  Add crispy or crunchy food to the pea-sized pieces of soft food to disguise the texture of an added medication. Good  choices include crushed potato chips, panko, pita chips, dog or cat food, tortilla chips, cheese crackers, cereal crumbs  (no raisins), bacon bits, crushed cheese curls, etc. The textural ingredients can be sprinkled over the food, or mixed  within.     

 Create the routine

 1-2-3 Method

 Make three portions of food complete with textural additive. Feed them one at a time in quick succession, so the dog or  cat happily anticipates three portions in a row. When the dog or cat is excited to eat three bites in a row, add medication  when/if needed to the middle portion. It may help to develop a cue for medication, for example, ‘Here are your snacks!’  or any phrase that you like. Just add the phrase right before feeding the first portion of food. This helps your pet learn  that the cue equals three portions of delicious food.  

Grass is Always Greener Method 

 If it is safe to do, feed any other animal or person in the house — preferably a dog or cat — the first bite. The  competition for a bite of food increases the chance of acceptance, so feed the pet who needs to be medicated the  second bite. Alternate three portions between the dog and the other animal or human as in the 1-2-3 method. Make  absolutely certain that the patient who needs the medication gets the portion with the pill or capsule inside.  

Techniques for Pets on Special Diets  

Canned prescription diet, or foods listed on page 1 that are approved by your veterinarian, can be used to give the pills.  For the textural additive, use crushed dry diet or any foods approved by your veterinarian. Marshmallow creme is often  acceptable for all but the most limited allergy and diabetic diets.  

Tips and Tricks  

• For bitter medications  enclose the tablet in an empty gelatin capsule before coating with food.  These are available at health food stores and online.  • Some medication can be compounded into chewable form; ask your veterinarian if this is possible.  • Some medications need to be given with a syringe of water to wash them down. Tuna juice, coconut milk or meat  broth is a great substitute for water. Your veterinarian will instruct you if the medication your pet is taking requires this