We crush the pill and mix it with cream or butter, or chicken fat, then smear it on his leg. He then licks it off. Our cat is pretty old and he has to be fully awake or he isn’t interested in cleaning himself.
2 Likes
Buy a pet pill syringe, draw a small amount of water in the syringe, put the pill in the tip, stick the syringe in the cat’s mouth, usually going from the side, aim at the back of the throat, and depress the plunger. Keep the cat’s mouth closed for a few seconds, and massage its throat.
2 Likes
My previous girlfriend (who had lots of experience with a diabetic cat) did exactly this to me when I was being a big baby about taking a pill (for reasons I can’t remember–I’m normally okay swallowing pills). It worked.
3 Likes
Apparently prozac doesn’t taste good to cats. Our girl cat used to be happy taking them in the Pill Pockets, but she got wise and started chewing around them and leaving the pill on the floor. Lately I’ve had to resort to disguising the pill in some smoked salmon - it works so far. My wife can get the Pill Popper syringe to work but I don’t have the technique.
I just mixed up my cat’s medicine in a little yogurt. It turns out my cat loves yogurt.
9 Likes
My cat Knute takes three pills in the morning and two at night for his heart, and he will come to remind me to pill him if I’m running late. He sits there purring as I gently poke his cheek with a finger, whereupon he opens wide and I literally drop the pill right into the back of his mouth. He calmly swallows and waits for the next one. He knows there is a treat at the end of the process.
It really helps if you raised the cat from a kitten, and constantly handled all the danger bits (face and paws) so they don’t think you’re doing something weird when you have to do regular maintenance on those areas. Knute will also sit happily on my lap while I snip his claws, for the same reason.
5 Likes
They lost me as “pick up the cat”. Two of ours are indoor feral cats and can’t be picked up.
The other one - we made a pill-pusher for her
2 Likes
My cat’s on pills at the moment and I’ve had a lot of joy with Easy Pill putty as she loves the taste and wolfs it down. Hopefully she doesn’t get bored of it as I’d rather have her willingly/unknowingly take the pill than me forcing it down her throat.
But I also have a pet pill syringe like @charles_cfap mentioned in case I need to do it manually. I’d definitely prefer using that than putting my hand in her mouth.
One other thing: some pills have to be given whole so they slowly disperse, meaning crushing them isn’t an option.
1 Like
Btw, my own cat is full grown but only six and a half pounds, which means anything large enough to be or contain a pill, she is going to chew if she has the option. She also just plain doesn’t eat enough to be treat motivated.
Dogs are way easier IME. A pill pocket, or a tiny meatball or a piece of chicken breast with a pill buried in it? Straight down the throat. Some dogs I’ve sat for, I can even put a pill straight into a pile of dry kibble and down it goes.
2 Likes
I gave up on that idea after watching this video where a pro had trouble:
There’s no way mine would stick around for another try (or stay on the towel).
Just make sure they don’t crumble. Mine bites into the pocket, and if it falls apart I find the pill in the bottom of the dish later.
I’ve done the same to mine. They w I’ll bet sit happily while I trim nails, but they will tolerate it
1 Like
This. Why do they make pills for cats, anyway? Seems that a powder would work so much better.
The fact that this post has upwards of 50 comments just demonstrates how completely useless our species is in the face of our domesticated feline overlords.
4 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
