You see Mrs Dog is incredibly smart. In her younger days, we'd ask her questions and she'd follow through with the results. "Show Me" wasn't Missouri, it was an invitation by us to have her show me what she wants. When I moved from Philly to South Florida, the first thing we had done with her was to teach her the neighborhood by going out in a general direction and say to her "OK, Go Home".
She never got lost. She'd get us home every time.
Tricking her to take her pills was not too difficult when it was a random thing. She was always a very healthy dog, just toss the pill over your shoulder and she'd scramble for it. The pill would be gone in a bite.
She has a taste for Glucosamine. The capsules are white, filled with a powder, and slightly sweet. She actually bites down on them and scatters Glucosamine all over my kitchen floor, typically right after I have mopped it.
Now that she's older, pills are a daily occurrence. Twice daily for the Glucosamine, twice daily for the thyroid hormones. I can usually get her to take the thyroid pill by treating it as a treat. She'll do a trick, then get the pill, give me a dirty look, then spit it out and of course eat it off the floor again.
There goes the Dining Room floor.
Lately she had a flare up. We thought it was due to her thyroid medications giving her a reaction. Her skin got dry and flaky, and she was scratching almost constantly. After taking her back to the vet, we came home with weaker thyroid meds and some Antibiotics that we were to give her twice daily.
Great! More Pills! Lets do a dance around the microwave!
Why the microwave dance? She decided she didn't like the Antibiotics after the second dose. First it was sneak it in with the food, then that didn't work, she would eat around the pill and spit it out. Forgetting that she still had teeth, I slipped the pill in the side of her jaw and tickled her throat. She swallowed it but hated the experience.
Now for the heavy guns. Peanut butter!
The last time she had seizures, she lived on the stuff. Peanut butter on a saltine with a steroid pill happily hidden deep under all that brown goo. She ate them and didn't think twice.
Grabbing the butter knife, I would get a dollop of peanut butter, drop an Antibiotic on it, then roll it around like a little ball and then encrust it in dog food. Sure! That would fool her!
Guess again pal! You see My Best Friend would bite down and have antibiotic flavored peanut butter now in her mouth. She'd swallow part, spit out the rest, then try to eat the food that wasn't "polluted" with antibiotics.
Time for another change in plans I guess. Glucosamine and Thyroid meds on the food, antibiotics will have to be done separately.
Luckily it's less than another week of this. Her skin is mostly cleared now. She's scratching approximately as much as she did before all this coincidental nonsense hit.
When I reach for the Peanut Butter jar, she isn't begging nearly as much as she had been. I guess today would be a good day to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. I have a jar of Lemon Curd in the refrigerator plus one to spare, as well as a Cinnamon Raisin roll... Maybe I can have that without having a wet nose in the middle of my lunch?
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