Help! How to give my cat a pill...

[Flaxbee]

This lovely girl (two pics below) turns into a wild, fighting creature with at least 8 legs and a zillion claws whenever I need to give her meds. Any suggestions? All the other kitties are difficult, but not nearly as impossible as my Silver girl is... :cry:

[flvegan]

1. Here:

1) Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As the cat opens mouth pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

2) Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

3) Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.

4) Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.

5) Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.

6) Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and vigorously rub cat's throat.

7) Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make a note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

8) Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

9) Check label to make sure pill is not harmful to humans, drink 1 beer to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.

10) Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.

11) Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of scotch. Pour shot, drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of your last tetanus jab. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw tee-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.

12) Ring fire brigade to retrieve the friggin' cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap.

13) Tie the little @#!*#^~!'s front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining room table, find heavy duty Pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of fillet steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour 2 pints of water down throat to wash pill down.

14) Consume remainder of Scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.

15) Arrange for SPCA to collect mutant cat from hell and ring local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.

[Flaxbee]

6. lol. don't I know it!

Our monster-big tuxedo cat, Ivan, is docile and wonderful, but he's got a HUGE HEAD and massive jaws so they're easy enough to crank open and pop the pill in. The female cats are much, much harder to handle.

Here's Ivan (tuxedo male), wrestling with Marilyn (orange female):

[CreekDog]

7. wait, which step involves going to the ER for stitches?

:shrug:

[DS1]

2. pill gun

http://www.healthypets.com/pillgun.html

[Flaxbee]

8. hm. OK. I think I need to buy one of these.

thanks for the link.

[Critters2]

19. You can probably get one from your vet. nt

[dembotoz]

28. they actually work pretty well

had old diabetic cat that we had to give pills to twice a day.
Pill gun was a wonderful thing

[Infomaniac]

29. I agree. Pillgun is the way to go...

It's the only way I can get a pill in my male cat.

[qb]

3. put the pill on the tip of your finger

Hold your other hand around her mouth.
Then very quickly put the pill as as you can in the back of her throat, remove your finger, and hold her mouth closed until she swallows.

It sounds mean, but you can pamper her afterwards :)

Ok, I just re-read your post about 8 legs and a zillion claws. Maybe you can wrap her in ace bandages first?

[Arkansas Granny]

10. Once you get the pill in her mouth, tip her head up and stroke her

throat to stimulate her to swallow. Good luck.

[Flaxbee]

11. yeah, that method works with ALL of them but Silver...

I think it might be a two-person event... there is NO WAY one person can handle her. She is just phenomenal. I think she's actually the Hindu goddess Kali, and only shows her extra limbs when we try to medicate her.

[Critters2]

4. Crush it up and mix it with canned cat food.

Or use a pill gun.



After one cat with chronic renal failure and another with hyperthyroidism, I'm very good with a pill gun. But it does take practice.

[Flaxbee]

16. I've thought about that - she is a big eater

and gobbles moist food - esp. if it's Fancy Feast. ;-) If the ole cat-papoose with the help of my husband won't work, then I'll crush it and try to feed it to her.

[Critters2]

18. You do have to crush it and mix it in.

If you just stick the pill in, they'll eat around it. Even with a very small pill. They're smarter than they look.

[livetohike]

5. Don't know if this works for cats but I wrap the pill in a little butter

for my dogs. They nearly take my fingers off, but the pills go down everytime :-).

[Sanity Claws]

13. Dogs are easy

They'll eat anything. I used to give my dog pills by hiding them in peanut butter.
As for cats, I ask for medicine in liquid form. I find it easier to squirt liquid in their mouth by inserting the tube through the side of their mouth.

[stuntcat]

9. get an assistant

if you can wrap a big soft towel around her body with just her head sticking out then you could have someone help you do the buttery-pill-on-tounge/chin-rubbing part to make her swallow it. You should probably talk real sweet and love on her while she's wrapped up. in the soft cat papoose :loveya: She's really sweet-looking, I wish she'd understand you're helping her.

edited jst because x(

[Flaxbee]

14. she is the SWEETEST cat on the planet

she's next to me all the time, follows me from room to room, trills and talks to me every once in a while as if to say "hi, Mom", and just is incredibly affectionate. Until the pills come out. Lol. It's just a tapeworm tablet - never had problems with them in Virginia but even with rigorous flea-prevention here in NC, they seem to get them at least once every three months. Ugh.

[madinmaryland]

12. Ironically, our daughter showed us a new trick (works on Sonia too)

While holding the cat on your lap or next to you, right hand over the back of their head, and with your left hand pull the lower jaw open using the chin skin flap. Once mouth is open you can check teeth or feed it medicine. If feeding it medicine, close the mouth and rub under the chin.

Seems to work pretty well with our three! That how she found that Sonia has no upper front teeth!

[Flaxbee]

15. Toothless Sonia!

:loveya:

[madinmaryland]

17. ..

Sonia:


Why we adopted Sonia (Truffle, RIP):

[MorningGlow]

20. Double team her

I have a darling sweet airhead of a familiar who turns into a fierce leopard at even the mention of the word "pill" (yes, she knows what that means). We just finished a round of antibiotics that left us bleeding.

However, late in the week of pill-shoving I found out that if I catch her when she's lying on the rug (not on her side, but "upright", like a tea cosy), I can get the pill down her by myself, because her zillion claws are tucked under her. And for some reason she fought less when it was just me; maybe she felt outnumbered when Mr. MG and I both went at her.

Good luck. Keep the Neosporin handy (for you, not her). :hi:

[Whoa_Nelly]

21. Pill Pockets--available at pet stores, and some vet offices who sell items

They make these for dogs, cats, and other pets.
http://www.pillpockets.net/index_fs.htm



Have been using these for several years with my dog who ahs to take meds 2x/day.

In left frame of above link, you can search for where these are sold.

I buy the large pockets, and then split them into thirds for my pooch.
Her pills are tiny, and I get a lot more bang for the buck by doing it this way.

[FloridaJudy]

31. Those work really well on dogs

But not so well on cats, according to my vet (and she sells them). Cats always manage to eat the treat from around the pill. I know I've retrieved many a cat pill intact from the bottom of a can of tuna, but never a dog pill.

[Parche]

22. Hey Flaxee

That brings back memories, I had the hardest time giving 'Woos' a pill when she had a
bladder infection, I felt so sorry for her, because I had to almost open her mouth too wide
and throw it in, and she would spit it out most of the time.....:cry: :cry: :cry: :hi:

[Flaxbee]

23. Hi Parche!

The cat-papoose didn't work, neither with just me or me and husband. Sigh. Grinding it up and putting it in food (tuna, no less, which she'll scarf in a second) didn't work. So - probably will grind it up, combine it with cod liver oil, put it into an eyedropper and see if that works. If not, I have to go get more pills :cry:

[Dangerously Amused]

24. This may help:

-snip-

"Let's face it, animals don't always cooperate," Tenreiro states. "Try to give a cat something that tastes bad and you're literally taking your life in your hands! And it may not even be the taste that drives a cat to madness. Just the act of trying to push a pill down a cat's throat is an unnatural one for the cat. Anyone who is a cat owner has been through this, I'm sure, and it's an exhausting, and sometimes painful, process that leaves the owners wondering if it's really worth it. There are solutions and alternatives that are readily available."

How to get an animal to take its medicine is a great portion of what the animal pharmacy does. Does your pet have difficulty swallowing medication? Does he hate the taste? The Animal Pharmacy can make whatever is available in pill form into a flavored liquid, and you can name the flavor that your pet prefers. There are numerous veterinary flavors available, including alfalfa, apple, beef, cheese, chicken, fish, liver, cricket and mouse. Maybe your pet likes people food better. They can flavor the medicine in any way you want, just ask.

-snip-


More info. here: http://www.animalpharmacy.net/article.asp

You might also want to goggle "pet pharmacies" to do some price shopping comparisons.

I had to go this route a few years ago with an especially pill-hating kitty. I don't remember the pharmacy I used back then, but they formulated the medicine into a liquid and kitty lapped it right up. It was WELL worth the extra bucks for the time and blood and sanity it saved, not to mention the pills that were damaged and needed to be replaced during the previous efforts.

Good luck.

[ceile]

25. Sounds like my kitty.

I set her on the kitchen table on a towel, and wrap the towel around her front paws and chest and hold it like a bib at the back of her neck. I use my thumb and first finger to brace her head/neck and with my right hand I pry open her jaws and shove the pill down. I do this twice a day with her and you'd think after 6 months she'd be better about it, but noooooo. Still as defiant as ever.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

26. Hire "Blackwater Home Pet Care Inc"

You might think you saw a fleeting shadow, but it was one of our special forces nijas, trained in giving pills to pets.

After they're gone, you can untape your cat from the waterboard, or leave it for a while, your choice.

Reasonable prices. Little collateral damage.

:hi:

[grasswire]

27. swaddle the cat in a towel

wrap tight so all limbs are inside and only the head is visible. Then cradle the swaddled cat like a baby and you should be able to use both hands to open the mouth, drop in the pill, and then hold the mouth closed and stroke the throat until you see the cat swallow.

OR

(this is recommended for those who have to inject their cats with fluids every day) straddle the crouching cat between your knees on the floor and hold the cat with them, facing the same direction as the cat is facing. Then you have two hands free to do what must be cone.

[alarimer]

30. First, put on some heavy leather gloves

like the kind falconers use to protect their arms from the talons.

Get at least two other people. One to help hold the cat and one to stick the pill in its mouth.

Or, maybe, disguise the pill in some soft food?