A Pill Pusher? What is it and where can I get it?

As noted in another conversation, I also have problems getting the cats to take their worm medicine, and for some, it has always been impossible.

Where does one get a pill pusher? My vets have never mentioned such a thing....

Sometimes I feel like I live in the back of the beyond.

Usually vet in the US carry them. However, I have seen them at large pet stores and online pet stores. They really do work pretty well for those cats who refuse to take a pill. It also saves your fingers

Many thanks, Sandy. I will explore.....

Hi. We had the de wormer medication in pill form also, but we were told to take the capsule apart and spread it over the food and then that way, they get the medication if they are hungry. Also a good idea I found when the pills are really small (as a lot of cat medicine is) is to get a kitty treat (we use the Pounce cat treats) break it in half, take the pill and put it in the middle of the treat, then put it back together. It worked wonderful for our first cat (took a couple of years to figure it out but now we know lol). They get the medication and a treat w/o knowing about the medication! Hope this helps some. Pam

Alas, I know all about the treats and food methods. Unfortunately, my cats, having had to survive in a dangerous world, simply won't willing take the worm pills not matter how I camouflage them. The ones here who survive are the ones who refuse to put any strange-smelling thing in their mouths. The dogs are less discriminating, so they are no problem at all.

There are also shots for deworming, but they are rather painful, and I have to take each cat to the vet for the injections -- that requires -- provided I can take three cats at a time -- 6 trips to the city -- complicated by the fact that sometimes you have to deworm several times before you get rid of the buggers, and then they are back in three or four months and you have to go all over again.

I can use the Revolution stuff to get the pin worms (along with fleas and ticks), but unfortunately, the most common worms here are tapeworms.

I suppose if I and the cats live long enough, we will have simpler and less intrusive ways to deworm our furry friends...

Hi. Sorry my idea didn't work for you. Our cats must just be really spoiled...or not enough and when they get kitty treats, they don't care what's in them, as long as they get to eat them! That's the only way I know how to get them to take the medication...too bad medicine doesn't smell or taste funny. You could get them to eat it no prob if it smelled like good kitty food Have you tried mixing it in with canned cat food? For some reason, cats like the smell of canned cat food (yuck-it stinks!) Maybe they'll take it that way. Just an idea...except if you feed your kitties dry cat food, maybe mix the dry stuff in too so they don't think that they will get the canned stuff ALL the time lol. Anyways, I don't know if this will help you any, but it's a couple more ideas. Good luck. Pam

I got all the animals to take their ringworm medication in canned food. The cats didn't want the normal salmon or tuna chunks for cats (but the dogs loved it, so I used that for the dogs. What the cats wanted was the chicken dinner chunks for dogs (tried the one for cats, but they hated that immediately almost as much as they hated the fishy chunks). The dogs liked that too, but I know I'm on to a good thing when 100 percent of the cats will eat the same stuff.

So even though it was a little bitter, the ringworm pills (crushed and mixed in the food, of course) went down OK as long as I didn't run out of dog food chicken dinner chunks.

No problem with getting the dogs to take the worm medicine, either. They will really gobble up anything. But the cats can smell it crushed, whole, mixed in food, not mixed in food. They simply hate the worm medicine. The vet suggests pushing a pill to the back of the throat and then grasping the cats face so it can't breathe until it swallows. But after I have used both arms to pin the cat down, and at least one hand to keep a firm hold on the nap of the neck, I just don't seem to have two more hands to pry open the cat's mouth while simultaneously popping a pill down the throat.

Being the proverbial little old lady with cats and living alone with 25 animals, there just is not an extra pair of hands.

Oh well...