Any tips on making Baytril less awful?

[frisky]

Any tips on feeding Baytril, the antibiotic, to a reluctant dog? My dog is a bloodhound who is feeling a bit miserable now. Eats very little, which is okay, since she could stand to lose a few pounds. But she’s miserable.

I’ve been giving her the 3 chewable pills in the evening. I give her some dinner, wait 1.5 hrs, give nausea meds, wait another hour, and then the 3 Baytril. She refuses to eat the pills so I need to shove them carefully down the back of her throat. I am buying lots of chicken and she’s taken over sleeping under the sheets on my side of the bed;)

Bless her heart, she doesn’t seem to hold this against me, but I’d like to make this easier on both of us if we need to do this for a while. Any ideas?

[purplepelhampony]

I assume you’ve tried hiding the pills in all the usual snacks but if they don’t do the peanut butter, yogurt, cheese, hot dog, chicken nugget, deli meat route… believe it or not, marshmallows. They’re very sticky so the pill sticks in them well and a surprising amount of dogs like the taste. Get the normal kind so they’ll fit the chewable pill. If it fails, you can always make smores for you, haha.

Can you crush the Baytril and mix it in with the tastiest treat (bonus if it’s smelly) possible? If your dog doesn’t have a favorite go to, something like liver, sardines, etc. Something extra tasty and smelly. Make sure they eat some of the “unpilled” treat first so you know if they’ll like it and then use some of the treat with the treat mixed in.

If your dog catches treats - throwing a treat in the air, maybe another treat or two to be safe, then throwing the pill whoops how did that get in there, then immediately another treat tricks them for a bit.

Best of luck. It’s super frustrating when the critters won’t take their medication.

[frisky]

Thanks for expanding my repertoire of treats! She’s not eating a lot but some of these might work!

I’ve read that it’s not cool to crush the pill.

[purplepelhampony]

Yeah I wasn’t sure if you could crush it or not but sometimes that works well for the ones you can crush. (I’ve only used injectable Baytril for horses but used to pet sit so I’ve given quite a few cats and dogs drugs over the years.)

Tip if you do the peanut butter route - if you wet the spoon (or plate or knife) and have them lick off the spoon, it slides off the spoon vs them licking all the peanut butter and leaving the pill behind. Yogurt and cheeses aren’t as sticky so you don’t have that same issue usually. Basically anything that is super tasty to your dog that you can “mold” around the treat is the goal.

I’ve never found those “pill pockets” treats that are sold to be effective. Half of the creatures don’t eat them even without the pill in them… defeats the point a bit.

[frisky]

Thank you! The pill pockets usually work for small short-term pill runs. My dogs also usually have no problem with chewable pills. This is a whole other level. I am getting the tutorial on treats between horses on pergolide and the baytril. Plus, it breaks my heart to feed her a pill that makes her feel miserable.

[Bonnie2]

Liverwurst is my go to. Easy to encase the pill and few dogs can resist it. It is so heart rending to have to force feed their meds! Good luck!

[Texarkana]

They make compounded liquid baytril. May be easier than pilling?

[cilla1]

I don’t know if it’s available in US but my very picky greyhound takes his meds very well with Spunti’, which is a paste of ham, tuna or salmon. It comes in a toothpaste-like tube. Very tasty and sticky, he licks it together with any pill.

[ratherberiding1999]

I’ve had success with butter or cream cheese, as well as the classic peanut butter. Also super smelly treats like liver sausage! You can also call your vet and ask if you can crush the tablets, then mix with water and squirt in the mouth with a syringe. There’s also injectable baytril- your vet may have that as a backup option.