Advice on taking medication

[Binki]

Sunday night my boy tried one of his kamikaze runs and got hurt. He could still run and there was no blood in his nose or mouth but he tried to hide, sure sign he was in pain. Afraid that he could have a broken rib or another non-obvious injury, I took him to the hideously expensive (five times the normal fee!!!!) emergency clinic. The vet did not find anything broken and recommended rest and a liquid anti-inflammatory which, judging by the price, must contain a substance mined in one of Jupiter's moons.

I woudl not begrudge the expense were not that the little rascal is point blank refusing to let the medication (to be administered with a dropper) close to his mouth. Read somewhere that a spoon could do the trick but only managed to spill £££££ on the fleece. Tried to smear it on bits on his favourite treats to no avail. He accepts rescue remedy smeared on dry apple peel but when I try the medicine he just clamps his jaws like an annoyed gharial.

I have tried to avoid wrapping him into a burrito because he is still sore. Would be most grateful for any advice short of calling on Crocodile Dundee to pry open those jaws... .

 

[Saffron]

I'm surprised the vet gave you a dropper instead of a syringe (no needle) which is what you really need. I would call a vet and ask if you could have/purchase one from them. If the vet can't supply one you may be able to get one from a pharmacy. Explain you need a syringe for a very small amount of oral medication. In my experience a one or two milliliter syringe (no needle) is best.
This is how I give medicine or critical care.
Once you have the medicine in the syringe have someone hold him while you gently insert the tip of the syringe into the side of his mouth behind the front teeth. There's a gap there you can get a syringe tip into. Had one chin who was very good at clamping her mouth shut so to see where to insert the tip I would lift the lip up a little bit. I've also had to hold her head still with one hand while getting the syringe tip into her mouth. She was very good at avoiding taking her meds.
Depending on the amount of medicine you can give him a part of it, let him swallow and then give the rest of it. If it's a very small amount you can give all at once.

 

[Binki]

Many thanks, Saffron. The medicine came with a syringe but since I was on my own, after I spilled the content using the syringe I tried with the dropper, with similar results. Hope he does not need to take medication any time soon but if, then I shall try the side of his mouth, because like your chin, he is good at clamping his jaws. Fortunately, it seems to have been little more than a big care (probably more mine than his) and after a week of rest he is his old self, eating like a horse and barking for attention at 3 a.m. And overall, enjoying the big playtime hide he got as a compensation for his ordeal; so he always wins.

 

[Lissy]

I had to give mine some meds in a syringe recently too. I didn't know what I was going to do since he doesn't like being held, expecting the same mess and problems you had. But my husband said "he likes to chew on plastic, so let him just chew on it a bit and when it's good in his mouth inject the meds at that moment." Thankfully it worked and I'm guessing the meds didn't taste bad because it worked the same way for the next two days.

If you try that and yours doesn't want to "chew" on the syringe, maybe rub a raisin on the tip so it smells and taste like something he wants in his mouth.

 

[ChinsForLife]

I had to give mine some meds in a syringe recently too. I didn't know what I was going to do since he doesn't like being held, expecting the same mess and problems you had. But my husband said "he likes to chew on plastic, so let him just chew on it a bit and when it's good in his mouth inject the meds at that moment." Thankfully it worked and I'm guessing the meds didn't taste bad because it worked the same way for the next two days.

If you try that and yours doesn't want to "chew" on the syringe, maybe rub a raisin on the tip so it smells and taste like something he wants in his mouth.

That's a great idea. If either of mine ever need to use critical care, I'll have to try that. I always try to keep a small stock of it.