Cost Saving
Many people with small dogs, or multiple animals in the house, may want to buy a large dog chew and split it between their pint-sized pups. Maybe your dogs are different sizes, and it seems more affordable to buy one packet, rather than multiple? Or maybe you have one pooch, and want your pack to last twice as long?
It's easy to assume that if you have a small dog who weighs 5kg, you should be able to buy a tablet for a 10kg dog and halve it; especially if the medication dose seems to line up as an even double. However, manufacturers usually advise against this, except in certain circumstances. See below for more about this.
Easier Dosing
Perhaps you don't intend to divide the dose, but you just want to split a chew into smaller pieces so it is easier to give. Or maybe you want to crush a tablet into something palatable, such as wet food, so your pet will accept it.
In general, this is usually fine so long as you can guarantee your pet will receive the entire dose. However, there are certain circumstances where this is not advised.
An easy way to check is by looking at whether the medication is meant to be chewed or not - usually indicated by the word 'chewable' on the product packaging. A chewable medication will be crushed up by the time it reaches the stomach, whereas some pills or capsules may need to be given whole, with an intact outer membrane, to ensure that the medication is absorbed into the body appropriately.
Note - this only applies to parasite prevention. If you wish to crush another type of medication into food, such as pain relief or antibiotics, we recommend you check with your vet beforehand.
