We are going to walk you through making a homemade pill pocket for your pet. This is one of the easiest ways to get your beloved pet to take pills. If you do it right, they never even know you have hoodwinked them into taking their meds. “Pilling the Pet” can be frustrating and sometimes painful for the piller if the pillie is not cooperative. Here is where the pill pocket comes in handy. I am sure you have seen pill pockets at the pet stores. Normally pet store pill pockets are expensive. And we are not really sure what they are made of, they do look like plastic, pig in a blanket wraps. I am sure, well not really, that they are not made of plastic. But you can make your own, natural, pill pockets right in your own kitchen. Pill pockets are surprisingly simple to make and only require 4 ingredients. I will admit, when we make them, they do not usually come out looking like pockets when we are done. Our homemade pill pockets tend to look like donuts but they work.

homemade pill pockets you will need:

1Tablespoons peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)

1 Tablespoon of oats (we used quick oats but plain will do)

1Tablespoons milk or water

2Tablespoons flour

This will make between 8 and 10 pill pockets depending on how big you roll them.

If you need a large number of pill pockets you can make a larger batch :

1 cup of peanut butter

1 cup of oats

1 cup of flour

1 cup of milk or water

This will make around 30 pockets depending on the size you make them.

In a bowl, mix your 4 ingredients.

It is best to mix the flour and oats first.

Then add the milk or water and mix.

Then add the peanut butter to the somewhat mushy mixture.

Mix well. You can mix with a spoon or with a mixer. If you have the kids around, they like to mix with their hands.

If the mix is too mushy add a bit more flour. If it is too dry, add a bit more milk or water.

It works best if you give the mix a little fridge time to set up. This keeps the mix from being so sticky. Form into balls. You may need to put it back into the fridge from time to time to make it easier to handle. If you are making the small-batch, this is not so much an issue but for the larger batch, it will need to be in the fridge some.

Roll a small amount into a ball. You can gauge the size of your pill pocket to the size of the pill and the pet you are making them for.

Put a hole into the ball, not quite all the way through. This leaves the top open to insert the pill. We tried several ways to do this, an ice pick, a straw, and a pencil. We found a blunt-ended pencil to be the easiest way to put the hole in the ball. The pencil was also much easier to clean after. Note, it is almost impossible to get peanut butter out of a reusable silicon or metal straw.

Once you have finished the holes, put the pill pockets into the freezer. They will keep in the fridge but of course, not as long as in the freezer. If your pet does not like them frozen, just take one out of the freezer 10 minutes before you need it. If you leave it out too long, it will get sticky.

There you have made your own pet pill pockets. You are one step closer to easily pilling your pet. These can be used on dogs and cats but some cats do not like peanut butter.

If you have a pet that is lactose intolerant, omit the milk and use water. If your pet is on a gluten-free diet, you can omit the flour and oat for arrowroot powder, or rice flour, or one of those other gluten-free flour substitutes. Sorry but I am not very familiar with gluten-free.

You can add fruits or veg to your pill pocket if you have a vegan pet. It is best to use well-cooked, almost mushy veg and very ripe fruits so the added content just mixes in with the peanut butter to add flavor.

When you are ready to “pill the pet” just take a pill pocket out of the freezer, let it thaw a bit if needed.

Put the pill in question into the open hole in the pocket.

Gently squeeze the top closed as to cover the pill.

We find it best, when “pilling the pet” to give the pet a treat or 2 to throw them off. This way they do not suspect the pocket treat.

Give the pet the pocket with the pill in it just like a regular treat and act as if there is nothing different about it. If you react differently, your pet will suspect something is up and may eject the pocket treat. Most of our dogs do not even wait to see if the treat is suspect, they just love peanut butter and are willing to take the risk.

Cats can be tricky when it comes to “pilling the pet”. Cats usually suspect everything. If you have a cat like this, it may do better to just put the pocket with the pill in their regular food and pretend you know nothing about it. You may get away with that.

So far, we have had very good luck with “pilling the pet” this way. Our dogs will eat almost anything anyway. And if you give one cat something that the other cats think is special, they will generally try to steal it. If you think ahead and you are quick, you may get more than one cat “pilled” before they catch on. Hope this is helpful to you and your “pet pilling” trials. Make up a batch of pill pockets for yourself and see how easy it is and how easy it can make the “pilling” experience at your house.

A side note:  all the ingredients for these pill pockets are human grade.  So if someone comes by and does not realize they are for the pets and eats some, that is ok.  I was told, these little cookie balls are very tasty, as we had that happen.

Thank you for visiting and please come again for another edition of Out Standing in the Field.