? Suggestions for giving half a pill?

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shelaghc

shelaghc

Member Since 2017
I need to give Jester half of a pepcid pill tonight. I'm concerned about half of a hard pill hurting his throat.

Any suggestions on how to get it down easily?

My first thought was to crush it, mix it with water - or a small bit of food - and use a small plastic feeding syringe.

I'd appreciate input.

tia
 
Chris & China said:
You should get yourself a Pill Gun

Once you learn how to use them, you'll never regret having it around!! The one I linked you can also put water into as a "chaser"
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I actually wanted to get that one, but it's labelled as an "add on" only - Amazon won't let me buy it unless I'm already ordering $25 worth of stuff.

After the last session of pills for his UTI, I had planned to buy a pill gun - this one - but hadn't gotten around to it thus far.
Just placed the order - it'll cost twice as much because of shipping.
:-/

For now, @donnalea 's suggestion got me through tonight.
 
Chris & China said:
Hey, sign me up!!!!
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Sadly, it's through a local university. I just hope it lasts for a while. I get $60 every six months, plus extra when they send me occasional surveys.
I've been saving it all up until now. The credits have been coming in handy lately - particularly for the next time I need test strips.
 
$25 for a pill gun? That's not right, they're around $10 in Canadian money. Watch for wet pills getting stuck in the flaps at the end.
 
Noah & me said:
$25 for a pill gun? That's not right, they're around $10 in Canadian money. Watch for wet pills getting stuck in the flaps at the end.
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No - it's about $6, but so is the shipping. Unless I wanted to find another $20 worth of stuff. That was why I had waited in the first place. I was trying to find another $20 worth of stuff I needed to save the shipping costs.
 
You can get empty gel caps and put the partial pill in it. Get the mid to smaller sizes - you can break the pill up to fit the capsule. It's also helpful when you need to give a couple of small pills as you can put both into one capsule. They costs very little and you can get them from amazon.

Another possibility is pill pockets.
 
Pill pockets work wonders.
 

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Pepcid tastes terrible, especially when a partial pill is given since the ingredients are directly exposed and not protected by the coating on the pill. Thus, I would only give the Pepcid in a gel cap (which I do) or in a pill pocket or similar. I would not try directly administering the partial pill alone
 
I usually cut the half pill in half again and put the two small pieces in the pill gun. It works for us. Seems like two small pieces go down easier than one large for some reason. Or, give 1/4 quarter piece twice.
 
Be careful with pill pockets as they can be kind of carby. Just use enough to cover the pill. I had a disaster when I tried to give my boy half a tablet of pepcid during his p-flare :(. Poor baby was foaming everywhere and he panicked. So the pill must taste terrible to them as well.
 
Yong said:
Be careful with pill pockets as they can be kind of carby. Just use enough to cover the pill. I had a disaster when I tried to give my boy half a tablet of pepcid during his p-flare :(. Poor baby was foaming everywhere and he panicked. So the pill must taste terrible to them as well.
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Jester doesn't really like most treats so pill pockets aren't actually an option.

I thought I was being clever tonight and crushed his pill in water for a syringe. Unfortunately, he managed to spit most of it out. I didn't feel comfortable trying to give him more because I have no idea how much - if any - of the pill actually managed to get inside of him.

Tomorrow I'll just go for the old-fashioned way until I get the pill gun sometime later this week. While Jester is generally a very gentle boy, he absolutely can't stand these Pepcid pills and managed to get one claw caught painfully in my leg yesterday.....

I hate having to give him this kind of thing. He doesn't understand and there's no way to explain to him that this nasty tasting thing is to make him feel better.
 
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