Have to give cat a tablet

Whats the best way to give my cat this pill.

Should I open her mouth & force it down.
Should I put it in her canned food, will that work?

The Vet makes stuff like this, and cutting here nails
look easy, but she's kinda frozen stiff at the vets.
At home, I try this stuff & she doesn't sit still so its
much more difficult.

I never try to force tablets down cats throats. It is (or can be) stressful for both the cat and owner!

I use the subtle approach. I either bury the tablet deep inside cat food (usually only for very small tablets), or I crush/grind the tablet into powder form and mix the powder thoroughly into the food. This almost always works!

In the event the cat doesn't eat the food because of the mixed in powder, I sometimes use a variation. Get your cats favorite food and divide it into two lots, one heap at about 3/4 of total food, and the remaining 1/4 in the other heap. Mix the powder into the 3/4 heap. Start feeding cat from 1/4 (unpowdered) heap (by hand). Once momentum is going, take food from powdered 3/4 heap and feed cat. Now and then feed at random from 1/4 heap as necessary to maintain momentum. This usually works quite well also!

You did say "tablet", not powder...

First, you really need to understand some of the dangers associated with "pilling" cats...have a read of this Veterinarian's advice...make that a careful read, noting warnings against the cat "aspirating" (breathing in) any liquid, not raising the cat's head, etc.

All you need to know is in there....and, if you use a "pill popper", the same rules apply.

My cats will definitely not let me give them pills, ever. I have to crush the pill in his/her food. With pill pockets they eat the pocket and leave the pill. Good luck.

I use the very same method Laureen described, to pill any cat. I usually give a little shot of water with a syringe afterwards. After you have pilled a cat a few times, you get faster and more confident, and it gets easier.

If you are going to do it by hand, remember that alot of pills taste very bad, and if the pill gets on the cat's tongue, the bad taste can make them foam up, or even try to vomit afterwards. Try not to touch the pill into their mouth on the way by.

Every cat is different, so keep trying things until something works. My cat Thufir is absolutely horrible to pill. He's way too smart to fall for the pill pockets, and if I sprinkle medicine on his food he just won't eat it. So I pretty much have to pill him manually. Pill guns are hit or miss. I find that if you get them properly positioned and then press down on the trigger sharply, the pill slides far enough down the cat's throat that he'll swallow it instantly. Unfortunately, it's much harder to get the pill gun into position than it is to put the pill in with my fingers. In my case, since he thrashes his head about wildly, I've had to forgo the pill gun and just use my fingers. But even then my success rate is only about 50% and there have been times when his fur was covered with blood -- my blood -- by the time we were finished. It's really too much stress on him, not to mention me. I've decided that the next time he has to be pilled I'm going to either board him at the vet and let them do it (for short term stuff), or get a compounding pharmacy to put the medicine into some sort of good tasting paste that I can run on his paw.

I was using pill pockets until Coco bit into a Baytril Pill.
Now she will not touch pill pockets.
I put her in a blanket and put the pill as far back as I can get it in her mouth.
Sometimes it works.
Sometimes she spits out at least 6 times before it goes down.
Her liquid medicine is so much easier to give.

I'm lucky in that Harley will take medicine in pill pockets. She's almost done with her course of Droncit and she hasn't noticed at all that she's been taking pills.

I was absolutely amazed at my cats. i had never given them pills before. in the hotel before the drive home I had to give them a sedative. i held them sideways in my lap, and with my left hand opened their mouth and put the little pill a bit more than halfway back in their mouth. they both simply closed their mouth and swallowed. not a single problem. I knew i was lucky but I was also pretty proud of myself secretly

To give my kitty pills, is a job that requires both myself and my boyfriend. One of us has to hold her and hold her mouth open and then the other pushes the pill in and then closes her mouth so she doesn't immediately spit it out (though sometimes it takes a few attempts) however, she's very used to me syringing stuff to her (I used to have to syringe her milk) so once we've got the pill in there it's all pretty easy from there.

She's pretty good at picking things out of her food, so I'm pretty sure if I hid it in her food she'd pull it out or leave it there, so making her swallow it is the only way I can give it to her.

(And she doesn't like treats?! So I can't hide them in those either)

Tucker's been on antibiotics for over a month for a stubborn UTI..
The Vet gave us a liquid the first time which was a cinch once I got him to stay in one place. We started him on another antibiotic a few days ago and it's a pill..he HATES pills!
I bought a Piller and bring him into the bathroom and close the door..then I place him between my knees on the floor and tip his head up until his bottom jaw gets floppy.
Next, the fun part...I place the pillar (with the pill inside of the tip) toward the back of his mouth and pop the pill out....with luck it slides right down but usually (between his wiggling and my lack of ability) we have to try 3 or 4 times before it works.
On the bright side I haven't been bit or scratched yet!

Thanks for the replies everyone.

The pill I gave her had a slit in the middle, so I used a knife
& cut it into 2. Then I stuck the smaller pieces in some wet
food.

I made sure she was very hungry, then I fed her, and she
wolfed down the food with pill pieces without noticing the
pills, or without caring.

Thanks so much

The vet gave us Flagel, the last time. The pill foams when it gets wet....OMG!! It was all I could do to get in in far enough so the only thing Bandit could do was swallow.
Poor thing looked crazed a few times. This is my cat who eats all in site, she thinks she is part lab.

Originally Posted by newcat19

Thanks for the replies everyone.

The pill I gave her had a slit in the middle, so I used a knife
& cut it into 2. Then I stuck the smaller pieces in some wet
food.

I made sure she was very hungry, then I fed her, and she
wolfed down the food with pill pieces without noticing the
pills, or without caring.

Thanks so much

Click to expand...

Good job! The subtle approach is the best approach in my opinion; little or no stress for both cat and owner.

flash is good with pills just pop it on her tounge and thats that, but sooty you would think you were trying to kill him, have to put it in his food and even then it doesnt work

Originally Posted by BLAISE

You did say "tablet", not powder...

First, you really need to understand some of the dangers associated with "pilling" cats...have a read of this Veterinarian's advice...make that a careful read, noting warnings against the cat "aspirating" (breathing in) any liquid, not raising the cat's head, etc.

All you need to know is in there....and, if you use a "pill popper", the same rules apply.

Click to expand...

I found your links very helpful. My current cat is a champion feline wrestler. I still carry the scar from when I had to give her ear drops a year ago. And that only ear drops! She is a wonderful snuggely lap cat till.....ARUG!

My wrestling kitty had a few teeth out and her antibiotics were liquid. I worried so much about aspiration. Good advice.

Thank you for sharing.

feeding pills was a traumatic experience for me too when kimi first came and had flu. tried all ways - hid in food/treat, wrap towel force feed... eventually wrestling, etc.

until the vet taught me the simple trick - only skill required is a good aim

here's what to do :
1) elevate cat on table/ counter so tat u can face each other comfortably.
2) press thumb on her chin firmly n quickly. bring down lower jaw.
3) aim n throw pill into mouth. release thumb.
what happen next is the cat's reflex will be to swallow. plus she wun even taste it. all that's needed is step 3 to be really quick n accurate.

i used to 'play' with kimi's face - rubbing nose, lips, cheeks, even pinching nose bridge. guess that helps when i have to bring down her jaws to shoot the pills. so, if necessary, u may wan to get ur kitty comfortable with ur touching her jaws regions first.