Giving a cat a pill...

[KatelynnsAuntie]

My cat was horrible and was hiding from us from the torture so my vet gave us a prescription that was made into a liquid gel and we rub it on the inside of his ear. I do not know if it is only certain meds that you can do this with (his is for his thyroid) but it has been a lifesaver.

Is that Tapazole? My oldest cat is on that, but we still give her the pills. She is super easy to pill though (she is 18 and so docile now in her old age).

 

[frostywolf]

OP here...thanks everyone. I guess I should clarify...physically I am able to give him the pill (not that way with all of my cats, but with him I can do it) I am just looking for something a little less traumatic...for both of us. I love the baby food and Laughing Cow idea...I am going to try those. Thanks!

That pill popper makes me nervous...I am afraid they'll choke on the pill or something. No?

Just check to make sure it's okay to crush the med you are giving. Some meds are designed to be taken whole so they are absorbed at a particular rate.

 

[kirstenb1]

We have never been able to give our cats pills. Our cat was on 3 types of medicine, and we asked the vet to write a scrip so the pharmacy could compound them into a liquid. Then we just used a syringe to squirt it in his mouth.

 

[PFlamingo]

Addition to "How to Pill a Cat"

I prefer the version that involves drinking a bottle of whiskey half way through.

How to Pill a Dog:

Wrap pill in cheese. Toss in the air.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Addition to "How to Pill a Cat"

I prefer the version that involves drinking a bottle of whiskey half way through.

How to Pill a Dog:

Wrap pill in cheese. Toss in the air.

Actually, my cat will eat a pill if it's wrapped in cheese or turkey, perhaps tuna.

What also works is sticking it in the middle of their wet/canned food--they usually fall for it, especially if they're really hungry and not paying attention

 

[pixiewings71]

Actually, my cat will eat a pill if it's wrapped in cheese or turkey, perhaps tuna.

What also works is sticking it in the middle of their wet/canned food--they usually fall for it, especially if they're really hungry and not paying attention

Nope, never worked...and now the same cat is on a certain type of wet food for the urinary issues. This is fine except she hates the food she's supposed to eat so she eats about 1/4 of the new can and then walks away. It's extremely frustrating....and no she doesn't get other food, we are very careful with that.

 

[pppiglet]

1. First we check to see if it's available in liquid - definately the easiest.
2. If capsule form we just open and sprinkle on a little bit of the wet food and once that food is gone give the rest of the can.
3. Pill popper would be my next choice. I've never had to go to step three though!

 

[beachlover9395]

My cat is 9 years old and takes two medicines daily - lysine for being exposed to feline herpes about 8 months ago (big eye problems!!!) and Cosequin for cats since he's getting older and is having some mild joint problems with jumping up and down. I crush up the lysine and open the capsules of Cosequin and mix both into about two tablespoons of Blue Buffalo Spa Select canned cat food. He wouldn't eat all of it when it was mixed in Purina canned food, but he almost inhales the Blue Buffalo, LOL. I'm so glad we found a canned food he'd eat. We tried giving him the pills daily, but it became so difficult to do. He totally looks forward to his daily "treat" and loves it so much.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

We had the pill popper and it didn't work for us. The pill actually would fall out before we were able to shoot it down her throat....so frustrating!

Thank God for the liquid, even though it was $50 compared to the pills at $20

 

[scrapquitler]

We have used the pill popper thing several times.

A tip on using it if you are nervous, which the vet used to teach me how to administer pills to our cat: practice using the pill popper by putting a piece of dry cat food into it (Science Diet happened to be the same size as the pills I was giving at the time). And definitely wrap the cat in a towel or a blanket, get a second person to help if possible.

 

[Mom3girls]

My cat was horrible and was hiding from us from the torture so my vet gave us a prescription that was made into a liquid gel and we rub it on the inside of his ear. I do not know if it is only certain meds that you can do this with (his is for his thyroid) but it has been a lifesaver.

We had the same medicine! My cat was on methizmazole (spelling???) for his thyroid and we had to rub it on the inside of his ear. DEFINITELY call your vet and inquire about this! MUCH easier than giving pills. I've tried that and then quickly switched to this.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Below is a picture of that device. I've also used one with our cats, and it does work well. I still had to do the maneuver mentioned here where I straddle the cat, put my left hand over its head, pull back the top jaw to open the mouth wide, and plop the pill way down the throat with the pill popper. The cat may still try to cough the pill up, but if you've plopped the pill down far enough the kitty will find it's just easier to swallow it instead.

Yep, that's what mine looks like. 17 years and I've never had to do it twice Kitty will be 18 in May