When it comes to reducing stress, staff members at Alicia Pet Care Center (APCC) are used to going above and beyond for their patients. On top of offering “happy visits” for first-time guests, in which they shower anxious pups with cuddles and treats in the days leading up to a procedure, the California-based animal hospital is always willing to make any accommodations necessary.
That’s why, when a dog named Bandit refused to take his medicine during a weeklong stay, the team decided to look for different ways to convince him.
“He was very honest in his feedback of his disgust for medicine,” Diana Gorin, APCC’s social media marketing specialist, told The Dodo. “He simply would not take any.”
They reached out to his parents, who suggested using turkey sandwiches as a decoy.
“We specifically made a trip to Target to get him the necessary ingredients for an excellent turkey sandwich,” Gorin said.
But when they brought the sandwich to Bandit’s cage, he didn’t gobble it up as they’d hoped. Instead, he gently took the sandwich from their hands, placed it on his bed and laid his head on top of it.
The team tried again with different variations of turkey sandwiches, but they had no luck.
“We tried plain turkey sandwiches, peanut butter turkey sandwiches, peanut butter only,” Gorin said. “Unfortunately, none of those were to his satisfaction.”
The rejected sandwiches soon started piling up on Bandit’s bed — his preferred place to keep them. Before long, the stubborn pup had a mound of sandwiches on his cot, which he used as pillows.
You can watch the team give Bandit his sandwiches here:
And Bandit clearly knew what he was doing.
“It was the side eye at the end for me,” APCC commented on their video.
Determined to give Bandit his medicine, the team devised a new plan.
“Two of our doctors wrapped a pill up in a delicious meatball without him seeing,” Gorin said. “They presented it to him, and he ate it!”
For the rest of his stay at APCC, Bandit received his medicine in the form of a juicy meatball. Although they loved seeing the adorable pup rest his head on a stack of sandwiches, the team was relieved that he was finally taking his medication.
Bandit went home after a week, and, while his friends at APCC miss him, Gorin suspects that he’s doing great now.
“I believe Bandit is doing much better at home,” Gorin said. “Perhaps he’s opening up a deli called Bandit’s Turkey Sandwiches.”
The veterinary team hasn’t had to make any decoy sandwiches since Bandit’s stay, but they still have all the necessary supplies — and recipes — to help their next wary patient.