How Do I Get My Uncooperative Pet To Take Medicine?
The role of a pet owner is one filled with laughter, love and joy. Taking care and watching your furry friend grow in health and happiness can be an extremely fulfilling experience. However, looking after a pet is also a big responsibility. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of being a pet owner lies in those moments where your pet falls ill. When this occurs your furbabies may temporarily lose the vitality and character they once had.
While some may assume that nursing your pet back to health is as simple as visiting a vet and feeding them medicine, the process can be difficult. This is especially so if your pet has a firm dislike of medicine and pet supplements. Therefore, in this article, we take a look at some ways you can get your furry companions to consume medicine and pet supplements in Singapore for quick and effective recovery.
Minimise the Association to Pills
Our pets are highly intelligent and forming associations is one of the ways we get them to perform tricks. They understand that obeying a command leads to treats. Similarly, they can also form such associations when it comes to taking medicines or pet supplements. The action of opening a bottle is quickly followed by a pill placed into their mouths. When this is done often enough, they associate bottle opening to the unpleasant experience of having to swallow pills. Before you know it, your furry friend is scrambling away from you the minute you start opening their medicine or pet supplement bottle. To avoid such behaviour, it is recommended to prepare the pills away from your pet. This negates any association and you may just find greater success in feeding them what they need.
Mix the Medicine in their Meals
Mixing isn’t simply putting the medicine in their meal. Clever pets are able to spot and avoid pills particularly if they stand out among the rest of their food. Try techniques that mask the appearance, taste and more importantly, smell of the medicine or pet supplements. For instance, should you be feeding your pet with canned food, pushing the pill into a chunk of the food may do the trick. If you normally feed your pet using a slow feed food bowl, you might want to consider swapping to an ordinary food bowl at least until your little buddy feels better. In this way, your pet can gulp their food, which minimises the chances of them noticing that you have slipped medicine into their meals.
Wash your Hands
Did you know, most animals have a stronger sense of smell than us? In fact, dogs can smell between 10,000 to 100,000 times better than humans! This is because their scent receptors outnumber ours. Each scent receptor we possess is equivalent to 50 for a dog. As such, hiding any trace of medicinal scent is crucial, especially for dog owners. If you intend to feed your pup dog probiotics, mixing or hiding them into their meals becomes less effective when they can smell it on your hands. So, the best way is to wash your hands carefully after handling it. Using a generous amount of soap and rinsing thoroughly should be sufficient to avoid alerting their sense of smell.
Put the Medicine in a Capsule
Often, it is the bitter taste in various medicines and pet supplements that may have your fur babies so averse to taking and swallowing them. Even with the medicine or supplement in their mouth, they may spit it up again due to dislike of the taste. Texture may also play a part in their disgust. Chalky textures create more friction, making the medicine even harder to swallow. To combat this, you can purchase empty gel caps and place the pills inside. These gel caps are smooth in texture and best of all conceals the taste of medicine.
Taking care of a sick pet is an arduous endeavour, but remember, it is much worse for them than it is for you. As pet owners, it is ideal that we make this process as easy and painless as possible to help our furry friends regain their health seamlessly.
Pet Health Global is a pet supplies distributor offering a range of pet products including pet supplements and medicine in Singapore. Contact us today for more information!
While some may assume that nursing your pet back to health is as simple as visiting a vet and feeding them medicine, the process can be difficult. This is especially so if your pet has a firm dislike of medicine and pet supplements. Therefore, in this article, we take a look at some ways you can get your furry companions to consume medicine and pet supplements in Singapore for quick and effective recovery.
Minimise the Association to Pills
Our pets are highly intelligent and forming associations is one of the ways we get them to perform tricks. They understand that obeying a command leads to treats. Similarly, they can also form such associations when it comes to taking medicines or pet supplements. The action of opening a bottle is quickly followed by a pill placed into their mouths. When this is done often enough, they associate bottle opening to the unpleasant experience of having to swallow pills. Before you know it, your furry friend is scrambling away from you the minute you start opening their medicine or pet supplement bottle. To avoid such behaviour, it is recommended to prepare the pills away from your pet. This negates any association and you may just find greater success in feeding them what they need.
Mix the Medicine in their Meals
Mixing isn’t simply putting the medicine in their meal. Clever pets are able to spot and avoid pills particularly if they stand out among the rest of their food. Try techniques that mask the appearance, taste and more importantly, smell of the medicine or pet supplements. For instance, should you be feeding your pet with canned food, pushing the pill into a chunk of the food may do the trick. If you normally feed your pet using a slow feed food bowl, you might want to consider swapping to an ordinary food bowl at least until your little buddy feels better. In this way, your pet can gulp their food, which minimises the chances of them noticing that you have slipped medicine into their meals.
Wash your Hands
Did you know, most animals have a stronger sense of smell than us? In fact, dogs can smell between 10,000 to 100,000 times better than humans! This is because their scent receptors outnumber ours. Each scent receptor we possess is equivalent to 50 for a dog. As such, hiding any trace of medicinal scent is crucial, especially for dog owners. If you intend to feed your pup dog probiotics, mixing or hiding them into their meals becomes less effective when they can smell it on your hands. So, the best way is to wash your hands carefully after handling it. Using a generous amount of soap and rinsing thoroughly should be sufficient to avoid alerting their sense of smell.
Put the Medicine in a Capsule
Often, it is the bitter taste in various medicines and pet supplements that may have your fur babies so averse to taking and swallowing them. Even with the medicine or supplement in their mouth, they may spit it up again due to dislike of the taste. Texture may also play a part in their disgust. Chalky textures create more friction, making the medicine even harder to swallow. To combat this, you can purchase empty gel caps and place the pills inside. These gel caps are smooth in texture and best of all conceals the taste of medicine.
Taking care of a sick pet is an arduous endeavour, but remember, it is much worse for them than it is for you. As pet owners, it is ideal that we make this process as easy and painless as possible to help our furry friends regain their health seamlessly.
Pet Health Global is a pet supplies distributor offering a range of pet products including pet supplements and medicine in Singapore. Contact us today for more information!
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