Oh boy – you came home from the veterinarian with a bottle of pills or liquid that you have to get inside your pet.
How on earth are you going to do this? Even if the medicine tastes good (and it frequently does not), getting your pet to take it may be singularly difficult. Here are a few pointers that might help get your furry friend feeling better shortly.
Cats
Cat owners frequently joke about the difficulties of getting medicine into cats. Truth be told, it may be pretty difficult if you do not know what you are doing. So here are a few ideas for medicating felines.
* Conceal the pill in a treat. There are actually treats made specifically for pill-hiding, which should be available at your local pet supply store. However, this doesn’t always work – you might find your cat consuming the treat and spitting up the pill!
* Surround the pill with strong-smelling, soaked cat food. The stronger the aroma, the better. Mold the wet food around the pill, using as little food as possible so your cat must consume the pill to consume the food. Make certain to reward your cat with additional wet food after he or she takes the pill. That will help mask any pill taste that might come out, and should help your cat associate the pill with something good and tasty.
* Wrap your cat if needed. Some folks have luck wrapping their cat in a towel or sheet so that their legs (and therefore their claws) are immobilized. Then you are able to manually pop the pill into your cat’s mouth. Wrapping likewise helps for the administration of liquid medicine.
* Once the pill is in, stroke the cat’s throat while holding its muzzle closed. This encourages swallowing.
* For liquid medication, you need one hand free to spread the cat’s jaws. Put your thumb and forefinger on either side of the cat’s mouth and squeeze softly. This should coerce open the cat’s mouth. Put the dropper as deep into the cat’s mouth as you are able to, squirt the liquid in all at one time, and try to keep hold of the cat long enough to stroke its throat.
* Mix the liquid medication with something strong, such as tuna or the water drained from a can of tuna.
Dogs
If you have the sort of dog that will snork up anything off the floor, you might be in luck. This sort of dog might do alright with a pill wrapped up in a piece of cheese or inserted into a slice of hotdog or a soft dog treat. You are able to use commercial pill-holding treats for dogs, also. Here are a few other ideas.
* Mix liquid medication with beef or chicken broth. You are able to give this to your dog to lap up as-is, or pour it over its kibble and mix.
* If you have to pop the pill into your dog’s mouth, the pinching technique described above should work for your dog, also. Pop the pill into the rear of the dog’s mouth and hold its muzzle closed with your hand while you stroke its throat.
Keeping Our Pets Healthy, Naturally!
Just like humans, domesticated animals like dogs and cats are affected by the health hazards of modern living. Pollution, poor nutrition, stress and unhealthy lifestyles can lead to a variety of illnesses and conditions that are very similar to those experienced by humans.
In fact, many, if not most pet health concerns can be addressed by helping your pets to live a healthier lifestyle. While it has its place, conventional medicine for animals and ‘modern technology’ have failed our pets in many ways.
According to pet expert and author CJ Puotinen, most holistic veterinarians and animal health care professions list annual vaccinations and commercial pet foods as the major contributory cause in the rising rates of chronic illness in pets today. This has led many veterinarians to search for alternatives and to espouse more holistic methods of keeping our pets healthy.
Natural remedies for humans have been used with great effect for the pets in the family. Therefore, how could the need for remedies especially designed and formulated for pets, with pet friendly doses and remedies which could be easily administered to dogs and cats, be ignored?
Out of this obvious need was born PetAlive – a range of herbal, homeopathic and nutraceutical remedies to help with a variety of ailments commonly experienced by pets. Formulated by a clinical psychologist, all PetAlive remedies are pharmaceutically manufactured to the highest standards, are 100% guaranteed, safe and effective to help your pet battle common illnesses and ailments and maintain optimum health.
