Giving a pill to a cat

Rhino

One of our cats is having a butt problem (Diarrhea caused by Bacteria).
The vet gave us some pills (among other things)

They are white chalky pills (think Aspirin without the gel coating). We are suppose to give him a 4th.

We tried putting it in his mouth and holding it shut (like the vet suggested). He doesn't swallow it and it just causes the pill the dissolve into a white foam (which is either spit out or leaks out of the sides of his mouth). He is stubbon and refuses to swallow it.

We've also tried to mix it up with wet cat food and with cat treats. He doesn't like that, he smells it and walks away (our theory is that he can smell the medicine in there).

We've also tried dissolving it into water and then squirting it into his mouth with an eye dropper. It doesn't dissolve well (turns into a white foamy mess) and even harder to get the dropper in his mouth (or more then a split second) or to get him to swallow it.

The vet (and two vet technicians that works there when we called) both said just put it in his mouth and hold it shut. We've held his mouth shut about 2 or 3 minutes. He doesn't swallow and it just makes him mad and the pill turns to a foamy mess. The vet technician we talked to said "well, that is what we do here, I don't know what to tell you"

We've wasted over 1 pill now (each pill is 4 "servings" since they are spit into 4ths)

YourFatAuntSusan

Grab the cats head like you would hold a can with your thumb on one side of the jaw and your middle finger on the other and gently squeeze. The jaw will open enough to get your hand into the cats mouth. You will need to get the pill into the back of the throat. The cat should automatically swallow it. Rub the throat afterward to ensure the cat swallows.

Rhino

YourFatAuntSusan wrote: »

Grab the cats head like you would hold a can with your thumb on one side of the jaw and your middle finger on the other and gently squeeze. The jaw will open enough to get your hand into the cats mouth. You will need to get the pill into the back of the throat. The cat should automatically swallow it. Rub the throat afterward to ensure the cat swallows.

My girlfriend tried that once, but he gagged on it (and then freaked out which resulted in a bloody finger)

ihmmy

when I had to give my cat pills way back when, I'd force his mouth open, put the pill in, hold his mouth closed and stroke his throat for a bit til I figured he'd swallowed it. But he was also a very mellow cat, who didn't like the pills but didn't really feel like fighting back either.

Our dog, we used to wrap bread around her pill and feed it to her that way - a treat because it was people food. But again, she was quite mellow tempered

takyris

No solution is going to be perfect, and I suggest long sleeves at the very least, depending on the cat's level of stress. The fingers-on-side-of-jaw approach worked well for me, and when combined with pill-concealed-in-butter-or-margarine, was mostly successful. Even if the cat was disinclined to eat it, the margarine tended to make the pill slide down its throat anyway.

Rhino

takyris wrote: »

No solution is going to be perfect, and I suggest long sleeves at the very least, depending on the cat's level of stress. The fingers-on-side-of-jaw approach worked well for me, and when combined with pill-concealed-in-butter-or-margarine, was mostly successful. Even if the cat was disinclined to eat it, the margarine tended to make the pill slide down its throat anyway.

I'll try that!

btw, you work for bioware?

FF

You can also try pill pockets. Stinky, sticky little things that have a hole in the middle for pills. I think there are a few different brands of them.

Give that cat a few pill pockets without a pill in it first so that they think the pill pocket is just a treat. Once they think it's a treat try shoving a pill in and see if the cat just gulps down the pill pocket.

Another thing you can try is mashing up the pill and mixing it in with wet food. Sometimes if the pill is mashed up enough the cat'll ignore the taste (most pills are bitter as hell).

zilo

Smash it up and put it in some tuna? Wet cat food doesn't smell strongly enough to cover up the medicine smell. Tuna or cheese always worked with my old cat.

Aurin

Are you sure he's not swallowing the pill? When I was giving my kitten antibiotics, she would foam at the mouth from all the saliva, until she got used to me forcing her little mouth open and squirting things in there.

Also, a cat will usually lick their nose when they've swallowed.

Delzhand

Back when we had to do this, what we did to prevent thrashing was wrap our cat up in a towel like a burrito. Sure, he hated it, but he was pissed anyway because of the pilling. Wrap him up tightly enough that he can't move around, but not so tight it hurts him (obviously).

radroadkill

How did you do it with the treats? Did you use a really soft mushy one because I smushed my cat's pills between the super, super soft treats and he took it no problem.

squeefish

Our dog would always spit out his pills too, so we've taken to wrapping it firmly in cheese and putting it right in his mouth - usually he swallows too quickly to taste the pill. Cats might be different though, I have no experience with them.

Rhino

Update: This worked once. I covered it in butter (like someone in this thread suggested, THANKS!) and then stuffed it in the back of his mouth and then massaged his throat (from another suggestion, THANKS!). That seemed to have done the trick. He wasn't too happy about it, but hoping I can be a little gentler about it next time.

Gilbert0

They get used to it. Cat has a bad thyroid (which is apparently common) and I give our cat a 1/4 pill, twice a day. At the beginning, hated doing it, now not so much.

I come up from behind and grab the scruff of the neck (makes her hold still and I'm in the dominante position) force open the mouth with my middle finger and put the pill in which is between my index and thumb. If it drops out of the mouth, repeat.

Used to take 2-3 minutes to do but now a couple months in, the cat knows what I'm doing and takes 15 seconds.

Good luck!

vonPoonBurGer

Gently tap your cat's nose after you get the pill in the mouth. This will usually cause them to want to lick their nose, and licking usually causes a swallowing reflex. My girlfriend and I have a cat that will hold the pill in her mouth for several minutes and spit it out when we're not looking. Now we tap her on the nose and wait to see her licking her nose before we assume the pill has been swallowed.

Asiina

Definitely make sure that the cat swallowed it. When I first got my cat he had a cough that they were giving him pills for. He would just sit there after I forced it down his throat and made me think he swallowed the pill, but then I'd check and it'd just be sitting there.

The first response to this thread is basically what I ended up doing. Try not to ruffle the whiskers too much when you're holding the mouth closed, but like cutting their claws, you just have to be forceful. Cats are hearty and you can be quite physically restraining on them without hurting them. Just remember that you are stronger and more patient, and you'll win in the end.

Good luck!

McViking

I'm sad to say that I have too much experience in this area. My ex-gf had The Cat From Hell(tm) when it came to taking pills. We used the Kitty-Towel Burrito method for things like eye drops, but it was never a good idea to put a hand near the pointy end of this particular cat, and certainly not a finger into his very-pointy mouth. (I have a [deep] three-inch scar on one wrist from that little bastard.) We tried the pill pocket thing, but he unfortunately didn't like them, with or without pill. Tuna was no good because he always threw up after eating it. (Oh, how I loved that cat.) What ended up being a winner was grinding up the pill, mixing it with butter, and applying the butter directly to his front leg. It pissed him off, but left him with little choice but to groom himself, consuming the butter (and pill) in the process. And buttering the cat was always a fun way to start the morning.

illig

McViking wrote: »

And buttering the cat was always a fun way to start the morning.

that's a brilliant method... i cat sit sometimes and the pill giving is always hell.. i'll have to try that.

Tofystedeth

vonPoonBurGer wrote: »

Gently tap your cat's nose after you get the pill in the mouth. This will usually cause them to want to lick their nose, and licking usually causes a swallowing reflex. My girlfriend and I have a cat that will hold the pill in her mouth for several minutes and spit it out when we're not looking. Now we tap her on the nose and wait to see her licking her nose before we assume the pill has been swallowed.

That or put just a dab of something tasty on it. He'll sit there licking it for half a minute.

Talkc

All this is good advice, and if all else fails try a slingshot.

Kerbob97

try breaking the pill up and putting it into a ball of cream cheese. cream cheese is easier to mold around a pill than the regular cheese.

ManonvonSuperock

if dissolving it in water to make the foamy mess is still an option, hold the cat down, pull his cheek back and insert the dropper from the side of the mouth releasing small amounts of it onto his tongue, between drops, released his mouth, he should smack his tongue around like an animal with peanut butter. repeat.