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Since it's so hard to get pills down our pets......what about if we dissolved them in water and then used a dropper to administer it? OR would watering it down like that interfere with the potency and benefits? Just a thought and curious. Would rather get your opinions first before asking vet about it and I'm sure you know why. Any thoughts?
I would worry that they might cough and not get all of it. Also, depending on the pill, a lot of water might be needed. And some meds are slow-release.
For dogs, I use pill pockets and mine gulp them down, including the one who could hold a pill for 5 min then spit it out. For cats, I sit them on my lap like a baby, pry open their mouth, and drop the pill far back with the other hand. Cats seem to swallow convulsively, unlike dogs.
My feline vet crushes pills and then mixes them in some yummy tasting suspension so meds are administered by syringe (i.e. so many mls). The suspension is, I think, some regular vitamin "elixir"... all I know is it smells just like Marmite and cats take it very willingly. (I love watching the assistants make up the meds - it's quite a mathematical feat.) I've never queried him on it to be honest, and I'm not a biochemist, but I can't imagine he'd use this method if it wasn't as effective as administering the pill whole. It is, by far, the least stressful way of administering meds to a cat that may not be eating well.
I dissolve pills daily for a dog - I just throw them in the bottom of his food bowl with water some hours before he's going to eat so they dissolve and the food gets added and it all goes down as one. For cats I normally take a very small picture hammer we have, crush the pill inside a piece of kitchen roll or tissue and mix the pill-now-powder with wet food. I've yet to have a cat figure out the food's been "doctored" and in both cases, I've mentioned what I do to vets with only positive feed-back.
Last edited by FiveHorses; 10-02-2009 at 07:34 AM..
Sounds good! Since your vet knows what you're doing, those pills must be OK for immediate release. I was just worrying about any pill in general, that might not have the vet's approval for that method.
I have some Val syrup that my vet gave me to give to my CRF cat when she wasn't eating/drinking much. It is dark drown and has a rich odor. Maybe that is the same as you have? He told me that it is a vitamin concoction that also promotes appetite.
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Originally Posted by Florida15
Since it's so hard to get pills down our pets......what about if we dissolved them in water and then used a dropper to administer it? OR would watering it down like that interfere with the potency and benefits? Just a thought and curious. Would rather get your opinions first before asking vet about it and I'm sure you know why. Any thoughts?
The very best person to ask is your pharmacist. That's his/her speciality
I have some Val syrup that my vet gave me to give to my CRF cat when she wasn't eating/drinking much. It is dark drown and has a rich odor. Maybe that is the same as you have? He told me that it is a vitamin concoction that also promotes appetite.
Dark brown with a yeasty, almost salty, smell? That's the one.
Another method of delivery that you might want to talk to your vet about is a sub-cutaneous injection if that's a viable alternative with the meds you have in mind. With a small needle, a lot of cats take no notice and in certain cases, it's a lot easier to give them shot when snoozing on your lap, the old "we'll pretend that was a pesky mosquito" vs. the "I know you're coming at me with a pill" routine.
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The very best person to ask is your pharmacist. 
That's his/her speciality
