While I didn’t get the memo, apparently Sunny is celebrating opposite day today. For most of the day he has been somewhat difficult when he isn’t sleeping. This morning he decided he no longer liked the pill pockets and started to refuse his medication. I’m not sure if it is because he felt better, or because he wasn’t hungry, but obviously this was not going to work. We were able to get him his first dose of tramadol at his scheduled time (5:30 am), but after that its been an uphill battle. Around noon I finally got him to take his rimadyl and t-pain in some wet food and to eat his breakfast. It was a struggle though. I tried cheese, peanut butter, pill pockets, a peanut butter sandwich, a banana, nothing worked! We gave him a pepcin last night since his appetite has been off and on in hopes of settling his stomach, but I’m wondering if it made things worse?
Later this afternoon he once again scoffed when I attempted to give him his second tramadol of the day. Two hours later I was able to convince him to take it using a Kraft single. I think by that time he may have been in a little discomfort. I was hoping that wouldn’t happen, but ultimately I wasn’t too surprised given how off his medication schedule became. Thankfully, as of tomorrow he will be 10 days post surgery and will go off the rimadyl. While everything looks ok his behavior is ok all things considered, I plan to take him to our local vet just for a quick once over. I noticed this evening one of his sutures came untied. I doesn’t look like it will come out, but I also don’t want to risk a Sunday vet visit. We were originally planning to wait until the two week mark to have his sutures removed, but since he will be at 10 days tomorrow in theory, if we are lucky, they could come out. I’m not banking on that, but who knows? Sunny is on his tramadol through Wednesday and will continue on his t-pain for a while. We can also re-evaluate his pain medication again which will be helpful since I need a few replacement pills for today’s failed attempts. I think for the most part when we can stick to his medication schedule he does ok since he doesn’t really show any of the typical signs that he is in any pain or discomfort. For me though, at the end of the day if he is eating, drinking, eventually taking his meds, going to the bathroom and appears to be ok, I’m happy.
Last night we decided it was clear we would not keep Sunny on the hypericum. It is just too difficult to give him and honestly that negative experience could explain his behavior today. I read online today that you can try dissolving the pills in milk or heavy cream instead of water so maybe we will try that, but I’m not sure it is worth it. I’m also not convinced that will work since you are not supposed to mix it with food or give within 15 minutes of eating. I think right now with everything that is going on the less pills the better for both him and us.
Other than that its been a typical day for Sunny in that we did a little walking outside in the backyard and slept. We also worked on his physical therapy exercises at home. We are doing them on his nice new orthopedic bed that he has ignored in the hope that maybe he will use it. He wasn’t impressed.
Sunny working on his physical therapy with Pete.
I hope tomorrow goes better!
Oh yes, we discovered just how stubborn Murphy could be! C’mon now, Sunny, behave, would you? 🙂
Donna
I work with primates for my career and some of them can be extremely stubborn when it comes to meds, however he is giving them a serious run for their money.
We used to put Nitro’s pills in yogurt and shovel it down his throat.
Paula
That is on my list of things to try! Today we used pumpkin and cream cheese…
Biljac liver treats for small dogs worked for us. They stink. Really badly. But the dogs will take anything with them.
The other day he refused the liver treats at the physical therapist office. He apparently have very refined taste.
Well Mr Sunny! Never a dull moment with you! Isn’t it fun being a tripawd training your humans to be at your service 24/7? Add the CUTENESS factor.into the equation and they are putty in your hands…er….paws!
As far as stinky pills..and horribly tasting pills.like Tramadol, make.sure you don’t have their scent on your hands as you try.and hide it in their food. I got some stinky liverwurst…used tweezers to insert the pill…rolled.it up into a ball …tossed a couple of free pill balls first, tossed “the one”…gobble, gobble!!
You keep on keeping on sweet Sunny! You’re doing fpgreat 🙂
Hugs!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Good idea about trying not to handle the food and the pill. I’ve noticed he is smelling things that we offer him more and more and if he can detect anything, its a no go. I can’t believe I’m saying it, but I’m ready to go back to the office! 🙂