5 Best Dog Pill Pocket Treats and Pouches in 2020
Some dogs are so food driven that you can hide a pill in anything and they’ll gobble it up, but not all dogs are this way. It can be difficult to get certain dogs to take their medicine but good dog pill pocket treats that smell enticing can help with the most finicky pets.
Pill pocket treats are exactly what they sound like: small treats in the shape of a little pocket that you can easily hide a pill or capsule in. They come in a variety of sizes for different medications that you need to conceal.
As with any dog treats, you need to be careful of the pill pockets that you select for a dog. Not all dog pocket treats are created equal, so be sure that you’re buying those that are low in calories and healthy, potentially with some nutritional value. For this article, we tried and ranked the best dog pill pocket treats review.
Do Pill Pockets Work for Dogs?
The short answer, yes they do. In my personal experience, even at a young age my dog would avoid taking her meds unless I used a pill pocket. Most dogs will refuse to eat anything that smells unusual to them. Pill pockets have been very effective for my puppy.
How to Use Pill Pocket Dog Treats?
The process is very simple and self-explanatory.
- Drop your dog’s medicine into a single pill pocket treat.
- Pinch the top of the treat so it closes, if using Greenies (or both sides if using different pill pockets).
- Feed the treat to your dog – they won’t sense anything suspicious.
Pill pockets are advantageous over hiding dog meds in human foods because they’re lower in calories and generally healthier. Some brands like Greenies are vet recommended and designed by veterinarians. They work for dogs of any breed, age or size.
For more tips on how to give a dog medicine, take a look at this guide. It contains tips and tricks on giving dogs medication without the use of pill pockets, but it’s usually much harder. If you’d rather use treats, below are the five best dog pill pockets that we like.
The Best Dog Pill Pocket Treats
1Greenies Pill Pocket Soft Dog Treats
Greenies Pill Pocket Soft Dog Treats contain all-natural ingredients, and it’s the most popular brand right now. The pill pocket are low-calorie and make it extremely easy to hide the taste and smell of med tablets, capsules, and liquid medicine.
The treats are available in Chicken, Hickory Smoke, Duck & Pea, and Peanut Butter flavors that canines love. A 15.8-oz pack contains 60 counts of pill pockets in capsule size. This is such a practical solution that pet owners wonder what’s taken them so long to discover it. Pets that don’t take medicines too well are now able to take it peacefully and without the mess and stress that usually went with every dose. Plus, Greenies Pill Pocket Soft Dog Treats are easy to use. They appeal not only to pets, but also to pet owners who now have less resistance to deal with every time a medicine has to be given.
Compared to some of the other best dog pill pocket treats which had been the standard mask for medicines, pet owners prefer using these US-made pill pockets because they’re low-calorie and have a simple formulation. As such, they’re less likely to cause complications to dogs with kidney problems, diabetes or other disorders that could be aggravated by the complex ingredients of most treats.
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2Milk-Bone Pill Pouches Dog Treats
These pill pocket dog treats from Milk-Bone are similar to Greenies, and make medication dispensing really straightforward, effective, delicious and affordable. Milk-Bone offers these dog pill pouches in flavors of Real Chicken and Hickory Smoked Bacon.
Each pill pouch has a soft, non-greasy texture that doesn’t crumble or flake off. It is deep enough to accommodate large capsules or a few pills in a single pouch without leaving any mess. All these properties help to obscure the smell and taste of medicines. The treats are made from pure organic ingredients and contain only 19 calories per pouch.
Pet owners, whose dogs are on daily medication, find these soft chunky treats to be very convenient in dispensing pills. Giving dogs 8-10 pills a day is not a joke, so wrapping meds in sheer deliciousness simplifies a rather tedious task. Aside from that, Milk-Bone Pill Pouches Dog Treats are also very economical because they can be broken in half or into smaller portions to make supplies last longer.
With the Milk-Bone Pill Pouches, pet owners are happy that their dog’s medical needs are addressed properly through a very dog-friendly way. Keeping their dog healthy counts a lot to pet owners, but keeping their pet happy and stress-free is also top on the list. So they can’t say enough how grateful they are that these pill pocket dog treats make it possible for them to attain both.
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3Zoe Pill Pops Dog Treats
When your fussy dog doesn’t like taking pills, forcing each pill down his throat can be stressful and downright dangerous. Zoe Pill Pops are some of the best pet pill pocket treats and they should do the trick.
They come individually wrapped in two’s to maintain freshness, and can be halved to hold four pills at a time or broken into smaller portions as needed – perfect for dogs with a lot of meds to take. Zoe Pill Pops is formulated with 100% natural ingredients and none of those harmful preservatives or artificial flavors.
They’re available in flavors of Roasted Chicken with Rosemary, Peanut Butter with Honey, Grilled Beef with Ginger, Grilled Cheese & Bacon, and many more. Zoe Pill Pops Dog Treats has earned the approval of pet owners for various reasons. First, dogs find its smell and flavor irresistible. It disguises medicines deliciously, which is to say that it is very effective. Second, it’s very supple and moldable. It doesn’t crumble when cut and molded into smaller bits for smaller pills.
Some pet owners find the double-pill packing inconvenient, but most buyers actually consider this as advantageous to them. The way it’s packed makes it stay fresher longer, because you need not open the entire bunch all at once. What others consider as a nuisance is a non-issue for the majority who give more importance to extending the shelf life of these pill pockets.
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4Vet Works Bacon Flavored Pill Treats
These bacon-flavored pill treats from Vet Works come in a double-pack of 30 pill pockets per pack. This is a product of the USA and is made of natural ingredients like corn syrup, molasses, poultry liver, tapioca, and whey.
Each bag is vacuum-packed to remove air and preserve freshness longer. To use, allow this flavorful treat to soften at room temperature. Then wrap it around the pill. They conceal just about any size of tablet or capsule. Pet owners think of this as a pill concealer, but pets only see it as a treat.
Vet Works Bacon Flavored Pill Treats smells just like any bacon-flavored treat, and pets find that so irresistible. According to pet owners, this thing worked great on their fussy pets. Their dogs did not experience diarrhea or any other side effects from these pill pocket treats for dogs. A single piece goes a long way, especially when split into halves or broken down into small pieces.
Initially, the pill pockets would look and feel stiff straight from the pack. Pet owners recommend that a pocket be first exposed to air for a few minutes. It will then turn into a squishy wrap that molds around whatever shape and size of medicine is to be given to the dog. The double-pack is great for extending the product’s shelf life.
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5Tomlyn Pill-Masker Paste for Dogs
This is the only one among our top five best dog pill pocket treats, pouches and maskers list that does not come in pocket or pouch form. Instead, this product from Tomlyn is paste-like.
These treats are moist, tasty, and made of easily moldable paste which is designed to mask any shape or size of pill. The Pill-Masker is available in a tasty and delectable bacon flavor that pets love. It can also be used as a treat when training dogs.
The best thing about this pill masker is that you get to coat each pill according to your preferred amount or thickness, unlike pouches which come in predetermined shape, thickness and size. With Tomlyn’s Pill-Masker Paste for Dogs, dispensing pills has become a cinch for pet owners. For the not-so-picky pets, a thin coating usually suffices which allows supplies to go a long way. This is true for pets that swallow their treats right away without chewing so much. More finicky pets may require thicker maskers to obscure the taste and smell of medicines.
The Pill-Masker’s smell comes a bit strong for some pet owners, but overall buyers approve of it saying that it’s a masker in the first place. A quick washing with soap and water washes the smell off their hands, and pet owners don’t really think of this as bothersome. Their pets’ acceptance of the product, the product’s efficacy, and its affordability are what matter most to them.
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