# Kojo won't take pill



## LUVmyHava (Apr 16, 2019)

He still gets car sick so trying to give him Cerenia. Tried peanut butter (won't take a lick), yogurt (he loves but spit out pill), turkey deli meat (spit it out), cheese, ball of canned puppy food. I haven't found a single treat he will eat so hesitant to try pill pockets. Treats he won't eat are Blue Buffalo Bits, Mother Hubbard Peanutter mini biscuit, Fruitables (pumpkin berry or apple bacon. Refuses Greenies.

Anyone else have a picky eater.


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## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

Mine is picky but will eat a ball of cheese for a pill. My girl goes crazy for things that are freeze dried like instinct freeze dried raw mixers or liver treats. Acana makes a lamb and apple freeze dried treat she loves too. Good luck,


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## Tere (Oct 17, 2018)

Cerenia is very bitter tasting. Maybe something sweet to counteract the taste. I used to pill my dog with the Cerenia. He would find it and spit it out of any food.


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## kodiakken (Oct 25, 2018)

To give Danny his Phenobarbital we cut a piece of Weiner about 3/8" wide put the pill in the middle. It is small enough he does about two chews and swallows. If its to big we have had trouble if its to small we have had troubles.
Good luck.
Ken.


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## LUVmyHava (Apr 16, 2019)

A car trip I hope never happens again. As soon as Kojo in car seat, very nervous and salivating. Five minutes down the road he pooped in car seat and had poop all over him. (probably nervous reaction). He was so upset about poop all over him. So canceled trip to friends and went back home. A block from house he barfed all over my center console. So obviously he didn't swallow the Cerenia.

Came home and gave him a bath and then cleaned up car. Maybe Kojo isn't getting motion sick. He's having a panic attack (extreme anxiety.). Maybe he needs something to calm him down instead of preventing motion sickness.

More trips like this will only increase his fear of riding in car.

I uploaded new photo for Avatar but Forum keeps putting old one on my posts. Why is that?


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## Tere (Oct 17, 2018)

That sounds horrible! My vet says that most dogs that get car sick from anxiety not motion. He said something like 90%? But he feels that Shadow is part of the small % that can't handle the motion. Shadow is not nervous about the car, no drooling, he actually seems to be enjoying the ride and begs to go in the car. Then after a mile or so, he hangs his head and vomits.
Cerenia did not work for Shadow at all. I did give it to my previous dog to control vomiting and it was a miracle for him. He had other health issues(not car/motion related).
You might try to just sit in the car with him for a few minutes, give him a treat. Don't go anywhere. Do it often. Bring a toy. Start small.
There is some anti-anxiety music on y-tube.
I had gotten some Composure(made by VetriScience) that seemed help calm my other dog when he was afraid of fireworks. My vet gave me some and I later ordered them from Chewy. Maybe try those? 
Sweet picture! I have no idea of how to change the avatar photo though!


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## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

My vet wasn't sure if Perry's sick in the car issues was motion sick or anxiety (personally I think it's both) so we decided to try cerenia first and then she suggested we try gabapentin next if this doesn't work. 

Does he like peanut butter at all? Or another (pet ok) nut butter? Or other substance that could coat the pill AND your fingers? I realized for Perry that the trick with pills was to coat the pill in peanut butter but also have enough extra on my fingers that he licks the pill off and then continues to lick the peanut butter... so that by the time my fingers were completely cleaned off, the pill would have gone down completely too. 

Also, remember that the cerenia needs to be given 2 hours before travel (with food - though my vet said to give the food an hour before the pill and the website says to give it with the pills). We've tried it once so far and it worked well - no vomit despite having eaten (with bonine, etc I can't feed him at all and he still drools heavily and sometimes throws up). 

I do think Perry does have anxiety too - but the calming chews didn't work for him (they were even harder to get him to eat)...


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## Tere (Oct 17, 2018)

Shadow can detect pills but this has worked. I hand feed him a couple kernels of his food which he loves. Then I coat a couple with peanut butter. Then I coat the pill with peanut butter. It seems like once he gets the momentum going that he is getting something, he eats the pill right up no problem!>


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

That sounds like stress to me because that’s what my puppy did the first time we left him alone. 

As far as pills, mine is incredibly skilled at getting the pill out of whatever it’s wrapped it. I have to coat the pill in something sticky like cream cheese or peanut butter so it’s harder to separate from the food, but alone those aren’t enticing enough so i have to stick that in some kind of meat. Usually something I never let him have, like a sliver of hot dog. He still manages to spit it out sometimes, though, so I have to watch. He’s super smart, too, so if I act like nothing is in it and it’s really yummy he’s much more likely to smack it up, even though I’m pretty sure he knows it’s there. 

I agree to check with the vet about the anxiety vs. just motion sickness. I was told by a tech that the anxiety meds with less severe side effects are safer and cheaper, but the downside is they have to take them every day, not just before a stressful event. I didn’t talk to the vet directly about it so I’m sure it’s more complex than that.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Since we got one of these swings for the little puppies, I don't believe there has been one with motion sickness. I'm not sure if it would work for an older dog, but feel like it would be worth a try.

See picture in First Accident Ever thread.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Couldn't post a link for some reason.

Search for this on Amazon:

Super Spinner Swing--Fun, Easy to Install on Swing Set or Tree!


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Pam uses Meclizine for motion sickness. It has no side effects like drowsiness. You can buy it as generic motion sickness medicine for people.


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## Tere (Oct 17, 2018)

I am almost ready to give up on the idea of car rides altogether. After over a year, he is worse. This whole carsickness thing makes me sad. I had such ideas of us going places together and travelling to see my family. My fault. The breeder told me that he was a car puker and I thought(like an idiot) that we would work through it.


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## LUVmyHava (Apr 16, 2019)

Kojo is a very dainty eater, carefully chewing each bite of food. That's why I can't hide any pills in food (does not like peanut butter). I tried warmed hot dog over the weekend, giving him a little piece twice a day. Then today, I pushed pill into center of piece of hot dog. He didn't spit anything out so I think he got dosed this time. I am going to take him to see friends in 2 hours. We'll see if he gets carsick this time.

Cerenia is very expensive so won't be depending on that. Vet gave me pills I am supposed to cut in half. Just crumbles pill so not happy about that. Will try benedryl if I can figure out dosage.


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## Tere (Oct 17, 2018)

I hope Kojo does better this time. I never had a problem with the Cerenia crumbling and I used to half the pills all the time. Sometimes I broke them with my fingers. I think they only come in the package of 4? I bought them on line $16. for 4. I used them a lot for my RIP Romeo(the best Bichon Frise in the world!) in his final days.
I "think" you can only use them 3 days in a row? 
Let us know how Kojo does! Fingers crossed for a happy drive!


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## LUVmyHava (Apr 16, 2019)

Kojo did great on 25 minute car ride, two hours at friends and 25 minutes back home. Not carsick but did salivate some. So Cerenia clearly works for him. Gave him Cerenia in piece of warm hot dog about two hours before time to go.


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## Tere (Oct 17, 2018)

Hurray for Kojo! I'm happy that you had a good outing!


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## LUVmyHava (Apr 16, 2019)

And Kojo had so much fun with 4-year-old and 6-year-old. First time he met them so was a little leery at first. But soon the 4-year-old is running him around the house on leash and sharing her stuffed toy with him. He was gentle with her toy. The 6-year-old is typical boy, loud and climbing up doorways. Kojo was bit startled the first time he yelled but soon acquiesced to his noise and rambunctiousness. 

I am trying to give Kojo as many experiences with kids while he is still a puppy. So with carsickness treatable with Cerenia, we can do more trips.


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## Tere (Oct 17, 2018)

That is wonderful! These little dogs seem to love kids!


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## tempeCarlson (Feb 10, 2019)

I'm really sorry that you're having these difficulties, poor little guy! We introduced Murphy to the car when he was young. He got sick once or twice early on, but we just completed the drive from Arizona to Minnesota and back. He did fine, just slept the whole way ;-> I hope you can get your dog to work through the issues because it is great to involve your pet in these sorts of activities.

When you visit your vet, you may want to ask them to show you how to "pill" Kojo. This is how I've always handled my dogs since almost all will require medicine occasionally.


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## Tere (Oct 17, 2018)

Learning how to "pill" your dog is the best solution, I agree. The Cerenia are so small that it is easy for these sly pups to not swallow it. I wish vets would show how to do this.
When I pill a dog, I usually sit at the kitchen table and put a favorite something on the table to distract them and get them to swallow. They keep their eye on the prize.


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## Cbelknap (Sep 17, 2014)

Here are the various things that have work for me over the years:

Hiding pills in ....
- Scrambled Egg
- Cheese 
- Meatball from Chef Boyardee Can (Emergency Hospital recommended this)
- Canned dog food with "gravy" (crushed pills can often be disguised well in the gravy)
- Pill pockets - Greenies "Cat" version worked best since pockets are smaller 

Tools that also helped ...
- Pill Crusher
- Pill Splitter
- Pill Gun

Overall, I try a variety of these methods and generally one will work at any given time. I crush the pill or split it down to a tiny size if possible. As a last resort, I use the pill gun which is much easier for me than trying to put my finger into the back of a tiny Havanese mouth. Max and Molly can detect even the smallest, most well hidden pill at times. It can be quite challenging when you need to give pills on a daily basis. Max had surgery last year, and needed to take 5 pills three times a day at one point. I feel for anyone who has this struggle.


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## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

reading all of the strategies makes me even more grateful at how easy Perry is to give a pill to. He loves peanut butter so much that the idea of sitting there and licking more of it off my finger means that I don't even think he notices that one of the licks has a lump in it


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## Wulfin (May 3, 2019)

I buy chunky peanut butter for this reason. Sometimes the chunk is a peanut, sometimes it’s a pill. You never know....


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## Scharpfac (Sep 17, 2017)

Tom King said:


> Since we got one of these swings for the little puppies, I don't believe there has been one with motion sickness. I'm not sure if it would work for an older dog, but feel like it would be worth a try.
> 
> See picture in First Accident Ever thread.


Where did you get that swing? Is it specifically for puppies? Can you post a YouTube clip with them playing in the swing? I'd love to see that!


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