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Heartworm/worming Options For Naughty Adult Dogs


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I have an sbt who will eat anything. Except yummy, edible heartworm and worming tablets. I have resorted to some very underhanded means to disguise her tablets and the last couple of months she is having none of it and it is getting to the stage I am wasting money, having to throw out tablets covered in raw chicken/roast chicken/cheese/peanut butter/sardines/vegemite toast and start again with new ones. I've also tried to pretend it is my food that I've dropped (she'll eat lettuce under those circumstances usually) or that she is in competition with the other dogs for a special treat. Tomorrow it will be my third day of trying to dose her fully for just this month. Frankly I am getting sick of it and can't risk her not getting her full dose, especially of heartworm tablets. I have never, ever successfully stuck a pill down a dog's gob. So I don't think that is an option either. I'm not sure crushing it will make a difference either as she seems to smell it even when I just get it out of the packet and becomes distrustful of anything I feed her. Could I make her a banana chia smoothie maybe? (that's a joke but I am desperate enough to try it)

So what do other people do? Surely I'm not the only one who struggles with this issue? Is there a worming paste that I could try? Is it also true that you can get annual heartworm injections? What are people's thoughts on those? And do I wait until she is due again for it or do I go now with her half dosed?

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I put the tablets in a piece of 4 legs and the dogs chew it up happily.

Can you practice putting things down her throat? It's really not that difficult, especially with a dog with a large gob! it will be a useful skill if she ever needs other oral medication

I would never recommend the annual injection - too many side effects for my taste.

Edited by Haredown Whippets
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Mainly for heart worm ( but it also prevents/ kills fleas, treats ear mites and sarcoptic mites) I use Revolution spot on, once a month. I have to dose Bruno with daily tablets for his allergies though. I do pop them down his gob if he is refusing to take treats (weird dog). Best trick food for him is a long thin slice of roo steak, tablet rolled up inside it. I feed a couple of decoy pieces of meat before and straight after. He is a professional pill-flicker when he wants to be. laugh.gifThen I revert to down the gob and hold his mouth closed. embarrass.gif

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I have the same problem. To open my dog's mouth, I lodge my thumb and index finger either side of her mouth and it will automatically open. The trick is getting the treat in far enough so she has no choice but to swallow. I don't want to stress her out so lately I have been crushing up the tablet and mixing it with mince meat which always does the trick.

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Proheart SR12 injections are the yearly heartworm injections.

Nuheart does a water soluble heartworm tablet.

None of the dogs here will eat the chews. I drag their tablets through a tub of cream cheese and they all just eat them like lollies.

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I have an sbt who will eat anything. Except yummy, edible heartworm and worming tablets. I have resorted to some very underhanded means to disguise her tablets and the last couple of months she is having none of it and it is getting to the stage I am wasting money, having to throw out tablets covered in raw chicken/roast chicken/cheese/peanut butter/sardines/vegemite toast and start again with new ones. I've also tried to pretend it is my food that I've dropped (she'll eat lettuce under those circumstances usually) or that she is in competition with the other dogs for a special treat. Tomorrow it will be my third day of trying to dose her fully for just this month. Frankly I am getting sick of it and can't risk her not getting her full dose, especially of heartworm tablets. I have never, ever successfully stuck a pill down a dog's gob. So I don't think that is an option either. I'm not sure crushing it will make a difference either as she seems to smell it even when I just get it out of the packet and becomes distrustful of anything I feed her. Could I make her a banana chia smoothie maybe? (that's a joke but I am desperate enough to try it)

So what do other people do? Surely I'm not the only one who struggles with this issue? Is there a worming paste that I could try? Is it also true that you can get annual heartworm injections? What are people's thoughts on those? And do I wait until she is due again for it or do I go now with her half dosed?

let her miss a day of food .. put her outside

roll pills in some fresh meat /liver/cheese ..

start throwing her bits of plain food ..just small bits that don't need chewing ..and toss in the pills every so often ...

I find poking pills down teh hole HEAPS less stressful for us all ;)

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Yup, for something they NEED to have I don't dilly dally around with it - open up the throat and down it goes. For the voodoo supplements I just hope they eat them when they eat their dinner, but I'm not going to worry about those.

Maybe following up with a treat would sweeten the deal

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I find it very hard to believe that you can't fool a SBT to take a pill wrapped up in food :rofl:

Mine ate a cotton ball the other day. We were in the kitchen putting some dettol on a sore finger and a clean cotton ball dropped down on the floor. The SBT swooped in and ate it! Not sure who was more surprised me or her.

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Trust me, while she will immediately leave something if I tell her she is not to eat it, pretty much anything that can fit has ended up in her mouth for a taste test. She is 6 years old now so we have done ok for quite a number of years hiding them in food but finally it seems that once she feels a certain type of crunch in her mouth or smells that tablet smell, even on the edible varieties, her suspicious hat comes on and she wont open her lips for anything! She refused to eat her beloved chicken necks tonight because she knew! And her suspicious behaviour is now starting to make the younger dog suspicious too. One problem child is enough!

I will check out the spot on, water soluble and injections. The spot on might be my first new choice I think. I've never used anything apart from tablets and edibles so wasn't sure what else was out there.

And I know what I am capable of and putting a tablet into a dog's throat is not one of them. It distresses me to do so I don't even want to go there, especially if I don't need to.

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You know when you eat a grape and the seed is a bit big - your instinct is to spit it out - same thing here . you have to make the pill the same feel as the food

Put the pill in with some dry food make it about the same size as the food and poor some gravy over it - not even beagles spot them like that.

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white pudding/black pudding ..or go the whole hog ! carob, sweet- melted .cool to almost solid ....tablets coated ,cooled ..dipped in peanut butter .............and DON't eat them yourself!!

use gloves so NO drug smell is on your fingers ..and prepare the whole lot with dogs busy chewing bones or outside ...

Edited by persephone
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Mine detest the "tasty chews" and I can never disguise them in anything so I tried changing to Milbemax tablets. They are exactly the same drug as Interceptor and must have little or no smell as I can halve them and roll in little balls of mince and the dogs never even hesitate to eat them. I feed several small empty meat balls one at a time then the one with the tablet and another empty one straight after. the idea is to get them gulping them down without chewing. It has worked every time on my BC and super fussy eater JS. When I was using the chews, even if I cut them into small pieces they could smell them in the food and would refuse to touch it.

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My lot won't eat worming tablets - of any description, or coated in anything. I have to jam them down their throats the old fashioned way... *grin*

If that doean't appeal to you LG - just get the spot-on stuff that does ALL worms, including heartworm, and use that on your SBT - easy peasy.

T.

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