We took our dog to the emergency vet today due to a lovely combo of constipation combined with vomiting and bloody diarrhea. The upshot is that she’s got too much Clostridium in her stool and we were prescribed an antacid and tylosin tartrate powder (antibiotic).
Doggie is doing much better now (ate some white rice mixed with pulverized Kong treat) but won’t touch food with the tylosin tartrate mixed in. According to the interwebs, this medicine has a foul, bitter taste.
Any thoughts on how the hell to get her to eat this? It’s a powder; have to give her 1/4 teaspoon twice daily. Given her stomach problems, I’m not inclined to give it in anything that is too rich or fatty (like peanut butter). I’ll call the vet tomorrow to see if they have any suggestions, but in the meantime I figure I’d toss this question out there.
Syringe, no needle.
Failing that, a turkey baster. Anything that squirts the stuff in quickly.
Failing that - cat food, canned fish in water, canned dog food, etc. Dogs are natural opportunistic scavengers; for the most part they ought to be able to eat all sorts of crap.
I’m surprised your vet didn’t give you a couple of syringes and tips on dosing your doggie with unpalatable stuff! Bad vet, no cookie.
Can you give your dog gelatin capsules with the medicine inside? I do this when my dog needs powder meds, as she is a very finicky eater. Empty capsules can be found at drug or health food store. Put the measured powder on a plate and fill the capsules by scooping the two ends into the
powder. butter up the capsule, or dip it in the dogs favorite soft food. Open the dogs mouth and place the capsule as far back in the throat as possible. Hold the dogs mouth up and closed, while rubbing the throat until it is swallowed. This usually works.
For that amount of powder, could you put it into a slice of lunchmeat or cheese and fold it up into a little package? We have a dog that needs a couple of medications, and we actually have to crush one chewable tablet, slice open the side of a Pupperoni, place the powder inside, and then tease her with it until she gets so excited that she won’t inspect it very carefully.
Powders don’t syringe well. How about some better grade ground beef? Mix it in. Even a little peanut butter isn’t that bad.
If the treatment goes on long, ask the vet for a liquid or capsule. My one dog gets capsules and a little peanut butter smeared on it is all it takes. I had another dog that was very good at finding the capsule and spitting it out.
I don’t have dogs. All of the dogs I’ve ever known would eat anything that was hand fed with praise and a follow up treat. I agree with florez that you might find it easier to put the powder in a jell cap and go from there.
My vet once told me that what he did with dogs that would eat the treat and spit the pill/jell cap was to hold a treat in each hand, tease the dog with them both and then give the one with the meds while offering the second treat to the dog. The dog would gulp down the first treat so it could eat the second one.
(I have a very cool vet, he treats zoo animals and once told me that he wears a rainsuit and uses a garbage can lid as a shield because the big cats don’t like to be darted and examined and have learned that humans don’t like to get sprayed)
If you go for the “stuffing the gellcap down dogs throat” method, give your pup water or wet food right away. Just like humans, critters need liquid to make the pill go down. It also helps with idiot cats like Fred who cheek their pills and go spit them out in the closet.
I found a little jelly or any sticky food and smear it on their paws. Dogs will hate this and lick it off their paws. It works on cats too I hear, but I’ve never owned a cat. It does work on the dogs I’ve had
I very much like florez’s suggestion of empty gel caps. Since the doggie’s a rescue, she has had medicine for other problems and is pretty wary of us slipping anything into her food. She’s not too fond of capsules but my partner is good at getting them into her!
Don’t know why I didn’t think of that myself…blame it on getting up twice in the wee hours to mop up after the dog!
Hmm, I had a dog who had irritable bowel and the only thing that helped him was Tylosin (Tylan powder).
I used to open up a can of plain pumpkin (not the pie kind with the spices in it) and mix in his 1/8 tsp. of Tylan powder. That dog could not resist the powerful siren song of pumpkin. I’d give him maybe 1/4 cup to 1/8 tsp. of Tylan powder. Note: The pumpkin has no fat and no sugar, but does have vitamins and fiber, so it’s actually a very healthy treat/medicine delivery system for dogs.
If he won’t eat it, then try clear gel caps you get from the health food store, and stuff those inside a Greenie pill pocket. You might even be able to get the Tylosin right inside a Greenie pill pocket and smoosh it closed. Most dogs don’t even chew those things; they just go straight down.
You just have to figure out what is a $10,000 irresistable treat for your dog and work the Tylan powder into that somehow.
Now my dog will eat it, just sprinkled on his regular dry food. When we first introduced it though I mixed it with a spoonful of tuna, dry food and some water. The vet suggested something with a strong smell to help hide the taste, and my dog loves tuna. Once he got used to it, I slowly reduced the amount of tuna, and raised the amount of water.
It also seems to help to give the daily dose with whichever meal the dog is likely to be hungriest for (in my case, breakfast)
My vet also noted that although the medication is only offered as a powder, it can be loaded into gel caps for administration if the dog just won’t eat it any other way. (you can buy empty gel caps in most health food stores, but it’s messy and annoying to fill them).
Good luck! I have to say it’s worked great for my dog (who has a variety of digestive problems combined with food allergies). He’s been on it for several years now to help keep things undercontrol, and save the stronger meds for breakthrough emergencies.
I have to say though…that is one heck of an experience since it is a skin irritant for humans. I started off ignoring the instructions that told me to wear gloves (difficult to hold the gel caps) and quickly donned them after the 5th or 6th pill when my skin started burning.
I didn’t suggest that commercial dog food doesn’t have vitamins in it. Dogs absorb vitamins the same way people do – generally through diet. I don’t even advocate people taking vitamin supplements because I think, in general, it’s not necessary if the people are eating properly. My assertion was that pumpkin is “food” and also contains vitamins that are beneficial to the dog. You said that dogs don’t digest vitamins and don’t need them. I don’t know what mammal can exist without essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals, but apparently, you have links to JAVMA articles that suggest either dogs aren’t mammals or mammals don’t require vitamins and minerals. Or something. I’m not really sure what you’re trying to say. I was just pointing out that dogs are mammals and mammals need vitamins and minerals to be healthy and pumpkin is just one food source that provides these things. Is this Great Debates or something because, last time I checked, this was IMHO, which means that I can assert an opinion without being required to back it up with a goddamn cite.
I have never actually heard of that med (tylosan tartrate powder) and I have 2 dogs that previously had high levels of clostridium quite often with awful diarrhea, and they were always given metronidazole which has always cleared it right up. I always thought that was the standard, but perhaps your dog has something else going on that they didn’t want to use it?
Anyway, the multiple times that they had it frequently were before I figured out how horrible those rawhide chews are, and once we stopped those, they’ve since only gotten it once a year (usually during Spring when they’re out more and into everything in the yard), and the metronidazole clears them right up.
I have a powdered med I give one of my cats, and I got one of those big dog oral syringes they sell at PetSmart, blend up in a mini-prep food processor with a little water and the med, then oral syringe feed. If that doesn’t work for you, a lot of health foods stores (or online) sell empty pill capsules, but not sure on how much of the powder you have to give.
Give your vet’s office a call…they often have great ideas that seem so obvious in hindsight, but you haven’t thought of.
Especially cat food. Especially if the cat (several dog names for cats which aren’t appropriate for this forum) might eat it first. “Opportunistic” is a compliment. “I got there first and it’s mine,” is closer.
ETA: They really, truly, hate cats. It’s fun to watch.
