Sharing your life with a dog is a big responsibility. In fact, if you live with one of them you will have realized the multiple care they need, in addition, they are susceptible to numerous diseases and on more than one occasion they may require pharmacological treatment. Obviously you cannot self-medicate your dog, since you run the risk of giving him a prohibited drug, therefore, we refer to that medication that the veterinarian has prescribed for a certain he alth problem.
If it's a syrup, do you know how to give liquid medicine to a dog? In this article on our site we show you how to do it properly.
The type of drug influences the form of administration
If the veterinarian has prescribed a syrup for your dog, you should know that there are different types of liquid medicine and that this slightly influences the administration to be carried out.
We can mainly distinguish two kinds of syrup:
- Solution: the active ingredients of the drug are already perfectly dissolved in the liquid, therefore, the syrup should not be shaken before be managed.
- Suspension: the active ingredients of the drug are "suspended" in the liquid, this implies that for the prescribed dose to truly contain the necessary drug, it is essential that the bottle be shaken before giving our dog the medication.
Generally, this information is indicated on the medication container, in it you will also find other information that is essential to know: if the syrup can remain at room temperature, or if on the contrary, it must be kept in the fridge.
How NOT to give your dog liquid medicine
To avoid any administration error, below we will show you those actions that you should not perform under any circumstances, since they entail the risk that your dog will not receive the drug it needs to recover or to maintain your he alth.
What you must not do is the following:
- Do not mix the drug with the drinking water, since it will not be possible to check if your dog has taken all the necessary dose.
- Do not add the liquid medicine to the food, as your dog may start eating but then notice a change in the taste and stop eating the food. In this case, how would it be possible to check how much drug he has ingested?
- Do not mix liquid medicine with any type of juice. In addition to the fact that sugar is not good for your dog, you should know that some acids and components present in these drinks can interact with the medication.
The best method: fast and stress-free
Here's how to give your dog liquid medicine in the easiest way possible, both for you and for him.
This is a vet recommended method, which I was able to experiment with on my own dog with highly satisfactory results:
- Make sure your dog is calm and in a fixed position.
- Load the necessary dose of the drug in a plastic measuring syringe, obviously without a needle.
- Approach your dog from the side, keep calm if you don't want him to get upset.
- Hold his snout with your hands and insert the plastic syringe into one side of his jaw, quickly pushing the plunger to that all the medicine reaches your oral cavity.
The stress that this trick to give syrup to your dog generates in him is minimal, although afterwards we recommend that you stay by his side and you pet him to calm him down, in this way, he will return to normal immediately.
Obviously if your dog is aggressive it is recommended that before putting this procedure into practice you put a simple muzzle on it, which allows the introduction of the syringe. And if what you want to know is how to give a dog a pill, don't miss our article.
