There's a statistic out there that only about 20–30% of veterinary clients give the medications we prescribe.

This sounds pretty bad doesn't it – 70–80% of patients don't get the medications prescribed. But perhaps it's not so bad when we consider that around 50% of people don't take the treatments prescribed for their own chronic diseases. We humans just aren't so good with medications – either taking or giving.

There are lots of reasons for this. Some of them relate to human factors (eg misunderstanding, poor labelling, confusion, forgetfulness, cost). When it comes to the veterinary side of things, it often comes down to animals just being plain difficult to medicate. And when things are too hard, we give up.

My own (very sweet) dog Esme was a perfect example of a hard to treat pet. Maybe, just maybe, I could get some liquid medication in, but pills? Forget it. Even the so called palatable ones. I went to the ends of the earth disguising them. Sausages cut into piece with tiny fragments of pills hidden in the centre worked for a while, but on the whole, it was a failure. And any efforts to actually put them down her throat ended with both of us panting in opposite corners of the room, our trust relationship a little bit dented... and the pill lying on the floor. And I'm a vet who gives medication to other people's pets every day.

So if you tell me you can't get pills into your pet, I get it. No judgement.

Now there are plenty of times that your pet's natural healing abilities are all that's needed. In other situations, medication is really, really necessary to get better. But we always have to keep in mind that we're treating an individual being, not a disease. And the treatment should never be a bigger burden than the disease itself – to your pet or to you either.

It's really important that we work together and we're that we're realistic about what we can do (remembering that just because we can, doesn't always mean we should do something). If tablets are a no go, maybe we have a liquid or a paste (or can have one compounded), or we can do long-acting injections. Or instead of the five different drugs that are textbook ideal, perhaps we choose the one or two that will make the most difference. Horses for courses. We can be creative.

And if you elect not to treat, that's okay too.