How to give a dog a pill

dalmation dog being offered a pill by a man in white t shirt sitting cross-legged on the floor

How to give a dog a pill

The success of an oral medicinal treatment in a dog depends on the pet owner knowing how to give a dog a pill. But ultimately the dog must swallow the pill. There are oral veterinary products on the market that are flavoured, or are described as chewable or palatable. What difference do these make to the likelihood that you can give a dog a pill reliably? What do palatability claims mean? And do they help dog owners who want to know how to give a dog a pill.

Formulation strategies for improving palatability or to help with how to give a dog a pill

Many drug molecules and other medicine ingredients have an unpleasant smell, or taste. These make it less likely that a dog will voluntarily accept an oral treatment. So it is no wonder that pet parents will often ask how to give a dog a pill.

Medicines manufacturers can manipulate formulations to mask the taste to make the product more acceptable to the animal. For instance, many tablet formulations for dogs contain one or two meaty flavours (such as yeast, liver, beef, poultry or fish) to disguise the taste of a drug and to appeal to dogs). Some medicines have  the word ‘flavoured’ in the brand name.

Another formulation strategy is to use a coating to cover the drug product to mask the taste or smell. A coating creates a physical barrier that prevents the drug coming into contact with the taste buds.

Tips on how to give a dog a pill

Veterinary professionals are commonly asked how to give a dog a pill. These are some strategies that are recommended:

  • Hiding the tablet or capsule in the feed or in a morsel of food, e.g. cooked meat, banana, honey, soft cheese, tinned fish; or adding to food and disguising with fish oil. However, a dog may still detect the smell of the medicine and be reluctant to take it, even when mixed with foods they would otherwise readily take. It is important to that veterinary professionals tell dog owners whether a medicine can be given with food.

  • Use of pilling devices (e.g. pill pocket treats and pet putty).

  • Using the ‘poke-down’ method. This consists of placing a tablet or capsule at the base, or far back, of the animal’s tongue, closing its mouth and repositioning the head and neck to their natural position while massaging the throat or diverting the animal until the dosage form is swallowed. However, the dosage form can become trapped so this is best done together with a small amount of food or water. And this is not suitable for drugs that can have an irritant effect on the oesophagus, such as doxycycline.

  • Crushing the tablet or opening the capsule and sprinkling the powder or granules on food. It is important that veterinary professionals advise dog owners who want to know how to give a dog a pill if it is OK that tablets are crushed or capsules opened. Note that crushing tablets and open capsules is an unlicensed (i.e. cascade) use of a licensed product, unless the product information (SPC) states that it is acceptable. When is crushing a tablet or opening a capsule not OK?

Medicines information support for veterinary professionals

Founded in 2012, Veterinary Prescriber provides evidence-based, practical and clearly-written information for vets and other veterinary professionals on medicines. We're proud to be wholly independent, which means that the information we provide is impartial and not influenced by commercial interests.

We love making sense of medicines, which means getting to the bottom of what terms like chewable and palatable really mean when pharmaceutical companies use them to describe tablets for dogs. And we scrutinise promotional claims. We’ve devoted a CPD module to this important topic.

Veterinary Prescriber offers independent reviews of medicines and medicines-related topics for vets, vet nurses, SQPs and pharmacists. These are presented as CPD modules through The Virtual Veterinary Medicines Academy. We also offer unique product guides, medicines resources and Medicines Certificates. Access to the information is through subscription (this is how we are able to produce information that is completely objective). For further details on The Academy itself, what is covered in the CPD modules, or to sign up today, click here. For more information on Veterinary Prescriber, including how we research and produce our content, or to meet the Veterinary Prescriber team, please see our about us page.

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