Rebecca,
Poor thing! And poor Brooklyn! First of all, if you haven't already,
calm down. You've heard us talk about avoiding stress, well honey, this
has been very stressful for both of you! Skipping the meds until you
can get them down, (or on him), is better than what you're going
through. You have to approach med time as calmly and matter-of-factly
as you can. Don't try to pill him again until you've seen a vet for a
lesson! Look for a house call vet that can come to your home to help
you with this, (much less stressful!). If Brooklyn is fearful of
strangers, confine him, or get him in his carrier before the vet arrives
so you don't have to pull him out from under the bed. They should be
able to show you how to do it in a way that will be much less stressful
for the two of you. If you can't find a house call vet, or they're too
expensive, call your regular vet and ask them for a lesson with their
best pill giving tech. That should cost less than a visit with the
vet. Don't waste your time watching, get in there and do it yourself
with their supervision. All the suggestions you've received are good
ones, but it's pretty hard to follow written directions with something
like this. Please listen to the advice about having the meds compounded
into transdermal gels. I've heard that some meds are not as effective
that way, but it's a lot more effective than the darn spit soaked pill
on the kitchen floor. If you are giving him Metronidazole, then forget
about giving it to him in food. The stuff tastes awful and he's not
going to eat it! I wouldn't syringe feed anything down him that tastes
that bad either! You can apply the transdermal while sitting on the
sofa watching TV. He doesn't even have to know he's being medicated!
One more suggestion. After things have calmed down a bit, (esp if you
are able to go the transdermal route), get Brooklyn used to being gently
restrained. You can do it when you're petting him. Gently scruff him
and hold him firmly for a second at a time. Coo at him and tell him
what a good boy he is. Release your grasp and start petting him in a
more natural way. Gradually move on to putting him in a position that
would work for syringe feeding, or pilling, and have a treat of tuna, or
his favorite food available afterward. When he's accepting that on your
lap, or couch, move on to the counter, (all this w/o the pill!). It's
not the pilling itself that he's objecting to, it's his loss of control
and the fear of the unknown while it's happening. If you learn how to
pill quickly and efficiently, then it won't be traumatic for either of
you and even though he'll never enjoy the process, he'll see that if he
cooperates, it's over in a minute and no harm has come to him. It's
really important to get him on board with medicating him, unfortunately,
there usually comes a time when it's a matter of life and death.
There's not much that's more frustrating than knowing there's something
that you can do to help, if only you could give him the meds!
Hang in there girl, you're doing fine,
Nina
