How do I get my cat to take a pill?

I am just offering a veterinarian approved method, if you don't want to do it or it does not work for you and your cat,  that's fine too.

We have to give our elderly cat several pills a day and the tehcnique we use is to open the mouth with the cat standing up (which means only one paw is available to resist), pop in the pill to the back of the throat and follow up quickly with 10ml of cold water from a syringe.  This has worked on several cats.  An alternative which a friend used to use is to pop the cat into a sleeve of an old sweater, with just the head sticking out - I've never tried it, but is probably more secure than a towel.

I have been giving my cats pills for a few years now and it's a matter of training them and you....

1. Use a pill popper, I found this one brand on ebay you can get for cheap with replacement tips

 - I cut the very end of the tip off so the plunger is even with the end of the tip, otherwise pills tend to get stuck inside

2. Get a bag of treats they like

Ok so now to give the cat the pill and start training it

1. Put the pill in the pill popper and lay it down on the bed, best place to start

2. Call your cat up to the bed and pet it and give it a single treat

3. Talk to your cat Nicely, you cat will pick up on you if you get mad our yell and it will remember and fight you for future pills

4. Pick up pill popper and then lightly grip/pinch the back of the cats neck, keep talking to it nicely

5. Lightly double tab the pill popper under the cats chin, this will be your future trigger

6. wiggle the pill popper on left or right side and be gentle, keep talking nice so your cat knows your not mad at him/her and try to wiggle in the pill popper till he/she opens his/her mouth and with a slight angle on the head upward aim the pill popper for the throat ( the hole ) and pop in the pill... If the pill is big you will have to get a pill cutter and cut it in half or even 1/3 or 1/4.  the pill may pop right out or drop out after a sec depending on placement, then try again

OK so now the pill is in, this is the most important part, give you cat 2 or 3 treats, pet them, sweet talk them Good kitty so on for a bit, this lets the kitty know its been rewarded and been good, so future pill pops should get easy. My cat waits at the edge of the bed for me am and PM pill pops and it pretty easy now

Also always check the pill popper by pulling the handle back and then forward, pill tend to get stuck inside...

This is the guy I bought my from, I bought a few and they work great after you cut the tip off at the very end so it's open ended: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pet-Dog-Cat...hash=item4d2afc5607:m:m6Co3rZxZG9Wtl2L9wpS3qA

My cat loves turkey and ham deli meat.  I opened the capsule, and dabbed the powder on the sliced turkey/ham, but not too much at a time. He scarfed it down.  Wasn't perfect, but he got most of the medicine this way.  If he doesn't like any type of lunch meat - what about tuna? Or the water from the tuna?  

So the issue with putting the pill in the food is your cat will catch on and stop eating it and had over to the dry food, more so your cats Fav food will now bring him bad memories and he will stop eating them. The pill popper is best unless you have to go the food route.

The only way that I can get my cats to take medication in pill form (crushed or powder from capsule) is to mix it with a little bit of baby food w/water and syringe it.  I have tried every other way and was unsuccessful.  Wish you lots of luck and success in whatever method works for you!  

@GhibliTheCat   How is Ghibli doing?   Are you still having to give medication or is all well now?

I used to have a cat there was no way to just give medication to, or to burito wrap and I got very expert at what I called the 'pin down' technique (a recognised technique but I can never remember the proper name) where you kneel on the floor with your cat between your knees and legs, have your feet together behind you so the cat can't wriggle back, and sit gently to use your body weight to stop them standing up - your body holds them firmy all over which is actually quite calming in a similar way to using something like a weighted blanket or vest.  You then hold the mouth / jaw with one hand to open it and get the medication in to the mouth with the other hand.  You can also hold them there for a little while and try to soothe them and stop their running off to sick up the medication.

Sara has been very challenging to pill lately. Everything I've tried lasts about two days before it stops working. I'm trying not to use the pill gun (finally found my gel caps though!) but may resort to it because I just don't have an hour to kill each morning and each night, especially during the week, just to make sure she eats her pill pocket/sandwich/whatever way I try to present it. Mornings are by far easier, and if I can do it right when she wakes up, it's even easier. But hard to get that moment just right all the time.

Sara decided she must like pill pockets (all by themselves) again. I decided to try one on her with her 1/4 Pepcid in it, and she gobbled it up. I gave her the methimazole before that and had to make an open-faced "pill wrap sandwich" in that case with Irresistables as the "bread".

Ah well, I got it in her and with relatively little effort. I'll consider that a little victory.

How to get a cat to take a pill?  Tough one!

If a cat doesn't want to take a pill and you can't coax it or "trick" it into taking pills, unfortunately, it might be a little rough.  You might have to "man handle" it a bit more than you're used to doing.  (Not fun.)

Is your cat a scratcher?  Some cats can take a little man handling better than others.  Some just turn into a ball of flying claws and fur.

I gather, from reading above, that many people at CatSite have been able to coax their cats to take pills by wrapping them up in something yummy.

If you can coax a cat into thinking that it was his idea in the first place, more's the better!  If not, you'll have to... uh... "make" him take it.

The main idea to get cats (or any animal) to take a pill is to ONLY be as forceful as necessary.  If you just grab and animal and shove some "icky pill" down its throat, it will freak and try to escape.  If you have a cat who is expert at the "Flying Claw" you are going to get hurt.  Nobody wants to get hurt!  Not you.  Not the animal!

Escalating levels!  Start easy and work up to "making" the cat take his medicine ONLY as much as necessary.

Start with coaxing and tricking with yummy treats.  It works with some animals.  It usually works with dogs a lot easier than cats.

Heck!  I had one dog that would eat anything he thought a human was eating.  All you had to do was pretend to eat a pill and the dog would want to eat it, too!  (Gosh!  I wish cats were like that!)  Maybe you can wrap it up in a piece of hamburger or something.  90% of dogs will fall for that trick but only about 50% of the cats I ever knew would fall for it.

If that doesn't work, it's time to push the "chin button."

On a dog or a cat, if you press your thumb and forefinger, hard, against the muscles at the corners of its mouth, right where the mandible "hinges" with the skull, you will activate a nerve reflex that will make the jaw pop open.  The bigger the animal, the harder you will have to press.  Since cats are small, you shouldn't have to press the "chin button" very hard.  Just finger pressure will make the cat's jaw open about a half inch.  That's all you need.  Slip the pill in and hold the jaws shut until the cat swallows.  Should only take a half a minute.  Coat the pill with something yummy if you have to.  Try some gravy!  (Mmm!  Gravy!)

You'll know that the animal has swallowed when you see its tongue jut out from between its front teeth.

Hold the mouth shut until you see the tongue flick out.  Done!

If this doesn't work, you'll have to go up to the next level.  You're probably going to have to get the animal in a "wrestling hold" and push the pill into the back of its mouth.  (This is a lot "less fun".)  Most pills have a coating that will get a bit sticky when they are wet.  Lick your middle (the longest) finger and stick the pill to the tip of your finger.

Hold the cat under one arm (in a wrestling grip) and press the "chin button" with one hand while pushing the pill to the back of its mouth with the tip of the finger on the other hand.  Done correctly, the cat won't be able to bite you because, holding the "chin button" won't let it close its mouth.  This is tricky because...unfortunately... the cat is going to gag and struggle.

Just get right in there...do the thing as quick and dirty as you can...get the "dirty deed" over as fast as possible.

I know this sounds icky and mean and hurtful but the alternative of having a sick cat is a lot worse...especially if this medicine is supposed to save the cat's life.

Now...If your cat is a scratcher, you're going to have to take some more extreme measures to protect yourself and to keep the cat from getting hurt, too.

It's time for what I have called the "kitty burrito."  It is just what it sounds like...  You get a bath towel or a blanket.  You lay the cat on the blanket and you roll it up like a giant, kitty burrito with only its head sticking out.  Once you have the cat in a kitty burrito, do the deed as above.

If your cat is really hesitant, you can use a "pill popper" like some others, have mentioned.

I have seen them but I have never needed to use one.  Even Casper, who is a strong, male cat, weighing in at 13 pounds... I can feed him a pill just using the "wrestling hold" as I said above.

You know what?  After the second or third time, he learns that he is going to have to take his pill, no matter what, so he just resolves himself to swallow it.

I have a feeling that he is smart enough to associate taking the pill with not being sick.  As much as taking a pill is "icky" for a cat, he realizes that it makes him feel better so he just "endures the humiliation."

I don't like having to man handle a cat like this but, if the cat is recalcitrant, it's got to be done.

Like I said...  Do it quick and dirty...  Get the deed over as fast as possible.

If the cat sulks or runs away and hides under the sofa, go ahead and let him.

If he is of the mind, pet him and play with him to distract him from having to take that "icky pill."

Like I said, I think that, once he realizes that the pill, as icky as it is, makes him better, he will start to relax.

Way back when...I had a cat named "K.C." who got a really BAD case of the worms!  He was pooping and barfing AND gagging all at the same time!  Poor cat had worms coming out both ends!  I had to worm him every day for almost a week!

Luckily, the vet gave him the worming pills at the clinic but he gave me his "take home" meds in liquid form, in syringes.  (No needles.  Just the squirty part.)

I had to give K.C. one syringe a day.  The vet said that the medicine was supposed to taste good.  Whatever it was, after the second or third time, the cat just lapped up his meds from the syringe as I squirted it into his mouth.  Worked out great.

I wish more cat meds could come in squirty syringes!

It would make cat-life a whole lot easier!

A pill gun, followed by a squirt of water from a tiny syringe usually did the ugly trick with our cats.  Be sure to wrap ghibli in a big towel before attempting this feat.  The cats were dismayed but the pill went down their hatches.

I think the trick I'm learning with Sara is catching her in a good mood. Whether that be her waking up or just a moment where she's not growling at the youngin's. This morning I put her one and a half pills into a pill pocket, took that and a bag of Irresistables with me into the bathroom, shut the door, and offered the pill pocket to her, and nothing. But she was in a good mood, so offered her an Irresistable. She ate that, then went after the pill pocket. In the process, she dropped the half-pill and a small piece of the whole one. I smushed an Irresistable onto the small piece of pill, she gobbled that up. I picked up the half pilled, tried to smush it into another Irresistable, and the treat crumbled. I smushed the whole mess together as much as possible and gave it to her. As expected, the half pill fell out. But then, she just ate the half pill all by itself, then proceeded to lick up all crumbs from the floor.

Yeah, pilling Sara has become quite the experience.

With Nat, it's just catching him.  He has retained so much of his feral instincts and me medicating him with yucky phenobarb twice a day doesn't help his view of me one little bit.      

So I have to make do with whatever little bit of exposure he gives me.  In the morning he follows me to the bathroom for a little petting, but then goes and hides under the table after that because he KNOWS what's next.  I can't get the pheno drawn up fast enough to get him.  Plus I go through syringes like every couple of days.  I've tried drawing it up the night before, but sometimes if the syringe needs to be changed the next morning the plunger will be stuck so when I go to give him that syringe, I don't give him the whole dose.  And have to re-give it after he's all scared of me.    

I still manage to nab him and get it in him somehow, mostly due to fact that he's not the smartest kitty in the world (but he's real sweet!)

I found that if I give Monte his pill in the pill pocket before I've fed him, he'll take the pill a lot easier if he's hungry.

A trick I also discovered is once I've put the pill in the pill pocket, I shape it into a pyramid shape so that the pill pocket doesn't roll around on the floor if my cat tries to lick the pill pocket.
This will work with any smaller kind of pill.

One of my three cats is a formerly feral cat and from the first day after she was brought into the house as an indoor-only cat she has ALWAYS readily taken oral medication in a pill pocket.   One of my neighbors has a little dog that usually refuses to take oral medication but readily takes his  heart worm "horse" pill when it is split into four equal pieces and then each piece is hidden inside a CAT pill pocket.  If he is reluctant to eat the pill pocket, we put some of his wet dog food on each pill pocket and he then will eat it with no resistance.

MServant said:

 
@GhibliTheCat   How is Ghibli doing?   Are you still having to give medication or is all well now?

I used to have a cat there was no way to just give medication to, or to burito wrap and I got very expert at what I called the 'pin down' technique (a recognised technique but I can never remember the proper name) where you kneel on the floor with your cat between your knees and legs, have your feet together behind you so the cat can't wriggle back, and sit gently to use your body weight to stop them standing up - your body holds them firmy all over which is actually quite calming in a similar way to using something like a weighted blanket or vest.  You then hold the mouth / jaw with one hand to open it and get the medication in to the mouth with the other hand.  You can also hold them there for a little while and try to soothe them and stop their running off to sick up the medication.

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He is back to 100% Thanks so much for asking! Other than the occasional diarrhea and stinky toots he is perfect. I'm still figuring out through trial and error what foods agree with him and what doesn't. He is such a sensitive little guy emotionally and gastrointestinally   

luna tuna said:

Ive managed to get her to eat it by crushing it and combining it with FortiFlora powder, then putting it on her food. Unfortunately since I feed her dry food, a lot of the powder ends up left in her bowl. So, she hasn't gotten quite all the medication. As for coughing up the pill.... Well, if you can keep her mouth closed and like run your fingers down her neck she should swallow it- then give her a treat. I'd do it that way, but I'm too small to keep her still (not even 5'). Even wrapping her in a towel or blanket, I'm not big enough to open her jaw and give her the pill and hold on her. She's quite an escape artist.
I'm still not sure what to do! ghiblithecat

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When you say crush is it still in its plastic thing? You can empty the medicine from the inside right or am I behind the times?

stewball I was taking about tablet-style medication. I'm currently giving Luna supplements that come in capsules, and for those, yes, you can empty the medication by opening the capsule. Tablet medication doesn't have the plastic pieces that can be taken apart, but it can be crushed into a powder for similar results.

Since I made that post, however, I've had to give my cat a yeast-flavored NSAID for a sprain, which she ate like it was a treat. Her capsule supplements (Duralactin and Dasuquin, which Ill currently swear on) I sprinkle on her dry food and she eats it happily. It all depends on the cat and the medication.

luna tuna said:

stewball I was taking about tablet-style medication. I'm currently giving Luna supplements that come in capsules, and for those, yes, you can empty the medication by opening the capsule. Tablet medication doesn't have the plastic pieces that can be taken apart, but it can be crushed into a powder for similar results.

Since I made that post, however, I've had to give my cat a yeast-flavored NSAID for a sprain, which she ate like it was a treat. Her capsule supplements (Duralactin and Dasuquin, which Ill currently swear on) I sprinkle on her dry food and she eats it happily. It all depends on the cat and the medication.

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Cats love yeasts. Have you heard of marmite? It's a British delicacy and cats love it..it's got yeast, malt, vitamin B. It's not fed to cata. Just licked off the finger.
Good luck with pilling poor kitty.

Turn the pill into powder and add it to a small amount of heavy whipping cream. Always works and if it is something they should be taking with a fatty food it's even better. Crushing it between two spoons works well.