how on earth do u get a cat to take tablets?!

well, after the 3rd trip to the vets - he needs antibiotics. i hope no one minds me posting a new topic, it's just i thought that maybe others may have this problem and this'd be an easy way for them to find some help on this.
ok, well.. the tablets he needs are only small things - but i cannot get him to eat them! they are too small to crush up and too big to just pop into his mouth. he's supposed to have 2 a day but he's not even had one today because i couldnt get him to eat it! he is driving me mad! the vet suggested putting it in his food but he ate around it :roll: i even tried to hide it in with some dry food but he wouldnt go near it!
i hope you have some ideas of how to get him to take these tablets because he is driving me mad!
take care,
Love Breez.x.

 

wen i got tablets for ollie i wrapped the tablet in ham or chicken iand feed him out of your hand it works jus make sure it dont fall out im lucky ollie is good he would sum times jus eat it ther times i wrapped it in chicken feed it to him by hand and down goes the tablet

 

It seems kinda barbaric but the easiest way is to cradle the cat under one arm so he can't back out of your embrace. Put your forefinger and thumb on either side of the cats mouth (near the back of the jaw) and starting lightly press harder until they open their mouth. Then, drop the pill as far back into their throat as possible...they'll move their tongue around and swallow. Make sure to open their mouths again and check around the floor to make sure they actually swallowed it.

As long as you're gentle it isn't all that traumatic for the kitty and it's the only way I can get mine to take pills...they don't fall for the food trick.

 

i used to put max's pill in a capsule....it was 1/4 of a whole pill...but if it wont fit in the capsule you can crush it with a pill crusher, or just the top of the medicine bottle...that seems to work just as well. then coat the capsule with butter or tuna oil, and pop it towards the back of his throat. max loved the butter...so he always thought it was a treat.

sometimes they can do a special mix...and make it into liquid form...its more expensive. what kind of medicine is it? and why would it be "too small" to crush up?

 

pilling a cat isn't that hard. You could get a piller from the vet. If you feel the pill is too large for your kitty to swallow at once - break it in 1/2 and give 1/2 at a time.

I usually just wrap my left arm around kitty, and hold the pill in between my fingers, use a finger tip from my right hand to pry the mouth open...then using fingers from my left hand keep the jaw open, pop pill into mouth, hold mouth shut and rub the cat's throat.

Once you get used to it it's nothing. I think it's easier after you have success a few times and gain confidence with pilling.

And trust me...I have one cat that would like to remove my arm when I pill her and I can do it

 

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_pilling_a_cat.html

 

When I had to give Richie his dewormer pill I wrapped it in a bit of butter and stuck it far back in his mouth. I figured the butter would mask the taste and help it slide down easy. With Rhiannon, her pills were tiny so I just hid them in a little dap of canned food...since it was only a dab of canned food she gobbled it up and did'nt seem to even notice the pill inside. If your really having a difficult time and the medication comes in liquid form you might find it easier to give him. Richie is on liquid clavamox right now but I was unable to catch him to give him the meds after the second dose so the vet tech suggested dripping it over some tuna and so far that is working well. He gobbles up the tuna and since the meds are liquid he can't eat around them.

 

Breezay,

I can sympathize with what you're going through, because I went through this same thing with Luna a few months ago. She had to take a small antibiotic pill twice a day for an entire month, and she absolutely positively refused to be "pilled" ie. have it forced upon her. Even the vet's assistant couldn't get her to take one. After trying everything I could think of, to no avail, I finally hit upon something that worked. Hopefully this will help you as well.

First... forget trying to give her two pills a day. Call the vet, and tell them that you want a one-a-day dosage. They're a little more expensive (not much, tho) and the vet allowed me to return the unused pills and exchange them for the once-a-day kind, and I owed a difference of $10 I think. Welllll worth it for the saved trauma to Luna and me. Instead of having to worry about giving him a pill twice a day, you only have to do it once.

Then, when you have the new pills, forget about trying to force it upon him. Get him to willingly eat it. How? Here's how I did succesfully for an entire month with Luna.

I bought every soft cat treat on the market, and brought them home. I then experimented with molding the soft treat around the pill, and when it was completely inside, I called Luna over for a "treat." I would then feed her two unadulterated treats as an "appetizer" and trust builder which let her know that they tasted good, and then slipped her the impregnated one with the pill. After she swallowed it (with barely any chewing, usually), I followed it up with two more treats to wash away any lingering bad taste.

Some good tasting brands of soft treats are the ones made by Cosmic Catnip and Zuke's Natural Purrz (available at Wild Oats), but by far the #1 favorite soft treat to use for fooling Luna into eating her pill is... Pounce. Yup, regular cheap ol' Pounce in the blue and orange can, available at WalMart for like a buck. Luna thinks that it's the best tasting stuff in the world, although she isn't allowed to have it anymore regularly because of all the preservatives and crap in there, but for pilling it works like a charm.

Using Pounce to mold around a pill requires a little more work, because you have to moisten it a bit with a little water to make it pliable. It should have a clay-like consistency when you're done, but not too wet. Moisten your fingers a little bit with some water (I get a little bowl out and put a tablespoon or 2 of water in there) and start smashing a piece of Pounce between your thumb and index finger, adding a drop or two of water to the mixture as you work with it, until it sticks together when you apply a little pressure to it, without crumbling too much. Then you're ready to stick the pill in it. Flatten the Pounce, put the pill in the middle, and then mold the Pounce around it. Use a bit of force to compact the whole thing into something that resembles the size and shape of the other regular pieces that you'll be giving him, sort of heart-shaped. Then use the technique of giving him 2 regular ones, followed by the one with the pill, and then 1 or 2 more.

Once I hit upon that technique, I NEVER had another problem giving Luna a pill.

Hope that helps, good luck to you both, and let us know how you make out!

I should mention that if all else fails, and you absolutely can not get the pill in him, a last resort is bringing him to the vet each day for a pro to do it. It can cost like $15 a pop, though.

 

:lol: :0017: :0023: :m39: ](*,)

i had to take pepe to the vet to get him wormed this month. i did pheobe and kuma, looked at pepe and thought 'NO WAY!'. last time i wormed him it took an hour to get the darn pill down and i was covered in scratches. so off to the vet. luckily they needed their shots too so it wasnt a big deal and it didnt cost me extra money. they used a piller and boy pepe didnt know what hit him! so next time hes due for tablets i will be buying one of those.

 

really good advice everybody!!!

 

Vianne never gives me trouble when taking any kind of meds. I'm so lucky. but, i do have one suggestion that i didn't see mentioned. Vianne LOVED getting a Doxyslurpy so i thought maybe you could try taking your cat's pill, powdering it and blending it smooth with a little bit of wet cat food, then give it to kitty from a syringe. Good luck! let us know what worked for you

 

great advice everyone! i combined a few of your ideas.. what i did was took a chunk of his canned food (once in the morning and once in the evening) and i slotted the little pill into the chuck. then i put the one chunk on the floor alone, he'd sniff it for a while and then gobble it up! i cant believe it was just that easy! had to get my hands a little messy, but it's worth it! i always find worming him a challenge! luckily its only once every 3 months!
thanks for all your advice, i found it very useful and hopefully others browsing around will too
Love Breez.x.

 

well...i may have to take all of this advice. max is now back on meds...he is never the problem. but...my vet recommended that chris and mikey go on antibiotics for seven days. the foster staff member in charge of fostering doesnt want chris on meds if he is not having any symptoms...im not sure if i want to put mikey on something...if he doesnt have a problem. :0011:

 

It is impossible to ge a pill in my chubby Socks. The Vet's office even had a really hard with it. It took two people there to get a pill in her and more than one try.

When Socks has had to be on antibiotics, the Vet gives us the liquid kind. My husband holds Socks securely while I squirt it in her mouth with a the plastic part of a hyperdermic needle (without the needle). It works great for her.

We've never had to get a pill into Mittens. Scared of the thought of that. If we do, all the advice above sounds like a good idea.

 

today dusty finished his antibiotics.. he had 10 to take altogether and he decided he'd had enough and did not eat the 10th pill! it's somewhere in the kitchen - i have no idea where.. he spat it out across the room and i cannot find it! :roll: cats eh?! :mrgreen: well, one pill wont make any difference i guess.. i'm so annoyed at him though - after the trouble with the first pill he just gobbled up the others and then this morning he refuses to even go near the peice of food with the pill in it! *sigh*
love breez.x