ahh, poor Socks!...and pill opinions...

catcrazyperson

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well i dont know if any of you saw my post under "behvior", but it was about Socks drinking too much water. i was told that this can be a sign of urinary or kidney stuff so then i got REALLY worried and today took him to the vet.

he's running a fever. and the vet thinks that he has some kind of urinary thing, maybe a UTI. he gave him a shot and some pills to take twince daily. he says the antibioutic should help.

so great, now i have to give him pills a couple times a day. he better not be as hard to give pills to as peanuts. with her you have to hogtie her down and pry her jaw open, because if you give it to her in food, she finds the pill and spits it out.


with Socks i think i'm going to try and give it to him in wet food first, and see what he does.

so, just wondering, how do you all give your cats pills?
 

bella713

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I have to give Joey Pills every day and he is so good I have no problems I open his mouth put it way in the back and he swallows it, doesn't even try to get away, he has to take them the rest of his life so I'm glad he's easy with it...Good Luck
 
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catcrazyperson

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Originally Posted by Bella713

I have to give Joey Pills every day and he is so good I have no problems I open his mouth put it way in the back and he swallows it, doesn't even try to get away, he has to take them the rest of his life so I'm glad he's easy with it...Good Luck
thank you! i most likely will need it...
 

joanne511

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I hope you are able to find a successful way to do it, because I've had zero luck in the past. Fortunately I've been able to get liquid versions of most of the meds I've needed to give. Good luck and do share if you find a good method!
 
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catcrazyperson

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Originally Posted by joanne511

I hope you are able to find a successful way to do it, because I've had zero luck in the past. Fortunately I've been able to get liquid versions of most of the meds I've needed to give. Good luck and do share if you find a good method!
yes i will! thankfully i don't have to do it till tonight...yay...
 

trouts mom

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I use a cat piller..its this long syringe looking thing that you stick the pill in the end and pop the pill in the back of the cats throat. You can buy them at the vet office.


Good luck, I do not envy you..it sucks to pill a cat
 
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catcrazyperson

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Originally Posted by Trouts mom

I use a cat piller..its this long syringe looking thing that you stick the pill in the end and pop the pill in the back of the cats throat. You can buy them at the vet office.


Good luck, I do not envy you..it sucks to pill a cat
hmm, have never heard of those. maybe i'll give that a try. thanks!
 

calico2222

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Good luck! Our Monster needs to get a pill every day to keep from having seizures. It's not fun. In fact, she won't take them from me. I think I'm to afraid of hurting her. This has become my husband's job, but he grew up on a farm and has dealt with animals all his life. I guess when you can give a bull an enema, giving a cat a pill is easy
.

She's pretty good about taking them from him now, but when we first started we got a pill crusher and dissolved it in warm water then used a syringe and basically shot it down her throat. But, check with the vet before you do this...some medicines lose strength if dissolved.

Your baby might surprise you. I had a cat a few years ago that would take her antibiotics without a fight. I just had to pinch behind her jaw and hold her mouth open with my fingers and drop it in. Just make sure you drop it BEHIND her tongue so she can't spit it out.

Let us know how it goes!
 

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Loki has to take his prednisone for asthma every other day. It was a chore when he first started, but when he took his pill, he was rewarded with a kitty treat. Now all I have to do is pick up his pill bottle and he comes running (he could be deep asleep and wake right up, spring up and come racing to me). I open his mouth, put the pill back and stroke his throat. He swallows them without problem and then excitedly waits for his treat! The vet gave me a piller to try when he was first diagnosed - he took one look at that thing and shrieked. I tried it once and never again! It looked scary to me too!
 
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catcrazyperson

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Originally Posted by calico2222

I guess when you can give a bull an enema, giving a cat a pill is easy
.

She's pretty good about taking them from him now, but when we first started we got a pill crusher and dissolved it in warm water then used a syringe and basically shot it down her throat. But, check with the vet before you do this...some medicines lose strength if dissolved.

Your baby might surprise you. I had a cat a few years ago that would take her antibiotics without a fight. I just had to pinch behind her jaw and hold her mouth open with my fingers and drop it in. Just make sure you drop it BEHIND her tongue so she can't spit it out.

Let us know how it goes!
yeah i'll proly use the dissolving thing as a last resort...and yeah, maybe Socks will take his pills without a fuss. who knows? i guess i'll find out tonight...
 
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catcrazyperson

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Originally Posted by LokisMum

Loki has to take his prednisone for asthma every other day. It was a chore when he first started, but when he took his pill, he was rewarded with a kitty treat. Now all I have to do is pick up his pill bottle and he comes running (he could be deep asleep and wake right up, spring up and come racing to me). I open his mouth, put the pill back and stroke his throat. He swallows them without problem and then excitedly waits for his treat! The vet gave me a piller to try when he was first diagnosed - he took one look at that thing and shrieked. I tried it once and never again! It looked scary to me too!
ok, yeah i'l try rewarding him lots.
 

calico2222

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Originally Posted by LokisMum

Loki has to take his prednisone for asthma every other day. It was a chore when he first started, but when he took his pill, he was rewarded with a kitty treat. Now all I have to do is pick up his pill bottle and he comes running (he could be deep asleep and wake right up, spring up and come racing to me). I open his mouth, put the pill back and stroke his throat. He swallows them without problem and then excitedly waits for his treat! The vet gave me a piller to try when he was first diagnosed - he took one look at that thing and shrieked. I tried it once and never again! It looked scary to me too!
Monster was the same way with the piller. She was more scared of it than she was the pill! Tried it once then it went in the junk drawer.
 

lokismum

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Originally Posted by calico2222

Monster was the same way with the piller. She was more scared of it than she was the pill! Tried it once then it went in the junk drawer.
I don't know who dreamed those things up, but they certainly aren't disguised in any way as ANYTHING that ANYONE would ever want down their throat! Maybe if they made it look like a mousie................
 
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catcrazyperson

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Originally Posted by LokisMum

I don't know who dreamed those things up, but they certainly aren't disguised in any way as ANYTHING that ANYONE would ever want down their throat! Maybe if they made it look like a mousie................

now im curious as to what it looks like...
 

beandip

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The piller does help if your cat is skilled at snapping his/her jaw shut on your fingers. The vet told me if your holding their jaw in the correct spot, they "can't" bite. Hmmm. I only use the piller when I have to. I only do it manually when I have to.

Beandip needs two pills a day. For awhile, I could do it on my own. Catch Bean, he freezes, tip his head back, jaw opens, throw pill in, done. Then he became more than I could handle. So it took two of us. Then he started spending most of his time under the bed, fearing pill time. That wasn't fun
.

Then I discovered Pill Pockets (treats w/ a hole in the center). Pricey, but well worth it IMO. He ate the chicken ones faithfully for 2 months. Then he got tired of that, and we did the salmon type for awhile. Then he got tired of those and just looked at me, like "am I supposed to eat that??". I've dipped them (the pill pockets) in baby food, yummy a/d cat food, all sorts of tricks...it's still working.
Velveeta balls work too...not the healthiest, but whenever I don't have to force the pill on him, I'm happy
 

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I had to give Leo antibiotic tablets twice daily when he managed to cut his paw pad open. It was extremely easy, as the pills were small and slim, i could split open one of his favourite cat treats and slip the pill inside, squash it together, present it to him and he would just gobble it down as usual!

So I recommend trying this if the pills are small enough, definitely worth a try.
 
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catcrazyperson

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YAY!!!!! SOCKS TOOK HIS PILL!!! SOCKS TOOK HIS PILL!!!! WOOT WOOT!!!!


Originally Posted by beandip

Then I discovered Pill Pockets (treats w/ a hole in the center). Pricey, but well worth it IMO. He ate the chicken ones faithfully for 2 months. Then he got tired of that, and we did the salmon type for awhile. Then he got tired of those and just looked at me, like "am I supposed to eat that??". I've dipped them (the pill pockets) in baby food, yummy a/d cat food, all sorts of tricks...it's still working.
Velveeta balls work too...not the healthiest, but whenever I don't have to force the pill on him, I'm happy
Originally Posted by GlamourPuss

I had to give Leo antibiotic tablets twice daily when he managed to cut his paw pad open. It was extremely easy, as the pills were small and slim, i could split open one of his favourite cat treats and slip the pill inside, squash it together, present it to him and he would just gobble it down as usual!

So I recommend trying this if the pills are small enough, definitely worth a try.
yes i actually tryed something like this. i made a little ball of wet food (eweww, but hey, it worked!) and crammed the pill in it. i was a liitle worried that he would pick out the pill like peanuts does, but he didn't!!!!! he likes food too much to stop and examine it, lol. i will be hoping that he doesn't wise up!!!!

Thank you everyone, SO MUCH for your advise!!!!! It was much appricaited!!!!!!!
 

stephanietx

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If it's a tablet, I usually break it into small pieces and mix in with wet food. If this doesn't work, I ask for either a liquid at the vet, or for the prescription treats from the vet. Found out Hannah doesn't like the tuna flavored ones, but she loves the seafood, liver, and chicken ones!

Stephanie
 
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