It was exactly one month after the veterinary appointment that diagnosed him with CCD—Canine Cognitive Dysfunction—when my dog spit out the string cheese in which I’d been hiding his medication since the day we came home from the vet. I was gobstopped.
He HAD to take the meds … without fail! The meds were working! He was so much better!
Again, there’s no cure for dog dementia. You work with a trusted veterinary team and you manage it. You keep your dog safe and you adjust. A month in, I was happy to see my dog adjusting, probably better than I was. The meds were critical.
That night, I “adjusted” very quickly to what was my dog’s sudden decision: “String cheese, YUCK.” I had to get those meds into him and I wasn’t prepared to “pill” him by forcing his mouth open and sticking the pills down his throat. Not since he’d already demonstrated, in the previous month, that his formerly excellent bite inhibition had become a thing of the past.
I was lucky: I had hamburger.
That was rare in our household, meat in the refrigerator, but good timing for me … and for my dog. Pills are easier to “hide” in raw hamburger than they are in string cheese; burger sticks together better. My dog’s eager acceptance of the burger with the pills inside spoke loudly to my luck—pills down the hatch, no complaints. I was elated!
It was a temporary triumph … there’s no lasting change with this condition. He’s still taking his meds in hamburger at this writing, although I’ve experimented with some other possibilities because I realized clearly the next day: it wasn’t just the string cheese. He was going “off his feed.”
Photo by Val Hughes
My dog has always been an excellent eater. I can’t remember even one time he’s left food in the bowl … until the day after he refused the string cheese. I’d been transitioning him to the new “brain” food that our veterinarian recommended, adding it in increasing amounts to the kibble he’d been eating for over three years. His meal was about 80% new (brain) food. If he had not turned his nose up (literally!) at string cheese, I would have suspected that he didn’t like the new food.
I’d read that confusion about meals was a symptom seen in many dogs with CCD. Dogs forgot they’d eaten, for example, then begged for a meal. I decided to wait a few days to see what my dog might do next about his meals. Several times, he walked away from a half-eaten meal, then finished it later.
I wondered if the meds might have changed his sense of taste somewhat (which can happen to humans on similar meds, I understand). Was his kibble—combined former and brain food—tasting funny to him? Was that perhaps happening only certain times during the day?
But he was just as enthusiastic as ever about his favorite treats … and human food!
He liked the “tube” food from the grocery store that I’d thought might work to hide meds, but I couldn’t use as it didn’t stick together well. I made it into tiny cubes in an ice cube tray, covering it lightly with water, then freezing it. He’d eat those cubes as treats. When he slowed down at eating the meal in his bowl, I tried that same tube food, unfrozen, in pieces dropped into his soaked kibble, which resulted in some completely eaten meals. It was apparently not ALL dog-edible food that tasted “funny” to him!
I made an executive decision: My dog is going to eat his meals.
I decided to experiment with other “additions” to the former kibble and the new “brain food” to see what worked for him. I bought more tube food at the regular grocery store, then went online to see what I might find that would work for meals and maybe even for med-hiding. I ordered. I cooked some hamburger, without seasoning. I got out some salmon skin treats he’s always loved. I tried everything I had, several “additions” at a time, hoping to hit on a high level of good nutrition, while he ended up finishing every bowlful of food, every day—so far, so good! My dog is eating his meals … now.
I’m doing my best to keep that happening.
For pill-hiding, I’d like to suggest that, if the size of the pill is an issue, ask your veterinarian or pharmacist if the same medication in the same dosage might be available in a different size. I’d like to add that, when we were discussing pilling, my veterinarian said that his go-to is peanut butter.
Remember that anything your dog is going to eat must be safe for him. For example, with peanut butter, make absolutely certain that the specific product you buy contains no Xylitol (it’s poison to dogs). That turned out to be true, too, for melatonin—ask a pharmacist about no Xylitol!
I’ll be back soon with updates on how my dog and I are doing.
Thanks again so much to all of you for your interest and support!
