March 3, 2026
Since our dog Oliver started anti-seizure medication, we have needed to disguise his pills, so he will take them. He is given his medication three times a day. We have used cheese, but it has to be soft cheese. When we take the dogs with us, we want something that doesn’t need to be refrigerated.
We bought some pill pockets for traveling with the dogs. They work great, but it gets expensive. When I searched for a recipe and saw how simple it was, I had to try it.
Gather ingredients
1/3 to 1/2 cup oat flour
2/3 cup natural peanut butter- Make sure there is no Xylitol in it. This is harmful to dogs.
1-2 tablespoons water or chicken broth
Combine
Combine the oat flour and peanut butter. Add water or broth 1 tablespoon at a time. The mixture should feel like dough. Add more flour if sticky.
Forming pill pockets
I have seen recipes that have you put the pills in the pill pocket right away and freeze. i do not recommend it. medication can lose its effectiveness.
- Once you have a good non-sticky dough, you can start forming the pill pockets.
- Take small portions of dough and roll them in your palms.
- Make the pockets to the size of the pill your dog is taking.
- Use a baking sheet or I used a cutting board covered with a piece of wax paper to set the round dough on.
- Gently push the bottom down to make it flat.
- Use one of your dogs pills to make the pocket in the top.
- Once you see how big of a hole you need, you can use a wooden skewer to make the rest.
Storing the pill pockets
Once you have formed all the pill pockets, put them in the freezer to firm them up.
You can store them in the freezer. They can be stored in the refrigerator, as long as you don’t store them any longer than a week or so.
Your dog may like to just eat them frozen, as long as you make the pocket deep enough to hold the pill.
Using the pill pocket
When thawed, the pill pockets stay soft and pliable to completely enclose the pill. Oliver loves the pill pocket. It makes taking his medication a breeze.
Our dog Graham can smell the peanut butter, so he gets a little piece of the dough. I can’t leave him out!
Key take aways
- The store bought pill pocket is on the left, the homemade one on the right.
- Making your own takes very little time or cost.
- Store bought has 30 pockets per bag. I got 40 pockets out of my dough. I was generous in my size, so I could have easily gotten 50 pockets out of them.
- Minimal ingredients.
- I store a few in the fridge and leave the rest in the freezer.
- The dogs love them!
Kelly