Fig Newtons as pill pockets:

[Bluey]

Thank you to whoever it was that mentioned fig newtons to stick a pill in it.

I tried it with one, without pill, the apple/cinnamon flavor and my horse ignored the hand full of grain and other treats or hay to beg for more of that good stuff.
What a hit!:lol:

I say, if he keeps liking them like that, it will be much easier to give him his morning Prascend (pergolide) in a half one, chasing it down with the other half, rather than the messy grain I have to watch to be sure the pill doesn’t fall off my hand as he eats.

Thanks, that is going to work like a charm.

[vxf111]

That’s a good idea. I have had success with fruit roll ups too. That much flavor covers most ANYTHING!

[Renn_aissance]

That’s a good idea!

Locally we have Ripley’s Organic Horse Treats, which are homemade by a wonderful lady and come in many flavors. They’re a soft sphere of a cookie. I pull half the cookie off, put the pill in, and down the hatch it goes. The peanut butter flavor has worked very well here. Then again, Tip will do just about anything for one of them!

[Paks]

I’d like to add my thanks also. I’ve been using it for pervicox and she just takes it with no problem. Only issue I’ve has is I bought an assortment of fig cookies at costco and my daughter thought they were for her and complained about the calorie count.

[MyssMyst]

I never would have thought of this! Totally adding it to my box of tricks.

[quarterhorse4me]

Great Idea! I use oatmeal cookies and take them apart to stuff but the fig newton sounds easier.

[ReSomething]

I just may try this because I’ve had the pill fall out of the little pile of oats the old guy sucks off my hand too.

[Lady_Eboshi]

The hard part would be making it all the way to the back barn without eating the Fig Newton. Hopefully without the Previcox . . . :uhoh:

[azeventer]

That was me…I’ve been giving my horse his Prascend this way for the last year…easy peasy, and he loves his morning cookie! I can’t remember where I first heard of this method, but I am glad that it is working well for you all too!

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=azeventer;7562030]
That was me…I’ve been giving my horse his Prascend this way for the last year…easy peasy, and he loves his morning cookie! I can’t remember where I first heard of this method, but I am glad that it is working well for you all too![/QUOTE]

Thank you, wonderful success this morning.

I normally would have fed the new treat a few more times, but it was such a hit yesterday, I tried half with the pill on top of the handful of senior feed in my hand and he gobbled it all up.
Then gave him the second half, to be sure he keeps eating and swallowing it all.
He was very interested in looking for more, but had to be happy that is all I had.

No question with that the pill went into him, no dribbling grain to worry with.

[SLW]

Great idea and this is going into my mental Rolodex!

[Dune]

Does anyone know if this can be done ahead of time, with hydroxyzine? I was making little carrot pouches, but the hydroxyzine is dissolving and I don’t think all the meds are getting into said horse. I have to make them up for staff to feed 12/24 hours when I’m not there. ???

[Saddith]

[QUOTE=Dune;7562324]
Does anyone know if this can be done ahead of time, with hydroxyzine? I was making little carrot pouches, but the hydroxyzine is dissolving and I don’t think all the meds are getting into said horse. I have to make them up for staff to feed 12/24 hours when I’m not there. ???[/QUOTE]

I would think that the fig newtons would mold after a few days… especially during the summer time. I used homemade oat based cookies as pill pockets at first, but I had mold problems within a few days after bringing them to the barn. I guess if you had the individually wrapped fig newtons, that might work better - but then you would have to trust the staff to be inserting the pill into the newton before feeding.

For make ahead pill pockets, I use peppermint salt water taffy. There are so many different flavors of taffy, so you should be able to find one your horse prefers. I can buy a 3lb bag for about 10 dollars, and they do not mold in the heat (just get soft). During the winter, I put them in my pocket or waistband to soften them up, then make a divot in the taffy. In goes a pill, and i wrap it up around it and you can’t see it at all. My horse really loves peppermints, so he gobbles them right down. Yes, it is sugar, but it such a small amount that I don’t stress about it. It is more important to be sure he is getting the medicine. I can make up a week or two of taffy pill pockets ahead of time, and I keep them in a container at the barn for the staff to feed. Haven’t had any problems with melting or molding.

[Chief2]

That salt water taffy idea is genius, too!

I use generic fig newtons to hide doxy pills. The generic cookies are thicker, so if I chop one in half and then slide the doxy tabs into the filling on each side of the piece, I can get 5-6 tablets into each section of the fig newton. Then, into the feed they go.

[Dune]

The taffy idea isn’t bad, but I’m talking about a powder, so I don’t think that would work. Imagine the common blue scoop that holds about a gram of bute, that’s what I need to get in said horsie. I’d only need to make it up for the evening and morning ahead of time, not days and days…hmmm…

[JWU98NC]

Great idea! I just got some meds for my mare and was trying to think of the best way to administer them cause she is a pasture boarder! Awesome! Thanks!

[ParadiseHorses]

I have a horse recently diagnosed with Cushings/Ir. Owned him for almost 20 years now and he loves treats of any kind so I thought the fig newtons to hide the pill was a great idea. It did work great the first time, second day he dropped a small piece out of his mouth and the goat standing there scarfed it up before I could bend down to pick it up. Then I had to worry big time about the goat to see if the horse had dropped the piece of fig newton out because it had the pill in it. All was well there, thank God. So third day, the horse absolutely refused the fig newton, very unlike him. So I’m back to putting a few tablespoons of grain (TC Sr) in a dog bowl, wetting it a touch so the pill sticks. He wallows that pill around even in that small amt of grain, takes his time but finally eats that pill. How long that’s gonna last worries me. Salt water taffy sounds good but I’m in Texas, never seen it. Wonder if a Kraft Caramel might work?

[lifeishorsesarelove]

a caramel might work. You may want to play around with soft, sticky-ish candies and figure out what he likes, and mix up giving them with drugs and without. If the meds are bitter he will quickly figure out that the good stuff has the gross stuff hidden in it and stop taking them.

The fruit roll up might be a good one for you. They come in rolled up on plastic sheets and you could cut them up into a few portions.

[ParadiseHorses]

Thanks, I’ll try the fruit rollups

[SLedbetter]

I dissolve a Prascend pill in a teeny amount of water, and pour it over a scoop of grain that is on top of a bit of alfalfa. Grain soaks up the liquid, everything gets eaten. I tried the fig newtons, rice crispy treats, etc. Would only work for a day. Jack won’t take any treats now as he’s suspicious of what’s hidden in them. I’ve been giving him his meds in the grain for several months now, and no issues.