Medicines suck.
Don’t get me wrong: they’re very useful when disease and injury occur.
But medicine is too much of a bother for most people, I think. It’s only
with the threat of the Reaper’s imminent arrival that people grudging follow
the advice and council of trained medical professionals. I failed to
understand why more thought hasn’t gone into making medicines more attractive
and, let’s be candid, fun. I mean, there’s no reason that medication has to
make you miserable to work (baring chemo).
As unfun as medicines are for people, pets are doubled bothered by them.
As pet owners (and amateur nurses), we have a difficult time making
our unwilling patients understand the necessity of the treatment. Animals, it
seems, are far more willing to suffer pain and discomfort than take a chance
on foul-tasting pills (it was hard enough to convince me to swallow
pills and I understood the instructions!) or strange, unnatural smelling
liquids. Given that medicines aren’t attractive one’s pet, how far should one
force the issue of delivering medication? Most of us are strong enough to
overpower our animals, but that seems an especially cruel betrayal since
the animal will in no way associate your assaults with his improved health.
One can try pleading, but that will be utterly futile. That leaves
deception. Unfortunately for me, I’m not crafty enough to make medicine
not taste like medicine (I have a hard enough time making chicken not taste
like medicine).
How do you administer to an unwilling pet?