Struggling…. I tried putting the content in their food and no luck either
Thanks for the tips :)
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Press your index finger and thumb into the back end side of the cats mouth, this will open it, shove the pill towards the back of their mouth against her throat with the other hand and then let go. If it was far enough back they will swallow it.
With middle finger and thumb, gently press them on opposite sides of cats mouth. They will tilt their head back and start licking to move u and in that moment fling the pill with your pointer finger in their mouth and gently hold their head back and up until they swallow it.
My cat doesn’t fuck with pill pockets or crushed up on their food and this way works great.
I just put it in his food but some cats aren’t cool with that.
I give my cats malt paste regularly. They lick it from my fingers and like it a lot. When they need pills from the vet I simply put them into the paste. They don’t even really notice and there is no struggle at all.
Why don’t they make cat (and dog) pills taste like a treat? It can’t be that hard!
It’s not hard it’s more expensive. Heartworm and flea and tick meds come in treat form.
cats also tend to be a lot more finicky about different foods :(
True, but my lot wolf down different treats.
They make pill pocket soft treats for both cats and dogs, and depending on the medication, some places will just make a medicated soft treat.
My elder cat was having kidney problems, wouldn’t take pills, would eat around the pill to eat the pill pocket treat, and would violently shake her head if you tried using liquid meds. Eventually, I found an online pet pharmacy that would just blend her kidney meds right into a soft chew treat… unfortunately, this was several years ago, and I can not remember the name of the site I used.
If you want to try the stick a pill down their throat method, this site has a video showing you how
Edit: I usually try the pill wrapped in some cheese first, if he catches on to that then I have to use the above method
with my old cat i kinda put her between my legs and gently held her mouth open (though it was harder bc i had to wear gloves with the paladia); but if you look down on them because of the angle it’s a lot easier. oh also i remember gently scritching and tickling the under of their chin to get them to open up a little and then dropping it on their tongue/down the throat and then rubbing their neck to get them to swallow. just be gentle obviously
you can also try compounding to either chewable or liquid (most vets will let you do this and pick it right up at a pharmacy), which helped out a lot. liquid is easier because you can just droplet a bunch onto their gums and let them lick it off and chewables are good because they’ll just chew it up on their own, usually.
I’ve found that if you hold the cat in your lap, use the finger and thumb of one hand to wiggle on either side of their face where their mouth begins to open their mouth, if you can then get the pill on the very furthest part of their tongue closest to their throat, there is an automatic reflex to swallow. I used to try putting it in their food and it never worked. This worked every time.
I would use the Meow Mix Irresistibles soft treats and wrap it around the pill. With my last cat, she associated the pill bottle with treats over time and would just take the pill by itself as a treat!
Late in life, she was having a lot of health issues, and one of the pills she had to take was bitter and without a coating. It ended up ruining the Irresistibles treats for her and I couldn’t get her to take them for the life of me.
Just so ya know, if you go with crushing up the pill, check with your vet to make sure its not extended release or something. Sometimes the pill is meant to slowly dissolve over time and crushing it up frontloads the dose and can cause problems. The prescriber/your vet will know if its safe.
Good point! Thanks for letting me know
Pill pockets
Might I recommend the Inaba Churu pockets? We’ve been jamming pills into our girl’s hell-scented maw for years but these have made such a huge difference. We insert one pill per pocket and she pounces on and gobbles them up. Now giving her pills is fun instead of leaving us with terrible smelling fingers served with a side of feline childhood trauma.
This is the most effective for my cat, but just be sure they don’t eat the treat around the pill and then spit the pill out.
There’s a technique to hold their jaw and put the tablet at the back of the tongue which I’ve had success with, but I hate doing it. Look it up before trying because my memory is fuzzy.
I’ve had great luck though with pulverizing the shit out of a pill (uncoated, prednisone) and mixing with wet food. Like to powder with the back of a spoon, not just chunks.
This is the way.
I do this every night with 2 pills. I just did it 3 minutes ago, in fact.
Lay cat in lap. Grab head and kinda hold/lightly pinch cheeks with left hand. With right hand force your fingers pinching the pill into the back of the throat. Push it as far back as quickly as you can with your pointer finger. Hold him to make sure it gets swallowed.
Apologize and give him a little scratch and kiss.
🤔 this seems like “How to transform your domesticated cat into a tiger 101”
Basically it feels like you’re trying to see the inside of a python’s throat. Equally as dangerous.
I use a pill gun like this one then immediately follow up with a treat. He hates the pill but the sooner that’s over with the sooner he gets the treat, and we have to do it again if he manages to spit the pill out. Treat doesn’t come until the pill is swallowed.
Yeah this combined with tucking the cat in your armpit, works like a charm. They will hate it but it’s effective!
Use your fingers to open their mouth/jaw. Place pill as far back as you can reach. Hold their mouth shut. Lift their head slightly and semi-aggressively stroke their neck which will force them to swallow. Double check they didn’t houdini the pill at any point along the way.
That’s the neat part: you don’t.
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