Giving your pet medication: never miss a dose

Published on 5 November 2026 · 4 min read · Lees in het Nederlands

Practical tips to keep up a course of medication for your dog, cat or rabbit: fixed times, hiding a tablet and what to do if you forget a dose.

Your vet prescribes a course: one tablet twice a day, for seven days. Sounds simple, until it’s day four, things are busy and you can’t remember whether you gave the morning dose. A few habits make it easy to keep going.

Tie it to a fixed moment

Give the medicine at a moment that already exists, such as your pet’s breakfast or the evening walk. Twice a day usually means about every 12 hours, for example 8 AM and 8 PM. Ask your vet whether it should be given with or without food.

Keep track of what you gave

This is where it goes wrong when several people live in the house: one thinks the other already did it. So tick off every dose, on a list on the fridge or in an app. Then everyone knows where things stand.

Hiding a tablet

Many dogs take a tablet in a piece of cheese, sausage or a special pill treat.
With cats a bit of wet food or paste sometimes works, but cats are picky. Ask your vet whether the tablet may be split or crushed; that is often not allowed.
If it doesn’t work, ask your vet to show you how to give a tablet directly. Pill givers exist too.

Forgot a dose?

Never give a double dose on your own to catch up. What is sensible depends on the medicine: sometimes you give it as soon as you notice, sometimes you skip it. If the leaflet doesn’t say, give your vet a quick call.

Finish the course

Feeling better after a few days? Don’t stop on your own, especially not with antibiotics. Finish the course as prescribed unless your vet says otherwise. If your pet has side effects, get in touch.

How Wagbook helps

In Wagbook you add the medicine with its dose and times, ongoing or as a course with an end date. You get a reminder at every time with ‘Given’ and ‘Later’ buttons. On Today you tick it off in one tap, and on the pet’s profile little blocks show which day of the course you’re on.

This article is general information, not veterinary advice. Always follow your vet’s instructions and the leaflet.

Never forget when the next time is

Wagbook remembers vaccinations, deworming, medication and weight for all your pets. Free, no account.

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