# Cheap alternatives to pill pockets?



## anoukaimee (May 2, 2015)

Enzo has what looks like a luxating patella, although the vets aren't quite sure yet. He also takes Prozac for generalized anxiety. So I am giving him two huge tablets for arthritic prevention, 1 rimadyl and half a tramadol, and one for Prozac. That is 5 pill pockets total. I am really broke, on disability, and the cost of pill pockets is just too much. I know there are alternative brands that are out there too, but they're basically the same, unless you luck out and can find them on sale.

Enzo has gotten wise to the fact that there are nasty things in dog food, cat food, peanut butter, cheese, etc. So it really looks like I need some sort of pill pocket/treat to use this to disguise the pills. Does anyone have a good idea of something that is cheap? Maybe a brand that is affordable? Thank you much.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

There are recipes online to make your own pill pockets. I also hear that tuna fudge works really well.


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## Wet Beards (Jan 25, 2015)

If you get the large pill pockets, break them up into thirds. 
Smoosh a third of the pocket around the pill. 
Kara used to be highly suspicious of pills too. As long as 
the pill had a thin coating of pill pocket around it, she ate it.


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## CorgiKarma (Feb 10, 2009)

Have you tried pill wrap? Much more affordable and very easy to use.


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## griffinflames (Sep 19, 2015)

While my dog was on daily antibiotics (2x daily), he got really cautious about me hiding the pills in food/peanut butter/cookies/turkey/cheese etc and he would nibble on his food, pick out the pill, and leave it in his food dish. Eventually, I just ended up popping the pills in his mouth (back of the tongue), closed his jaw and massaged his throat until he swallowed, and then gave him a huge jackpot reward for putting up with it. After a few days, he was a lot better with it and was taking his pills without much fuss and happily ate whatever reward I gave him afterwards. Not ideal, but could be worth a try.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

griffinflames said:


> While my dog was on daily antibiotics (2x daily), he got really cautious about me hiding the pills in food/peanut butter/cookies/turkey/cheese etc and he would nibble on his food, pick out the pill, and leave it in his food dish. Eventually, I just ended up popping the pills in his mouth (back of the tongue), closed his jaw and massaged his throat until he swallowed, and then gave him a huge jackpot reward for putting up with it. After a few days, he was a lot better with it and was taking his pills without much fuss and happily ate whatever reward I gave him afterwards. Not ideal, but could be worth a try.


Agree. If a dog must take it then pilling isn't a bad thing. Be sure to give a big wet treat after to make sure the pill is swallowed properly. I practice both pilling and hiding pills with my dogs.


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

Braunschweiger aka liver sausage. Cut off what you can use in a week and cut it into appropriately-sized pieces. Put the rest in the freezer until you need it. You can hide any size or shape pill in there. 

We have a schnauzer who's been on Prednisone forever. He demands his liver sausage every day, though he's getting weaned off the prednisone.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Meatballs are my go-to. Break off a little piece and stick the pill in it. Semi-firm cheeses work too. 

I get about 3-4 treats of similar size and put the pill in one of them. I feed one pill-free treat to get them going, then the one with the pill, then another one without a pill to make sure the dog swallows and doesn't think too hard about what he's eating.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

http://www.dogforums.com/general-dog-forum/425506-ideas-hiding-pills.html

Lots of grocery store type ideas here


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## Kudzu (Aug 15, 2013)

I've had success with crushing pills into a powder with mortar and pestle and mixing with yogurt, ice cream, cottage cheese...anything delicious with a creamy consistency that they gobble down quick. They can't really spit it out, and they don't seem to even realize they got anything other than a treat.


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## mrsserena (Nov 9, 2015)

String cheese might work, you can push the pills down into it so they're more hidden. 

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

Saw this article via twitter and it seems like it might be relevant here.

https://www.toegrips.com/a-spoonful-of-sugar /


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## sydneynicole (Apr 2, 2015)

Giving Tucker his pills tonight and remembered seeing this thread recently when I had an epiphany. Pizza rolls. They're cheap, readily available, easy to use. Just pull one out and zap it for 40 seconds, then rip open the end and stuff in the pills. It's 'special people food' so Tucker didn't even question it. 

Might be a big treat for a small dog, but hey.

Also, covering the pills in peanut butter and smearing the peanut butter on the roof of their mouth towards the back works well for me.


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

sydneynicole said:


> Giving Tucker his pills tonight and remembered seeing this thread recently when I had an epiphany. Pizza rolls. They're cheap, readily available, easy to use. Just pull one out and zap it for 40 seconds, then rip open the end and stuff in the pills. It's 'special people food' so Tucker didn't even question it.


Only thing I'd worry about there is if the pizza rolls have onion powder in them.



elrohwen said:


> I get about 3-4 treats of similar size and put the pill in one of them. I feed one pill-free treat to get them going, then the one with the pill, then another one without a pill to make sure the dog swallows and doesn't think too hard about what he's eating.


This is what I do, too. This is the easiest way I've found to trick smart dogs (or, if not trick them, make it so that they wolf the pill-containing treat down anyway because they want that third treat).

I've always just used whatever we had around to hide the pills... meat, cheese, even bread bits. My dogs eat anything, though.


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## fourdogs (Feb 3, 2014)

2T flour, 1T peanut butter, 1 T water. Mix well and keep extra in fridge. 

OR

The square kraft (or generic) cheese slices that come in the plastic wrap. Tear off about a 1/3 of the cheese slice and wrap around the pill.


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## Lucy (Jul 13, 2015)

Not sure this will help, since you said your dog is skeptical of peanut butter at this point. When I have to give my dog pills, sometimes I make a "peanut butter sandwich" with two thin dog biscuits as "bread", peanut butter and pill in between the biscuits. She doesn't pick apart the "sandwich"—then again, she is not very picky.

Various types of sausage might also work. You could cut a piece of sausage and stick the pill in there.


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