Pill Pocket Problem

[Winter Coven]

My cat doesn't like the Pill Pockets. I am crushing the pill and mixing it into her wet food. She knew something was off and wouldn't eat it all. She is crazy about Temptations treats, so I buried a few in her wet food and now she has to eat the medicine in order to get her treasures!

[trustmeiknow]

I'm going to try baby food and tuna for humans. I might try lickable treats, which many cats seem to love. I hate to buy a big pack, though, because she's the queen of liking something for a little while and then deciding she hates it!

Thanks, everybody.

[chiluvr1228]

I have to give Miss Binx some cortisone medication and what I do is take the small pill, put it in a tablespoon, then with a teaspoon I crush it up into a powder and put it in her canned food.

[puginabug]

I used to have a pug who was the master of spitting out pills. What I ended up doing with her was buying empty gelatin capsules and putting her small pills inside of the capsules, then just adding them to her food. The capsules had no taste, and hid the flavor of the meds, so she never knew.

Of course she was a dog, and she would scarf down her food as long as she didn’t taste anything off, like medicine, lol. Not sure that would work with a cat, they can be so picky.

[trustmeiknow]

I've given up on trying to give her these pills. If they're ground up, the food is bitter and she won't eat it. If they're broken in half or quarters, she finds them and won't eat them. There is no food she loves so much that she'll just inhale it and not have time to detect anything is different. She's very careful about eating. She won't eat if a pin drops; it has to be absolutely silent. I usually have to sit next to her when she eats. It's hard enough just to get her to eat food on its own, let alone with medicine involved.

[Riley.]

what about wrapping it in cheese or stuffed in the middle of a small slice of hotdog?

I have a cattle dog and he will eat a pill right off the floor if I drop it, then he looks at me like WTH was that? He's an eating machine.

[RomulusXXV]

Oh, my goodness, 'pilling' a cat ...tell me about it! Y'know, I've seen umpteen videos on YouTube from average people - AND professionals - as to how best to do this. However, 'their' cats appear to have been given a sedative before administration of the said medication. The cats that I've had in the past are not representative of these 'model' cats in these video clips at all. Also, hiding the pill in food or otherwise attempting to fool the cat in other ways hardly ever works for me. Or it MAY work just the one time while the next time the cat has wised up and has it/me figured out!

No, I have rarely, if ever, been able to administer oral medication to a cat without a struggle, resulting in alienating the cat for several hours afterwards. Even then I may not be certain that the pill was actually swallowed by the cat. The following day, if the medication is daily, the cat, one time believing that I was their friend, is wary and about to take flight when I approach him/her knowing full well what I'm about to do. Honestly, 'pilling' a cat is a task that I simply cannot do, and their health may well be at stake because of my inability to do so.

[trustmeiknow]

A dog has a bigger mouth, so he or she can eat more food without being aware of what every morsel of it is like. I think cats are pickier and less eager to please their people, so it's more difficult feeding them to begin with. There is nothing that my cat loves so much that she will just eat it fast and not think about it. Letting the pill dissolve makes the food bitter and then she's reluctant to eat that flavor of food again. Cutting it still leaves it big enough that she knows it's in her mouth right away, and it goes back on the dish. It doesn't help that the pill is bitter.

I am worried that someday she's going to need heart medication or something else that's extremely important to give her, and I'm not going to be able to do it. There are people who can come to the house and help with this, but many medications need to be given more than once a day, and it would cost a fortune.

I agree that those pilling videos are unrealistic. Some cats are relaxed that way, but not too many.

[galaxyhi]

Originally Posted by trustmeiknow

My cat is using Pill Pockets to take allergy medication. She loves the flavors and is eager to take them. However, she licks them before she eats them, making them sticky. Then she can't get them off the floor or dish to actually eat them. I tried rolling them in grated cheese to make them less sticky, but she licks that off and then they're just sticky again! How do I get Pill Pockets into her? Please help. Thanks!

Our didn't like pill pockets when I gave them one by itself to see if they would eat it.

The best thing we've found is to get a liquid emulsion of the med flavored with a flavor they love.

While you lap peg them flip on back squeeze at the joint of their jaw, which will involuntarily make it open, squirt the measured eye dropper deep in the back of their throats, then close their mouth and hold it while you blow on their face (that will maythem swallow.
Do not release until they've swallowed.

It still a bit torturous..but I always tell them "if you ate it on your own, I wouldn't have to do this!

Then I give them a treat or favorite canned food...they eat that and all is forgiven!

Best

[trustmeiknow]

I love Twist-a-Dose, which is available at Wedgewood Pharmacy. This time we used a mobile vet, though, and they have their own pharmacy, which does not offer this. I have to ask them if they're willing to try to get it.

Liquid medicine will NOT happen for her. We tried to do that on a previous cat who was difficult, but not quite as difficult as this one. She ended up with a lot of it on her face, and they had to shave her because it was sticky. So it's got to be Twist-a-Dose transdermal, or she's really not going to get her medicine.

Thanks everybody for trying. She's a tough girl.