My dog won't take Vetmedin. Can I crush it and mix with food?

Hello, thank you for your question. As a general rule I try to avoid breaking open capsules and spreading them on the food as this could mean that your dog doesn't always get the exact amount of medication. For example, if your dog didn't finish all of his meal how would you know exactly how much of the pimobendan medication he had received. To help your dog with the larger capsules you could try hiding it in a slice of deli meat/cheese or could try some peanut butter. Another option would be to try creating a small meatball of canned food with the capsule in the middle. Hope this helps!

Hello. Yes you can absolutely give the Vetmedin with a tiny bit of food. The important thing is to give the pill & wait at least 45 - 60 minutes before feeding a full meal. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

It will not, however it will make the food taste terrible and make it much more likely that your dog will not eat the food and you will have wasted a pill. I would suggest getting a product called Pill Pockets. They are great and you can wrap the pill them and your dog will eat them right up! Cream cheese also works wonders! :)

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This should be ok. The other thing that I would suggest that works great is putting them in pill pockets which you can buy from your local pet store or online. They are very palatable so they tend to like them. You could also consider using tuna or any food he really likes. Good luck and have a great day!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The dose of Vetmedin is 0.25mg/kg twice daily. So for a 10 lb dog I would prescribe the 1.25mg tablet to give every 12 hours. I would go to 1/2 of a 1.25 mg twice daily around 6-7 lbs. I hope this helps!

It would probably be easiest just to pill Buddy directly so you don't have to deal with breaking down the pill or hiding it in food, especially so you ensure he gets the correct dosage (some pills such as capsules should never be broken apart anyway.). You can get a syringe and fill it with water, and then place the pill as far back in Buddy's throat as you can, then immediately squire the water into his mouth. This will help him to swallow and make the pill go down easier.

You can try either of these but Coco may be on to you now. Remember that Coco's nose is very sensitive and she may smell the medication. Not to mention it tastes bad if the capsule/pill is broken open. You may try pill pockets (give her a few normal ones at first and act excited). Give her a few small ones first, then give her one containing the pill, then have another waiting for her. Allow Coco to see that you still have treats. This may make her excited and want to eat faster so that she can get the next treat. I hope that makes sense. You can also manually give her the pill: https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-give-your-dog-a-pill/ If you cannot get her to take the medication, call your veterinarian to ask about alternatives. I hope this helps.