New Dog Owner Desperately Needing Advice on Caring for an Injured Dog

[lactationlady]

The short version of our story - We adopted a dog on Sunday from a family moving out of state. On Monday evening he bolted when dh opened the front door. He ran into the street and was hit by a car. He has multiple lacerations which needed stitches and he dislocated a hip. They popped it back into the socket, but weren't able to sling it because of a bad laceration on that leg. We are to keep him confined to his crate for 4-6 weeks, only carrying him outside to potty. He is supposed to take pain meds (tramadol) every 12 hours and antiobiotics every 12 hours. Thus far we have not been able to get any of the meds into him. He finally ate a little this evening and peed for the first time.

My questions are:

1. If I can't get the pain meds into him, how can I keep him comfortable? He trembles alot and I think he is in pain. We have tried hiding the pill in peanut butter and in a spoonful of wet dog food. We also tried prying his mouth open to get the pill in but he snaps at us.

2. Is there anything natural that I can put on the lacerations to help them heal quickly?

3. We barely got to know him before he got hurt. I am afraid he is going to have a hard time bonding with us. He is already fearful of dh, who caught him after he was hit by the car. What can we do to make sure he bonds with us. We can't play with him or anything right now. Just pet him.

[Kirsten]

Oh, what a crummy situation - I'm sorry... What kind of dog? Can the vet give him a pain shot? Can you chop the pain pill up into smaller pieces and put them in the food so it is harder for him to pick it out?

[lactationlady]

He is a mutt. Looks like chihuahua/ dachsund maybe. The vet initially gave him a shot of morphine and then he was under general anesthesia while the stitched him up and popped the hip back into the socket, but we can't keep taking him in for shots. Wish we could! We had tried crushing the pill and putting it in his food, but he can tell it's there and eat around the portion with the pill in it.

[2xand2y]

I always hide doggie pills in cheese.

[waterproofmascara]

Sorry your guy got hurt. I ran over our first bloodhound puppy the afternoon we got him (he was hiding under the truck by the barn- I forgot we even had him- really sad accident). He spent the next couple of days at the vet (who put B.H. on his pen b/c we hadn't even named him yet and B.H. became his name). He quickly forgave me and bonded with us after we finally got him home.

As for giving the medicine- My little runty rat terrier gets her daily seizure medicine in a Slim Jim. (The people in my home don't eat them; the vet recommended that I do it that way.) I just tear off a small piece and put the medicine inside. She has gone from hiding when I got up in the morning to running to me when she hears her pill bottle rattle. I guess the stinky smell hides the smell of the medicine.

[Peony]

I also use cheese, pepperoni folded into a "pocket" with the pill in the middle has also worked. We had one dog that would only take it in a piece of hot dog with the middle hollowed out and the pill in the middle. I know I've used deli meat as well in a pinch.

[lifeguard]

Poor pup.

Lots of love & pets - you'll bond.

We usually give pills in a piece of cheese (those horrid cheese slices work well 'cause you can fold it up around the pill). I've also had luck pushing it into the side of her mouth with my fingers.

[lactationlady]

He wouldn't take the cheese, but the slim jim worked! Thanks so much. He wagged his tail when the kids came in to pet him before bed. Hopefully that is a good sign.

[Kirsten]

Yay for slim jims!! Glad it worked.

[MysteryMama]

When I was a teenager our beloved dog was hit by a car and in so much pain he didn't move from one spot to eat, drink or pee for 2 days. I was sure he was going to die. I decided to blow a lot of pot smoke in his face to help with the discomfort. It worked! At first he was moving his head from the smoke because obviously he wasn't used to it and probably didn't want to be bothered. But probably only about 5 minutes later he actually got up, limped to the water bowl (cotton mouth? lol) and went outside to pee. He came back in and sat on the floor next to me for quite awhile before retiring to his spot again. I continued giving him the "medical marijuana treatment" for several days, maybe longer. Till he started acting like his old self again for the most part. It REALLY helped. Before that, I was sure he had given up and was going to die.

[Ola_]

I hope your pup is doing well! One technique that often works with pills is to do the 3 pill trick. Prepare 3 pieces of the treat (cubes of cheese or pepperoni work well): #1 and #3 with nothing in it, #2 with the pill hidden inside it (I usually cut a slit and stick it inside). Show pup treat #1, get him excited for it and give it to him. Then show him treats #2 and 3 - give him #2 (with pill in it) while holding treat #3 in front of his nose. Most dogs will swallow the pilled piece in anticipation of getting the third one.

Another thing that worked suprisingly well for us is hummus - the more sticky the better (the stickyness gets the dog to lick more, causing them to swallow the pill in the process). This works really well for our dog when she's dealing with allergies and needs to take many, many med and supplement pills each day. I just scoop some hummus with a spoon, stick the pill in the middle of it, and hand to dog.