Two topics in one so I don't start to clog up the wall.

So being the worried mommy that I am, after Missy stopped eating even her favorite people food I went and got an ultrasound done for her since her blood work came back clean as did two vets doing a full physical. The medication she was on for Lymes apparently did a number on her throat, stomach and intestinal tract. As my vet said it looks like there is 1 degree sun burn all over it, it doesn't look like infection, with the level of imflimation she would be much worse off than just not eating much and without a fever he could rule that one out. (On a side note shes cancer free yay!) Sad thing is while this is a pretty quick fix it takes a lot of medications. She takes one pill in some cheese no problem but the other I need to crush and turn into a paste then literally shoot down her throat. The goal is to coat her throat (which is raw) on the way down so the med's hit every area. Anyone have some tips on how to give this sorta thing to a dog. I was thinking MAYBE mixing it with warm goats milk since she loves that stuff and she might just drink it willingly. Though I would have to call my vet to see if it can mix with anything other than water and still do it's job. Any tips on how to hold her or her mouth open? The sweet thing doesn't make a sound, never growls or snaps just tries to fight to get away and I can't blame her.

And while she's sick right now and we know she's not feeling good we were worried about this being on top of some depression. She spends 99.9% of the day laying on the bottom of the bed. She will skip meals now and just come wandering down later at night to go to the bathroom then right back up. Rarely plays with the pup and just seems sad and down. IF this dosn't go away after she gets the all clear I wanted to know any tips on how to get her out of this funk? Anyone ever deal with a depressed fluff ball before? There have been a LOT of changes in the last 6 months. Beyond being very sick we got a new roommate and someone she really liked left, we got a new puppy, and now moved so I know all these things can trigger some depression in dogs.

Just some food for thought while I keep my fingers crossed the meds do their thing and I get my spaz back. On a side note she's eating again......but will only touch Beniful 'semi-moist' food packets which is just killing me on the inside...but shes eating at least......ughhh.

I don't have any suggestions on how to give her the crushed meds, that is a tough one. Hopefully she can do it with some sort of liquid.
As far as the depression what kind of medicine is she on? When ours had his cataract surgery he was on prednisone, and I swear that medicine had him so depressed. At first I thought it was the surgery itself, however it took like a good month of being off of it before he perked up again. If her whole tummy is messed up though, I'm sure that has a lot to do with her lack of energy and appetite. Hopefully that medicine starts working its magic on her!

You may try mixing it with peanut butter if she likes that. Creamy peanut butter will be easy on the throat and the taste should cover the taste of the meds. As for holding her, I stand over mine so the top of her head touches my chest and then I reach my hand up under her chin pinning her head between my hand and chest. You then use the fingers on the hand under her chin to put pressure at the corners of her mouth and she will open.

Jenn, that peanut butter is an excellent suggestion and is there a dog alive who doesn't love peanut butter?? The stickiness of the peanut butter would probably help the medicine adhere to her throat / esophagus as well.

On the other hand, I could picture trying to 'convince' Sasha that she needs to take a pill by trying to manipulate her - we're getting better about me and her mouth but I don't think that I'd push that limit. The only pills she's had to take were after I had her spayed and then hot dogs make lovely pill pockets! Oddly she ate a couple of plain pills right out of my hand ...

Another alternative to the peanut butter (which is also a good idea) is to use honey.  My boys love honey and it coats the throat, has antibacterial properties and human research has found it eases sore throat and cough as well as some medications.  You could also use honey and yogurt (with live cultures)  - the yogurt could help repopulate her gut with good bacteria after the antibiotics.