pilling a cat

Help!

My geriatric cat has been put on Tapazole for his overactive thyroid.
The problem is how to give the pill to him. He needs one pill two times a day.
The first few days he let me give the pill to him.
Now, he hisses and fights me when I go to pick him up to give him his medicine.
I tried putting one pill in some food and he at the food, but it took awhile and he seemed to mistrust the food.
Does anyone out there have any tips on how to pill a cat?

Thanks in advance

I would talk to your vet, I know that there are some medications that the drug companies make into a gel you rub on the cats ears. I don't know if this would be one of those though?

The best way to pill a cat is to kneel on the floor and place the cat so his back is to your stomach. Cross your ankles, and gently scruff the neck, open the mouth and using a pill gun, shoot the pill into the cats mouth, massage the throat, take our a treat and give to the cat and release. When the cat is getting the pill, he will backpedal against you, but will be unable to go anywhere. This is how I pill my feral cats and it works every time.


You also want to go up to him and just feed him treats and give him pets so he doesn't associate every time you approach him he is going to be captured and pilled.

You can get a pill gun at your vet's office.

My vet (and my vet friend) both say it's advisable to squirt some water into the cat's mouth after pilling too, to help it go down.

No matter what method I use, I never seem to be able to pill my crew. I absolutely dread the day that I have to pill somebody every day. My Siamese is totally impossible. I'll just have to hope that whatever he needs comes in injectible form. LOL.

Julia.

You can try crushing it and putting it into a teaspoon of wet food or turkey baby food. Most of the time, the food hides the taste pretty well.

Another thing you can do, is drop some treats into the pill bottle and seal it up tight- use Pouce or something similiar, don't use wet food. The pills will absorb the smell of the treats and not make it so difficult for the kitty to accept the pill. Also, please be careful about squirting water down a cat's throat. Really not a great idea.

TWO vets have told me to squirt water into the mouth after pilling. They actually did a test to see how long a pill could stay in the throat, and it was an extraordinary amount of time. I'll ask my vet where she got this info from when she's online. This must be new(ish) research because my vet never used to bother, but started doing it (and told me to do it) about a year ago.

Here is the article, which concludes that pilling is best followed with a squirt of water from the DVM Magazine...last paragraph.

DVM Magazine

Julia.

My vet is a board certified feline specialist and she dispenses a syringe to give some water after pills, too. Apparently if you don't, the pill sticks in their throats and can cause ulcers. You don't squirt the water down their throat, you just put some into their mouth, just like you do with liquid medicine. They don't choke on it. Becky

I understand what is involved, but the problem is someone new to cat care might not and try to squirt water down the cat's throat. Not a good idea at all. You can coat the capsule or the pill with butter to slide it down easier and not have to worry about possibly flooding the lungs if you don't know what you are doing.

Yup, squirting down the throat is risky business. I wouldn't try to do it. I was told to do this to a very sick cat, I decided I'd rather learn how to administer fluids sub-q, far safer.

But, in the post, it did say mouth, and not throat. I think it's important to ensure the correct "word" is used, to prevent any mis-understanding. You don't need to use much, just a little squirt.

I've tried the butter trick, I just end up covered in cat spit & butter. LOL. I absolutely loathe pilling my cats, they are impossible to do. My Siamese in particular is such a squirmer, and he's very little....I'm terrified of hurting him.

Julia.

I asked my vet friend about this pilling thing tonight. She said it is more dangerous NOT to follow up with water than to follow up with water. She said something about "esophageal strictures". Which I don't know anything about.

Basically, it is hard even for a novice to do harm when following up with water because you're only using a squirt. IF it got into the lungs, she said it is similar to when you're swimming & some water accidentally goes down the wrong way. You gag, but no harm is done. She goes on to say..."cats have very poor esophageal motility....when you pill a cat, the pill sits in the esophagus until it eats or drinks somethng".

Julia.

Does your cat like cheese??

I had a hyperthyroid cat that I had to give Tapazole too, and the ONLY way I could give it to him that was SO SIMPLE, was to rip off a piece of American cheese, push the pill into it, cover it with another little piece, and he would just eat the little ball of cheese, "no questions asked"!

If he's a cheese eater, this is guaranteed to work! Let me know!

My Emmet has had to take Amoxicillian for the past two weeks because of his blockages and stuff...he despises it, but my boyfriend and i have it down pretty good now......
We bring Emmet into the bathroom, close the door and put him on the toilet seat cover...(he loves this cover)
My boyfriend holds emmet in place and opens his mouth
I drop the pill in.....
then we give him lots of hugs kisses and treats....Hes not too bad now that we have this routine going...though be advised...smart cats will hang onto the pill till they get to a safe place...for the first few days Emmet was stashing his pills in the litter box....lmao....the only reason we caught him was because we are monitoring his bathroom visits....../

Originally Posted by Misha

I asked my vet friend about this pilling thing tonight. She said it is more dangerous NOT to follow up with water than to follow up with water. She said something about "esophageal strictures". Which I don't know anything about.

Basically, it is hard even for a novice to do harm when following up with water because you're only using a squirt. IF it got into the lungs, she said it is similar to when you're swimming & some water accidentally goes down the wrong way. You gag, but no harm is done. She goes on to say..."cats have very poor esophageal motility....when you pill a cat, the pill sits in the esophagus until it eats or drinks somethng".

Julia.

Click to expand...

I am trying to research the best way to get Dori to swallow a pill and came across this old thread.. Is it true the pill will stay stuck until she eats or drinks? When the vet gave her the pill today he just stuck it in the back of her throat and that was it, there wasn't any water given to her, and he didn't mention she needed any. This is going to be harder than I thought. I don't want to cause any harm to her.

I've used the pill gun but know I will put a little dab of butter and tickle throat so they swallow. I don't like when they spit it out and you have to try again!!

I have to pill Zoey because right now she has a bladder infection. And these pills are freaking horse pills. It's horrible. My vet actually suggested squirting water too but I just cant see that happening.. its hard enough to get the pill down but then to have get water and open her mouth again, what a fiasco.

I like the idea of putting treats in the pill bottle.. however, I am concerned that then she will associate the treats with the medicine and not want her treats anymore.

It is pretty important to follow pills with water, or with food. This article explains it well. If it would be too hard to get your kitty to accept a squirt of water, giver her a treat. Becky