ANYTHING OFF OF YOUR PLATE
APPLE CRISP warmed with ice cream: I've been putting the breadballs in with warm
apple crisp ala mode and it's been working great! She loves ice cream and it melts
just enough to make the apple crisp coat the breadball. When I ran out of the apple
crisp, I just sautéed a sliced apple in cinnamon and sugar and put some ice cream
on that. She is pretty excited to take her pills now!
BABY FOOD (CEREAL), dry, Gerber brand: I like the oatmeal; others have used the
rice cereal flakes. Mix dry flakes with enough warm water to make it just
slightly tacky. Add a pinch of sugar OR add 1 spoonful of canned pumpkin and
one spoonful of meaty, canned dog food. Let your dog lick your fingers between
pillings.
BABY FOOD (MEAT): Chill and put the pill inside of a small ball. Can feed off
of a fork or spoon or by fingers (a bit messy--bring paper towel). You can also
dip bread balls in warmed baby food meat. (*** don't use if it has added onion powder.)
BREAD BALLS: Cut the crusts off of a whole loaf of frozen Country Kitchen
Lite Oatmeal bread and cut it all into quarters, bag and refreeze. I take
out the number of pieces I need for pills, warm them in the microwave,
squish them around a pill or two, and dip them in any number of things:
gravy, baby food meat, thinned canned dog food, butter, Alfredo sauce,
strawberry cream cheese, etc.
CAT FOOD (CANNED, chilled)
CAT FOOD: Sheba cat food in the Savory Duck in Meaty Juices flavor. She
inhales breadballs covered with this new treat.
CAT FOOD, wet Trader Joe's salmon cat food: I give it to him on a spoon
so when he takes it, he can't feel the pill, and only one (maybe 2) at a
time or he will spit it out. I also make sure that his sister is there
vying for the treats just to add that competitive edge. It is a bit time
consuming, I sit on the floor and have the pills are hidden before I show
it to him, etc., but at least he is getting his meds every day.
CEREAL, Gerber single grain rice for babies: mixed with a small amount of
warm water to make firm, gummy balls with two pills in each.
CHEESE, AMERICAN: sliced and melted in microwave for 9 seconds then wrap
the pills in the melted cheese. He loves it! Be sure to completely cover
the pills with the cheese.
CHEESE, 2% COTTAGE: Hide pill in cottage cheese or put the pills in bread
balls and coat them with the cottage cheese and feed the globs off of a
fork. Use 2 % cottage cheese, as it is not quite as dry as the fat free.
CHEESE, CREAM, DIPPED IN OTHER THINGS: dip in egg foo yung gravy, chicken
baby food, applesauce, canned pumpkin or pureed yams.
CHEESE, CREAM, FAT-FREE: We use the fat free variety since she really
needs to watch her girlish figure. Each pill is smeared with just enough
cheese to coat it and several (as many as 6) can then be given in one
lump. The real trick is to get a bit of cheese on your fingers,
place the lump of pills/cheese on that same finger and then when you
give the dog the pills keep your finger there and let the dog lick
the extra cheese. In the course of licking all the yummy cheese from
your finger she will swallow the pills without making the mistake of
chewing first.
CHEESE, CREAM, LOW-FAT OR REDUCED FAT: I use cream cheese also, but
he will not eat the fat free -- it has to be at least the reduced
(or low-fat) fat one. He definitely can tell the difference. I also
make a small cheese ball with about 4 pills inside of one.
CHEESE, CREAM, including flavored ones: The big winner here for the
reluctant swallowers is always cream cheese. I have even had great
response from the flavored ones like honey/nut and maple/raisin
(that one from Einstein Bagels). The whipped, flavored ones are
softer and easier to use.
CHEESE, CREAM WITH CHICKEN/STRAWBERRY YOGURT: I use cream cheese to
wrap the pills and then I put pieces of chicken around the cream
cheese. My dogs LOVE pilling time!
My dog has been giving me trouble with taking pills lately too, so I've been wrapping them in cream cheese, putting a little chicken on them and then dipping them in strawberry yogurt! A bit of a pain, but it seems to work.
CHEESE, GOAT: Slightly more crumbly and more smelly, but dogs seem to love it!
CHEESE, RICOTTA--WHOLE MILK. Make balls of this around pills.
One person uses Sorrento brand whole milk ricotta
cheese as its consistency is better than that of the skim milk variety.
CHEESE, SALMON-FLAVORED
CHEESE, SWISS, melted: Melt it on a plate in the microwave for about
15-20 seconds, until it is soft and gooey. Quickly drop the pill in,
use a spoon to fold the still warm/gooey cheese around it, encapsulating
the pill. The Swiss cheese/pill are then dipped in something appetizing
(canned tuna, chicken skin, etc.) We give them to her one at a time,
like a treat. IMPORTANT: The hand that drops the pill in NEVER touches
the cheese/food at all, until the hand is washed.
CHEESE, VELVEETA: Make small Velveeta cheese balls and tuck a pill or
two inside. Be careful not to get the sodium bicarbonate smell on the outside.
CHEESE, VELVEETA AND PEANUT BUTTER: Cover the Velveeta with peanut
butter and that doesn't work, put chicken on top.
CHEESECAKE: Hide a pill in a bite on a spoon
CHICKEN, CHINESE SESAME (from Chinese restaurant)
CHICKEN LIVERS (preferably organic): Simmer them in some water for
15 minutes. They are marvelously malleable and are almost as good as
Velveeta to form around a pill. Super protein source, too! (I dump the
liver-water over the dog food, and everybody sucks it right up. (I'd
be careful to get organic chicken livers, though, as all the toxins
and antibiotics that are ingested head for the liver. Organic ones,
presumably, shouldn't have any of these things in them.)
CHICKEN NUGGET pieces
CHICKEN SALAD off a spoon
DOG FOOD OR CAT FOOD, CANNED: Just roll the pills in the food and
in they go. Pedigree Little Champions and Mighty Dog work well.
Anything with bacon in it is a winner...Turkey & Bacon, Beef,
Bacon and Cheese, etc. She absolutely loves it! I save this
strictly for morning meds. Nighttime is never a problem with her.
She takes them in her regular dog food then. I don't even have
to make bread balls. She actually looks forward to her nighttime treat.
DOUGHNUT HOLES: Hide the pills in them.
EGG, SCRAMBLED--large pieces
FRENCH TOAST: I slit a hole in a piece of that French toast with syrup
on it and he took that pill which wasn't even totally covered slick as
can be. So I gave him his other 3 bicarbs and his thyroid supplement
the same way. Done in less than 2 minutes!
FRENCH TOAST: I've been known to use French toast dipped in maple syrup
or mashed potatoes.
GEFILTE FISH: Mushy chunks
HAM, DEVILED --HORMEL, chilled: I sort of make the balls with one
hand so the sodium bicarbonate can't be detected on the ball itself.
I let my little man lick my fingers first and then introduce one of
the balls. If he has an attitude problem on any given dosage, I put
the ball back on the plate and let him lick my fingers again. He is
(after all) in charge.
HAM SALAD off a spoon
HAMBURGER, CREAMED ("S.O.S"): Brown one ground beef patty and drain
excess grease, add one heaping tablespoon of flour and stir around.
Add about 1 cup of milk and a few shakes of salt, and stir until
thickened. I put it all in the blender or the Oskar and blend it
down to a minced-meat gravy. Dip bread balls in this.
HAMBURGER, MACDONALD'S: Pick up 3 or 4 days supply of McDonald's
hamburgers and slice them into doggy sized servings and toss them
in the freezer - thawing out what you need.
HAMBURGER, WHITE CASTLE: I started buying the big box of White Castle
cheeseburgers and have been warming them up and wrapping his pills in
the buns. He loves the beef juice that seeps into the bun. Of course,
yesterday I found out that there are onions under the cheese, so I have
to be careful to remove them.
HILLS' K/D DIET (canned): NOTE: -- low-protein!
I have been concealing his pills in Hill's K/D for quite awhile.......
Right now the batch I have is the consistency of a nice pate.
I put about 4-5 pills in each ball. The ball is shaped like a
torpedo. Now, here comes the piece that makes a lot of difference
in our household:
I hold the torpedo above his head so that his nose is pointing straight up as he sniffs it. In that position, his lower jaw is more prone to dropping open......I then release the torpedo and, with the force of gravity allows the torpedo to drop down to the back of his throat. They seems to just slide on down.
ICE CREAM--on a spoon.
ICE CREAM--Our current successful technique is encasing the pills in
squished bread to conceal any odor and rolling each in vanilla ice
cream. He inhales the pill so he can lick my fingers before his sister gets to them, ice cream has always been one of his favorites!
This is so easy for a change!
ICE CREAM--COFFEE AND SOUTHERN PRALINE or PEANUT BUTTER SWIRL: Feed
off a spoon with one pill in each bite
HUMUS: Slightly messy, but very sticky and hides pills well.
LIVER--CHICKEN OR CHICKEN GIZZARDS, GROUND TURKEY OR PORK OR BABY FOOD:
I use baby food meat or pureed chicken livers or gizzards or ground
turkey or pork, then thicken it to a paste with mixed baby cereal.
He likes garlic powder and salt added. I can vary the flavor so he
doesn't get tired of it.
LIVER-YOGURT PUREE: Grind or puree liver (either chicken or beef
{editor's note--preferably organic}) and add enough yogurt to
make a thick puree that "balls" well.
LIVERWURST BALLS: Pinch off balls of liverwurst and tuck pills in them.
MARSHMALLOWS, HOLLOWED-OUT MINI: Hide pills in these.
MEAT AND CHEESE ENDS: Ask for these at the deli department, and cut
off pieces and make a "pill pocket."
MEATBALLS, HOMEMADE: Hide the pill in 1/2 of a meatball.
MEATLOAF--CHUNKS
MUFFINS, SOFT, SQUISHY ONES: Hide the pills in a "muffin ball."
PANCAKES: Pancakes--her very favorite food. Now she has pancake balls,
sometimes just pancake balls, sometimes rolled in dog food.
PATE, DUCKTRAP SMOKED SALMON
PEANUT BUTTER: Some folks put the glob with the pill in it on the roof
of the mouth.
PIZZA: Slice into bite-sized pieces and freeze. Microwave it for pill
doses, being sure to let it cool before you give it to them. Mine are
so pizza crazy that when I order pizza, I tell them pizza is coming.
Every outside sound they hear (and normally ignore) makes them run to
the door - hoping its the pizza!
POTATOES, INSTANT MASHED: I make enough for a few days then warm the
amount needed in the microwave. I feed a small glob off my finger with
one pill at a time hidden in it. She'll eat the potatoes plain but I
often change the flavor by mixing in small amounts of added items like
grated cheese, sour cream, minced cooked liver, cooked ground beef, or
steamed diced veggies. You can also prepare the instant potatoes with
a low sodium broth (beef or chicken) instead of water.
POTATOES, INSTANT MASHED DIPPED IN CANNED GRAVY: I use the idea of
instant mashed potatoes fixed with butter, milk and salt, as per
recipe, but I make them a little stiffer by adding slightly more
flakes. I heat a portion in the microwave, form it into balls around
2-3 pills, and dip it in chicken, turkey or beef gravy (canned or
from a jar).
POTATOES, INSTANT MASHED DIPPED IN SMOKED SALMON OIL: Make small mashed potato balls and dip one end of the ball in a bit of the oil that smoked salmon is packed in.
POTATOES, INSTANT MASHED MIXED WITH A LITTLE BROWNED GROUND BEEF
POTTED MEAT (i.e. Underwood Chicken Deviled Ham or Roast Beef spread) seems to work well -- especially chilled.
PUDDING ON A SPOON: She especially like rice pudding.
PUDDING, MORE IDEAS: I get the fat free Jello brands for me and them.
PUMPKIN PIE: Dip bread balls into this--or feed pills in it off of a spoon
RAVIOLI, CANNED: Especially Chef Boyardee Cheesy Burger Ravioli.
The filling is sticky and hides the pills quite well. I cut each
one in half and hide a pill in the middle.
RAVIOLI, cheese and spinach. Cook until tender and store in
refrigerator until used (no longer than three days). Can dip in sauce.
RED BARN
moist dog food in a tube: May need to mix warm water with
beef flavor, but lamb and rice is soft enough for pills.
SAUSAGES: Bob Evans brand, but can use others. Hide pills in bits of cooked sausage.
SAUSAGES, Vienna, cut in bite-sized pieces and a pill hidden in the center.
SCIENCE DIET WET FOOD (beef): One person had good luck with this, making it
into torpedo-shaped "meatballs." The puppy and chicken adult Science Diet
wet food work best for another person.
TURKEY, ground with garlic powder, salt and Gerber baby mixed or rice cereal:
First, I cook ground turkey (or lamb, [he's allergic to beef]) and put it in
the food processor with some garlic powder and salt. Then I freeze it in
small batches. I thaw it out and mix it with Gerber baby mixed or rice cereal.
Then I do the ritual... Luke gets to sit at the table next to me with his
own plate. I warm the mixture in the microwave, then make the meatballs
with the pills and put them on the plate. He laps them up. The others get
some treats also if they sit on the floor. I keep some baby food meat on
hand in case I run out, but add the garlic. The key is to keep it fresh,
only three days worth at a time, and warm.
YOGURT: We "buffer" the pills in bread, then dip them in yogurt...he loves
it!! So nice for us (and him) since we had to force them down for the first
4 months or so.
Article copyright © 2004 by Betsy Polglase.
All rights reserved.