"Give the Dog a... Pill"
The dog has an ear infection. This is nothing new; the dog has had more ear infections in her lifetime than even Baker Son... and it's hard to believe that's possible. Unfortunately, for dogs surgical tubes are not an option, so she has endured a lifetime of icky ear cleanings, the occasional veterinary ear flushing, various gels and liquid solutions, and pills. The current bout has her consuming 7 pills a day -- SEVEN! Anyone who thinks you can just slip one in her food obviously doesn't own a dog. And although Labs are notorious for eating just about anything, even if its clearly not edible, medicine in pill form is undoubtedly the exception to this rule. Yes, you can shove a pill to the back of a dog's throat, close the mouth, stroke the neck, and magically, when the tongue comes out, you know you've been successful. However, you cannot do this 7 times a day. Even a Lab, who seems to have the memory span of a goldfish, will figure out what you're up to pretty quickly. Grinding the pills to a powder a sprinkling it on her food seemed a good plan. But to have a dog look at you from above the bowl as if to say, "You've ruined my only pleasure in life" is really too heartbreaking.
How about peanut butter, slathered on a cracker, with the pills smooshed in? Nope; it took about 10 minutes, but she managed to eat the cracker and spit out the pills, intact.
What about a chunk of cheese, with slits cut in the sides so the pills could be inserted, deeply? The idea was that it would be eaten gluttonously, pills and all. Wrong again; like a clever mouse, she ate the cheese and left the trap unscathed.
Blueberries? Take a dog's favourite food (yeah, seriously), cut it open to insert a pill, then alternate plain blueberries with medicated ones, tossing them one by one to be snapped midair. Well, that worked for awhile...
Current plan: marshmallows. The big ones. Two pills go into one marshmallow at a time and it appears these are swallowed whole, no chewing involved. Very successful, though I wonder somewhat about the health hazards of feeding a dog marshmallows twice a day.
Hilarious! We also battle with ear infections in our bassett hound's ears. We now use a disinfectant drop called Otoclean. Works well.
ReplyDeleteWhy not try a homeopathic remedy? That involves putting tiny sugar pills in the mouth and they dissolve before they can be hacked up. When My Oldest Child was about 5, he had recurring ear infections, with recurring doping with antibiotics. I got fed up with that regime as it clearly was not working, then gave him Lycopodium three times (morning, evening, morning) and he never had another ear infection in his life until this spring when he had serious eye infections as well - 13 years later. Your Man's Younger Sister will also attest to the efficacy of homeopathic remedies in animals. Try it - you have nothing to lose!!
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