That could work too.
1 Like
First:
Get yourself a really thick beach towel
Second:
Wrap the cat in it so only the head is sticking out
Third:
Use a Pet Pill Syringe
Fourth:
While running backwards, shake cat out of towel.
1 Like
One of my cats LOVES LOVES LOVES the little amoxicillin drops. She’ll lap that grody stuff up like it’s gravy.
3 Likes
One of our cats gets daily thyroid pills, which I mush into a soft treat, and the cat just eats it. Sometimes it takes two tries. Been doing it that way for years. Liquid meds with a syringe is a totally different story, though.
2 Likes
- Trap the cat in a room with a tile floor. Less getaway purchase on tile than carpet.
- Kneel on the floor. Kneeling on a rolled towel is okay if you have bony knees like me.
- Hold the pill in your dominant hand and use that arm to sweep the cat between your knees, facing forward.
- With the other hand (as in the video) come up behind the head and grasp the upper jaw with thumb and fingers.
- Tilt the head back to open the mouth. Use the pill hand to pull down the lower jaw a bit and poot the pill onto the back of the tongue.
- Hold the poor critter’s mouth closed until you get a swallow.
- Release the cat but watch for a bit to see if the pill is spit out.
I prefer pills to liquids since pills are (mostly) a binary event; it’s in or it’s not. Some cats are good at drooling out liquids. Also, I worry about squirting a liquid medicine down the trachea.
Tried Greenies, tried the pill poppers. Just going in “commando” had a higher success rate and less angst for both of us.
Eventually it gets easier (but never easy) once the cat understands that it’s just a brief trauma. Better “oh no, not this again you crazy hoomin” than “whatareyoudoing whatareyoudoing whatareyoudoing ahhhhhh!”
5 Likes
Yup. My mom’s cat won’t shut up if she even thinks you’re headed to the medicine cabinet.
4 Likes
It does work, but it takes two people. And the person holding the cat may need to wear falconning gloves, or, in a pinch, leather grill gloves. Depending on the cat.
2 Likes
Yeah, cats have a few hamster genes in there somewhere.
3 Likes
I have a lot of experience giving cats pills and medication – small pills, big pills, liquid, subcutaneous. You name it, I’ve probably done it. Sometimes Pill Pockets or special flavor goo that you can wrap the pill in will work (pro tip: if you have a cat you think will need medication, try to give them Pill Pockets in advance as a treat so they get used to them). Most of the time I’m not that lucky.
I’ve never tried the method in the video, but I can certainly see that working fine – the key is to work fast and with confidence. If you mess around, you’ll probably get bit or the cat will spit out the pill and you’ll need to start over again. It’s no fun.
I’ve found the best way to give pills are to get a pill injector from the vet (it’s sort of like a hypodermic needle with a rubber tip to hold the pill in place). Pill injectors come in different sizes. I prefer the larger tip ones, personally. The smaller ones will hold the pill better, but there’s also an increased risk of the pill getting stuck which is the last thing you want. Put the cat on their back (if they are amenable to that), open their mouths by pressing in near the back of their lips with your fingers, quickly put the injector in their mouth and pop the pill down their throat. It helps to have a helper to hold the cat while you do the pilling, but it can work solo as well. I’ve found this works about 90% of the time. Afterward give the cat a treat or two for being a good sport (and it will help to make sure they swallow the pill as well).
As I’ve mentioned before, confidence and speed are key.
If a medication is very challenging to give (sometimes they just taste awful, cause foaming, or the pills are really large), consider having the medication compounded. Your vet should be able to recommend a compounding pharmacy that can do it in a chicken or fish flavor. Compounding isn’t cheap but it can be worth it for something you know you’ll be administering for a while.
(ETA: Didn’t mean to reply specifically to @anon81034786… stupid Discourse.)
6 Likes
One of my cats freaking loves Petromalt and will eat it right from the tube. The other cat is absolutely repulsed by it and refuses to eat it. You just need to pick your battles, I guess.
4 Likes
Yes, this is the right method. Then maybe your cat learns to hide the pill under her tongue and wait until you leave to spit it out. Or figures out what time of day is medicine time and hides then.
My own cat is remarkably easy going about almost everything. In general, she wants us to treat her like a dog. But pills? No method is reliable.
The trick is to hold her mouth closed and blow on her nose. That triggers an automatic swallow response.
3 Likes
Never heard the nose bit, that’s interesting. We’d hold the mouth closed for a good 10 seconds or so, by itself that wasn’t enough.
2 Likes
Currently one of my cats requires a drop in the eye twice a day, liquid medicine twice a day, and ointment in the eye every other day. My solution? Let my partner do it. It works great!
7 Likes
In my one-cat experience, this is the correct method. On the other hand, it is also the method that allowed me to experience a cat fang buried to the gumline in my thumb. Ow.
Yes!
I’ve been giving the dog treats that could contain a pill (like raspberries) on a regular basis since she was a pup.
So, when an actual pill comes along (rare since she’s still youngish), it’s down the throat and halfway to the, um, tail before she has any idea.
I don’t know if this will work as well on cats (never thought to try it with mine), but any pill that doesn’t have to be delivered by hand is a win.
1 Like
I call that a cat burrito.
1 Like
I sneak up on mine when he’s sleeping. He needs a pill every day because he’s old. But since he’s old he sleeps a lot. I rub a little butter or wet cat food on it is so that it doesn’t stick. Otherwise the video is the same technique my vet showed me, and it seems to work with my cat most of the time. So if you haven’t tried that video’s trick of grabbing the top of their head yet, I recommend giving it a shot.
The greenie pill pockets don’t work on my old boy, he doesn’t have enough teeth to chew them up, but does like how they taste.
2 Likes
Some cats don’t need to be given pills.
Some cats make their own “medication”:
4 Likes
I’m pretty sure this only works if the first pill you give them is Xanax
If you have to give a cat a pill by yourself, I highly recommend the method shown in this short video titled “How to pill a cat without restraint”.
This method doesn’t require anyone else’s assistance or any props or putting the pill in food. The trick is opening their mouth using one of your hands positioned around their head from behind, AND using that same arm to press down on their shoulders at the same time, which makes them hold still.
(Also, to be extra sure they swallow the pill, try having a spoonful of pumpkin puree ready to feed to them immediately afterward. Pumpkin puree straight out of a can is fine. Cats seem to love pumpkin, so in addition to making sure they swallow the pill, it’s a tasty reward for their trouble, plus it’s supposed to be good for them too—lots of fiber, apparently.)
3 Likes
