OK we gotta talk about those things that hide pills. You know what I’m talking about, right? – Pill P_____. I’m going to get my Mom sued if I intentionally called out a specific brand.
The problem is, it’s one of those terms like Band-Aid. Band-Aid was a brand, but now everybody calls adhesive bandages Band-Aids. Or Kleenex. Or rollerblades. You get it. I’m not attacking this specific brand, I’m attacking the thing that everybody calls with the original brand name. Do you get it?
So why do humans use those dough balls to give pills to dogs? Because some of us are really picky. Not trying to sound like a “breedist” but the problem is those little white dogs. (Havanese, Maltese, them!) It’s because they are only children and they’re super pampered so they walk all over their parents.
Me? I’m a farm dog and i live in a household with other dogs. So I have to admit, if you put it in my food I’m gonna eat it first and ask questions later – because that means I get it first , and sometimes it’s worth it.
But I want to share the ingredients in these medication coverups, because really, I need you humans to start reading labels. We can’t read them ourselves, so I asked my Mom to read me the ingredients on these commercial pill disguisers:
Chicken, Glycerin, Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Vegetable Oil, Dried Corn Syrup, (+/-) Caramel Color, Natural Flavor, (+/-) Natural Cheese Flavor, Vinegar, Sodium Bisulfate, Natural Hickory Smoke Flavor, Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid (preservatives), Rosemary Extract.
I’ll get to the bad stuff in a minute, but there are supposedly three flavors pet parents can choose from here, but the only difference in the ingredients list between the three flavors is more or less caramel color. (This does NOT change the flavor at all. Dogs know this.)
Okay, back to the ingredients list. Glycerin and corn syrup are pure junk! They are both sugar bombs! Wheat flour and wheat gluten? Are these really different? You know they’re not.
Look, I’m trying to be a healthy dog. At least that’s what my family is doing. So I get natural food that the family would eat. And I get herbal supplements. And sometimes my food tastes just a little bit herby. So?!?
Overall, I get good stuff.
I have heard of parents who don’t want to poke a pill or those fancy little dogs who spit the pill back out. Of course they make incredible drama. And they make it sound like they’re vomiting. And so the parents give in! You know, there have been days where my mom sticks a pill down my throat, I’m sure she tickles my uvula. I’m OK. And I keep my teeth to myself. After all, that is the hand that feeds me.
So maybe it’s too late on some of these little dogs. But I’m going to put the call out to future parents. Practice giving “things“ to your puppy. What’s wrong with a little bit of cream cheese to conceal that pill? Or liverwurst? I have a good friend who loves bananas and he doesn’t even know his Mom mixes his supplements in that sweet little treat! Or maybe…. you just keep it simple and mix our supplement or medication in with our food?
An awful lot of this is training. even a hot dog is healthier for me than a pill p**ket.
Just saying!