targeted meds
8 Months + 6 days, Post-Spleen Rupture/Splenectomy
When your dog has cancer, your daily routine can start to feel like that time-worn “pill-administation-movie-scene” in old hospitals where the patients line up while nurses cram the meds down their throats in giant pill cups, as the patients then stick out their tongues & go “ahhhh” to verify the successful swallowing of said pills.
So I tried to be stealthy.
At first, I went the classic route: Hiding pills in treats. Easy enough. But as the number of doctor-recommended supplements piled up, things got trickier. Cattie got wise to each method, leading me to constantly pivot. What worked on Monday wouldn’t fly by Thursday (although some of the pills might fly, if spat with enough disgust-inspired momentum).
Even worse, within 3 months, we were up to 36 pills/capsules a day. Was I really going to disguise each of the meds in an array of 36 irresistible cookie-treats?? That is not a doggie drug regimen — that’s a charcuterie board.
Given the volume, I knew I’d have to start packing a lot of pills into single servings — so I tried fitting the morning & evening allocations into my newest invention: canine canapes. ✳️ Note: I never administer any prescription medications with other meds since each needs to be administered precisely, & ingestion must be confirmed — though, for dogs, I do not require the sticky-outy-tongue & mouth going “ahhh.” ✳️
This is about how the appetizer approach went:
…Peanut butter on a keto cookie. “Suspicious,” Cattie sneered 9 days later.
…Cheddar on beef jerky? “Nice try,” she scoffed after a week.
…Provolone rolled in ham? “3 days ago, I’d say the devil himself couldn’t keep me from ham. But congratulations, Mom. You’ve managed to make me hate ham,” she said, staring me down with contempt, as the ham — deftly separated from the pill upon entering & exiting her mouth — now lay on the floor beside the bitter nugget of betrayal.
No matter what I tried, each time, she’d eventually catch on. Worse: the pace with which she’d see through the charade was getting speedier each time. I was continually reworking my plans — somehow thinking I could outsmart the most intelligent — AND PICKIEST — dog I’ve ever known.
➡️ I will add this one exception to all rules — & this has never changed: Unless you have the most amazingly chill, eat-whatever-given dog ever, they’re going to hate Yunnan Baiyao. Thus, the capsules must be given one at a time & in something deliciously distracting (i.e. stinky in a way that dogs appreciate). I don’t blame them. The YB smells terrible to me, too. It’s reminiscent of pickled ginger…if pickled ginger took steroids. Seriously, if I fainted, I’m confident someone could wake me up with a sniff of Yunnan Baiyao before trying smelling salts. …Which is all to say: This supplement is a whole different animal. For more, see my in-depth article on Yunnan Baiyao and its partner, the little red pill.
Leveling Up
The bulk of Cattie’s pills have to be given twice a day — morning & evening — and because the dosing varies, I started organizing each allotment into little spice jars — once a week, sitting down to divvy up the meds into the jars (again, not including prescription meds).
Now, I will say this: I am well aware that some people strongly caution against “poisoning” your dog’s food with pills, meds, and supplements. And I get it — cancer dogs must eat — so you can’t risk turning them off to food.
If the pain-in-the-a$$-pill-popping escalated, I knew her happiness would have to take precedence, so I’d be forced to pare down significantly on the supplements.
However, I wasn’t ready to give up until I’d tried the food-mixing method. But how?? I knew I couldn’t just toss the pills in there. Cattie would pick out every single one of them and spit them on the floor. No doubt about it.
So…Operation Pill Administration Plan B, Method 1:
My idea was to add water to the jars, let the meds dissolve, then stir the slurry into her dinner.
I attempted this but found that some pills took a day to dissolve, and the “I’m Yunity” capsules never quite did. I then began pulling those capsules apart (4 in each dose — 8 per day) & emptying their content into the jars.
Shockingly, with the liquified mixture, she still ate her dinner with relish — didn’t appear to be fazed at all (current diet: homemade food and Sundays human-grade kibble). The method failed, though, because it was a mess. The I’m Yunity mushroom powder is ridiculously sticky, so I was wasting too much of this mushroom-gold (it seriously could be worth more than its weight in gold 👑). Oh well…
Plan B, Method 2:
Rather than add water, I’d pulverize it all into a fine powder & mix it in. I bought a small coffee grinder (this Procter Silex — just $18), and before each meal, I’d dump one jar’s worth of pills into it, grind them up, and this time, decided to mix the powder into just a portion of Cat’s wet food — only enough to mask the taste, but not so much that it ruined the whole meal. THIS APPROACH WORKED BEAUTIFULLY!
After that, things got easier — and what’s even better: It has remained consistent. She gets a few pills wrapped in special treats in the morning, at lunch, and before bedtime, but the bulk goes into small portions of her breakfast and dinner. And months later, she’s still eating it all without protest.
Coffee grinder for the win!
AMEN! 🙏🏼 🙌 🥳 🎉
Important Note:
I did run this technique by her primary oncologist and was told “Do whatever works! If you can actually get 36 pills and supplements into a dog per day without the dog resenting you or refusing to eat — then go for it!”
Carrie Stewart is a journalist and award-winning TV producer-turned-advocate for canine cancer awareness after working night and day for months on end to help her German Shepherd foster-fail/rescue pup, Cat the Dog, head off hemangiosarcoma for as long as she possibly can. 
