Zyrtec for Cats

 

so great to hear good news for a change YAY!!

I would just like to know, for anyone using Zyrtec for their cats allergies, if it is bitter tasting to the cat, how do you give your cat Zyrtec. I have ordered some online and am anxiously waiting. I had horrible luck trying to give her Benadryl, liquid and pill form. No matter what way I give her Benadryl, and yes even in pill pockets, she chews it up and foams like crazy from the mouth and the whole thing is so horrifying for her and me. I know it's a "normal" reaction from the bitter taste but I am not going through that again nor to her. I am just praying to the Gods that the Zyrtec is not bitter and I might be able to crush it up and give it to her in her food. If anyone could just let me know if they find their cat doing this with the Zyrtec and if so, how do you administer it without that happening, if it happens. Thanks so much for all and any replies!!

CrazyCatLady41 said:

 
I would just like to know, for anyone using Zyrtec for their cats allergies, if it is bitter tasting to the cat, how do you give your cat Zyrtec. I have ordered some online and am anxiously waiting. I had horrible luck trying to give her Benadryl, liquid and pill form. No matter what way I give her Benadryl, and yes even in pill pockets, she chews it up and foams like crazy from the mouth and the whole thing is so horrifying for her and me. I know it's a "normal" reaction from the bitter taste but I am not going through that again nor to her. I am just praying to the Gods that the Zyrtec is not bitter and I might be able to crush it up and give it to her in her food. If anyone could just let me know if they find their cat doing this with the Zyrtec and if so, how do you administer it without that happening, if it happens. Thanks so much for all and any replies!!

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Our specialist (AAFP feline specialist) recommended Zyrtec for our gray girl who has eosinophilic granuloma complex/mosquito allergy. She suggested half a tablet once daily (5 mg. total) for Skye, based on her weight and being a senior (almost 14). I use a pill popper, or I use a certain technique that I learned as a tech. I gently grasp the kitty's head at the zygomatic arch, tilt the head back slightly, so her nose is pointing about 20 degrees up (looking towards a corner of the ceiling), then pop the pill in with my other hand. It's easier to show than tell! Then I follow it immediately with a few drops of Pet-Tinic vitamin liquid on her lips or gums to make her lick and inevitably swallow the pill. You can smear a little butter or tuna liquid, or hairball goo... anything tasty on the mouth to make them lick and swallow. But you have to do this as a smooth and confident maneuver!

The Zyrtec is helping a lot.

Thank you for your spin on things...it's good to get  different advice and kind of go with what works best for us...I wish I was that  confident to try something like that but I think I might make more misery than  good..I was terrible at trying to drop to the pill hid in a tiny piece of cheese at the back of the tongue..covered with a bit of fish oil..and that was with someone else helping (holding her) lol I'm sure practice makes perfect but she's a timid cat on the best of day, I'm so scared she's going to end up hating me by the time I actually get a pill into her. I forgot to mention the pills I'm getting are 5mg tabs and are supposively VERY tiny, they can't be tiny enough in my opinion! lol I'm wondering if I might be able to get away with crushing these particular ones and putting it into her wet food if they are so small, I'm going to try it anyways! I also today have started to omit chicken and fish from her diet. I need to find the culprit to these allergies...so trial and error. I bought her duck and pea canned food and dry so hoping I can get some relief for her soon one way or another!

Interesting, hadn't heard of using Zyrtec for allergies with cats, but rather as an appetite stimulant when the regular ones didn't work. Although it does make sense to use it for allergies.

CrazyCatLady41 said:

 
Thank you for your spin on things...it's good to get  different advice and kind of go with what works best for us...I wish I was that  confident to try something like that but I think I might make more misery than  good..I was terrible at trying to drop to the pill hid in a tiny piece of cheese at the back of the tongue..covered with a bit of fish oil..and that was with someone else helping (holding her) lol I'm sure practice makes perfect but she's a timid cat on the best of day, I'm so scared she's going to end up hating me by the time I actually get a pill into her. I forgot to mention the pills I'm getting are 5mg tabs and are supposively VERY tiny, they can't be tiny enough in my opinion! lol I'm wondering if I might be able to get away with crushing these particular ones and putting it into her wet food if they are so small, I'm going to try it anyways! I also today have started to omit chicken and fish from her diet. I need to find the culprit to these allergies...so trial and error. I bought her duck and pea canned food and dry so hoping I can get some relief for her soon one way or another!

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Many antihistamines are quite bitter, and it's not easy to hide them in food. Cats check their food more closely than dogs and if there's something "unsavory" in there (by the cat's opinion), they won't eat it and may even avoid that food from that point on. Plus, if the cat doesn't finish all the food, he doesn't get all the medicine.

You CAN try Pill Pockets pilling treats for cats. We have had some modest success with getting cats to take them.

Many cats really like Pet-Tinic liquid vitamins. I have had some luck with grinding the pill and mixing it into about .5 to1 ml of that syrupy liquid and giving it via oral syringe or dropper. I never tried putting it into some tasty hairball gel, but that might be another thing to try.

I've never heard of the Pet-Tinic liquid vitamins, is that something you get from the vet? I did try the pill pockets, putting a quarter of one benadryl into the pill pocket and giving it to her and I had success two different times, she literally inhaled it, but then the third time she must have bit down on it and immediately started running around vomiting and foaming at the mouth. It just freaked me out so bad (and her)  that I don't have the bravery to try it again and I don't want her to lose her trust in me. I was really just hopeful the Zyrtec might not be as bitter. Another thing against me is by quartering the benardryl the pill is exposed and not completely surrounded by a coating so more than likely she's going to foam and vomit each time, I'm not sure if these particular 5mg tabs of Zyrtec I'm getting are coated or not, I really hope so! Maybe then I will have better luck with a pill pocket, the pill not melting against her tongue as quick like the Benadryl. You'd think they would have come out with something by now where you could just get like an allergy medicine for cats in a paste that is flavoured to something they like and not bitter. Maybe I'll have to invent it lol Thanks again for your quick response and advice! I appreciate it so much

Pet-tinic is a vitamin and iron supplement liquid. It's pretty palatable, and useful for many things including anemia or even just as a "dribble" to help medicine go down.The B vitamins often help stimulate appetite and increase energy. Sometimes just a few drops on the cat's lips will help him lick and make a pill go down easier once it's in his mouth. Schrodie LOVES this stuff!

I get mine as an over-the-counter from the vet, no script needed here (but clinic rules may vary).

I'm not yet allowed to post outside links so I'll post a photo so you can get an idea. It's made by Pfizer.

Also available in 4 ounce bottles... and there are similar preparations by other companies. This just happens to be the one I've used for years.

"Crazy", have you tried getting some empty gel caps? You can buy just the empty capsules and use the smallest one possible to contain the Benadryl. It will cover those cut sides. We used to use gel caps to bundle multiple meds that could be given together, and give all the meds in one capsule if they would fit into a cap that the cat could easily swallow. It was MUCH simpler than trying to give several meds one at a time.

You can probably find those at a health food store or even your local drug store.

Thanks for the useful info! I'll have a look for those drops and capsules would be  great if I wasn't so chicken to put things down her throat that didn't go so well for me the other night and I had someone else holding my cat while I tried to get a little piece of benadryl wrapped in a tiny piece of cheese, it was a disaster. I really need to tackle what it is she is actually allergic to, I'm sure it's a food allergy. I'm going to go to my local vet on Wednesday and see if they have some sort of food for allergies. It's going to cost me but she's worth it. I had her into the vet also where they did say she had symptoms of allergies and just put her on prednisone. Which did help the itching (not the sneezing or congestion)  for those days she was on it and now that she's off of it ( I don't want her taking those type drugs for very long) she's worse than ever.

Just an update, my cat sneezed and started breathing through her mouth which I've never seen before so I know she's sooo congested. I knew I had to get a little piece of benadryl into her one way or another so I got my son to hold her while my good friend put the benadryl wrapped in a little piece of pill pocket down her throat while I hid in my bedroom, that's how much of a chicken I am about it all. I wish I wasn't...it was a huge success and she should soon be feeling some relief. I told them I'll be getting them to do this again lol and hopefully the 5mg Zyrtec which are even smaller will go down even easier and I MIGHT be ok to do it myself over time. I've never had a cat I was so attached to in my life as this one so it really bothers me to see her suffer with allergy symptoms and not able to breath through her nose, and also it really affects me to see her foam and vomit from the benadryl. Ugh, and I just put my other 14 yo cat to sleep 2 weeks ago, it's so very stressful! They are wonderful to have and bring me great joy in my life but when it comes time to them getting sick and dying or just not feeling well in general, it's all so upsetting and traumatizing to me. I know that seems probably silly to some but I love my cats more than most people.

I have the best luck either crushing the pill and mixing it into meat baby food or wet food OR hiding the pill in a small piece of cheese.  My kitties love cheese, so this is an easy way for us to do it.

If your cat likes the "good" cheese spread in the tubs,, that can work too. It's a bit stickier, so the kitty is less likely do separate it from the cheese without swallowing the pill. This is a variation on the peanut butter trick that we use with d*gs. Most of "them" like peanut butter so that's a great way to get a pill into a "kaynine". It might work for your cat, too.

This is with the Zyrtec? Your cats don't seem to taste it in the wet food or within the piece of cheese as they chew it? I'm assuming Zyrtec must not be as bitter as the benadryl...hoping so at least : / I hate giving her benadryl too, after finally getting it into her last night, she was very lethargic, wouldn't sleep but was veryyy doped up and not able to jump up and down things so easily and acting not herself, it was awful. I just think it's so cruel and just as cruel not to give it to them and watch them scratch like mad and be all congested and can't breath properly.  I only had given her not even a quarter of one benadryl. I hope I have a better experience and so does she with the Zyrtec. Thanks for your input

Mackie Mac, sorry I didn't understand what you said there, spread in the tubs...the cheese... might have been a typo? That would be ideal, to get something in her mouth that she'd take herself and doesn't seperate once in there because then she just spits out the pill or crunches down onto it and then vomits and foams like mad. I'm also ordering a pill popper online and going to see if that may help also.

Crazy, this was the kind of cheese in the tub I was talking about:-- one common brand, but there are others. Or, there is spreadable cream cheese, too. (second image). Even soft "block" style cream cheese like "Philadelphia" brand might work. Plain flavor only without chive or fruit or anything else.

Neufchatel cheese is similar to cream cheese-- it's just lower fat. That might work just as well and it tastes just as good on a bagel as regular cream cheese, so if you're counting calories... you can enjoy this as much as your kitty does.

if you coat the pill in butter it would hide the smell.

Claritin is also used for allergies=this has no taste=I take the dose and mash with the back of  a spoon and put it  in a tiny bit of wet food/baby food etc and have the cat eat it.I used to use noname brand of Claritin and its the one that does not have the "D" in it=just plain Claritin, it has no odor or taste so the cat tolerates it better. The dose is 2.5mg or 5 mg depending on the cat. This is cut from a  10 mg=they are pretty small anyways. I bought a pill cutter and this works much better. I found a 1/4 tab was sometimes effective. Maybe this could be another alternative.

Heres where I found the dose information:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...mine%20handout.docx+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

And as always=check with your vet prior to giving meds!

Thanks Mackie Mac, I will try the cream cheese as I have it on hand, I'm worried it might stick to her mouth which would keep the pill in her mouth longer? I will try it once I get the Zyrtec and can hide a whole pill which is 5mg (supposively very tiny) and the recommended dosage for her size. I'm just so nervous using the benadryl as I have to cut it and then the inside is exposed risking her to taste it and vomit/foam. I'll let you know if I have any luck! Thanks again, really appreciate all your replies, alot of helpful ideas and suggestions.

Foxycat that is interesting, I never knew the Claritin had no smell/taste that is exactly what I was going for but heard Zyrtec was one of the best for allergies and these particular 5mg tabs are suppose to be very small so I thought I'd try those, but if I can't get it down easily it's not that beneficial. I'll try the Zyrtec anyways as it's coming in the mail any day now, and if I have no luck with that, I will most definatley try the Claritin! My cat is 14 pnds, she's a big girl lol but I don't think I would try anything more than a quarter of one pill, I'd rather start small and see how she does then work up if it's not relieving for her. I was recommended by the  vet to give her  benadryl but honestly, it's just so hard getting it down whatever way I try because of the bitterness...liquid and tablets....and I don't like her seeing her so doped up on it (less than a quarter of a pill)  that I'd much rather try something else. Do you find the Claritin makes your cat drowsy? Thanks so much!!!