New recommendations for disguising (herbal) medication in food?

[coqui]

Does anyone have any experience with getting their feline to take herbal treatments without using the syringe?

I'm looking for a real stinky (and healthy) vessel to hide my kitty's herbal treatment in. I have done TONS of research trying to find new ways to hide his herbs in food and so far the only way my boy will take it is if it has been boiled in tuna juice to reduce the bitterness/smell and then added to a small portion of tuna. What's worse is I have to give him this treatment twice daily. THIS IS NOT OKAY! I really want to get him off the tuna as soon as possible but I don't know what else could be stinky enough and decently priced to be feeding him twice a day for many months to come. Today I simmered the tuna with added chicken broth in a pot and then squeezed out all the juices into a jar so I can at least eliminate the flesh part and instead add it to his normal canned food, but I still think this is way too much exposure in a day. Ideally I want to find something that doesn't require moderation to stay healthy.

Side notes:  the herbs are in powder form with a very potent smell, the syringe method is an unsuccessful stressful mess and not realistic for when I am out of town and need a roommate to help with the treatment, any treats or pill pockets are no use, hiding it in canned food mixtures don't work because he already eats canned food and is too smart for that jazz, he doesn't have much of an appetite for human food (besides the tuna), and making a mixture with salmon oil hasn't worked...  My next attempt is liver or something!

 

[spiderplant]

Have you tried baby food(chicken flavor without onion)? I've found baby food mixed with bonito flakes(especially the finely crushed Cat Man Doo brand) works well. I've also had good luck with freeze dried meats, tripe, and Barley Cat. I'm not sure what kind of chicken broth or tuna you're using but definitely avoid any with onions or salt added. If your cat likes fish sardines(water packed, nothing added) might be worth a try. What kind of herbs are you using? 

 

[vball91]

Can you pill him? If so, how about using empty gelatin capsules (comes in assorted sizes) to put the powder in? That way he won't taste it.

 

[coqui]

Have you tried baby food(chicken flavor without onion)? I've found baby food mixed with bonito flakes(especially the finely crushed Cat Man Doo brand) works well. I've also had good luck with freeze dried meats, tripe, and Barley Cat. I'm not sure what kind of chicken broth or tuna you're using but definitely avoid any with onions or salt added. If your cat likes fish sardines(water packed, nothing added) might be worth a try. What kind of herbs are you using? 

I'm going to look more into these ideas, thanks! Are sardines okay for cats in a large consumption? He will be needing it twice daily.

I've describe Mowgli's condition and herbs journey here in the new cats on the block page

Can you pill him? If so, how about using empty gelatin capsules (comes in assorted sizes) to put the powder in? That way he won't taste it.

I'm looking for a method that I could have help with for when I'm not available, and I know for certain the people I live with are not willing enough to try any hands-on method unfortunately. Not with Mowgli's record of being such a tough guy!

I need to find something food related. Today he ate some of the canned food plus herbs with tuna juice mixed in, but again, I don't want him eating so much tuna-stuffs especially with his condition.

 

[coqui]

Update:

-Herbs sauteed in butter and added to semi-cooked chicken (though he loves the chicken!) doesn't work. 

-Started a new method of putting the water/herb mixture directly on to Mo's coat so he will have to lick it up. It's such a mess and some gets shaken off, and it will take him half the day to finally clean himself fully at which point I have to give him his second dose. He's starting to avoid me! Also, I'm finding vomit puddles around the house all of a sudden... another method crossed off my attempt list as a failure. Back to the horrid tuna mixture until I find something else again

I'd like to fill a few size 3 or 4 empty capsules to put inside some yummy food for him to see if he'll take it.. it may be my last hope at this point. I am really running into a lot of dead ends here. What is a real effectively stinky food? Is there a method I've been completely oblivious to (that isn't syringe or pilling)? Help!

 

[ldg]

Have you tried the Greenies pill pockets? I have a bitter herbal thing I have to give one of my cats. They're already in a capsule, but if they weren't, I'd put them in one. Thankfully this cat doesn't chew much, so if I tuck the capsule in a pill pocket with a rather thick layer of pill pocket around it, she'll "chew" once or twice, but not puncture the capsule, and then she just swallows the whole thing.

I buy the dog-sized pill pockets. They're the same ingredients as the cat ones, but larger (and cost less for an equivalent amount of "stuff" if you look at it on a weight-basis, not a number of "pockets" basis). I don't use the whole thing, just tear off what I need.

:dk:

Here's a chart that should help you determine what size capsule you'd need: http://www.capsuleconnection.com/capsules

Amazon sells manual fillers, some with tampers (which means you can get more in the capsule) for the larger sizes. I had to go to the Cap M Quick website to buy a filler for the size 3 capsules.

 

[ldg]

Have you tried the Greenies pill pockets? I have a bitter herbal thing I have to give one of my cats. They're already in a capsule, but if they weren't, I'd put them in one. Thankfully this cat doesn't chew much, so if I tuck the capsule in a pill pocket with a rather thick layer of pill pocket around it, she'll "chew" once or twice, but not puncture the capsule, and then she just swallows the whole thing.

I buy the dog-sized pill pockets. They're the same ingredients as the cat ones, but larger (and cost less for an equivalent amount of "stuff" if you look at it on a weight-basis, not a number of "pockets" basis). I don't use the whole thing, just tear off what I need.

:dk:

Here's a chart that should help you determine what size capsule you'd need: http://www.capsuleconnection.com/capsules

Amazon sells manual fillers, some with tampers (which means you can get more in the capsule) for the larger sizes. I had to go to the Cap M Quick website to buy a filler for the size 3 capsules.

 

[coqui]

We've finally found success in getting Mo to eat the herbs with food thanks to my roommate's special touch while I was out of town. Where the heck was she many stressful months ago?! Anyway,

-Heat powder herbs in good amount of water over stove just until a quick simmer, reduce heat, add small chunk of salmon, add decent chunk of wet cat food and mix. Put in cat dish and add splash of cold water to cool down and serve. I'm able to give both doses combined in this one mixture, reducing my dose-giving to twice a day instead of four. He is actually very excited to eat this!

Unfortunately he is still eating fish twice a day but at least it's not tuna and it's in much smaller amounts than before. Also, his current vet visit impressed our vet greatly with new healthy results in just 3-4 weeks from the last visit (she advised me to put my cat down the last time). Huzzah!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

This is interesting, because I found when I put some herbal medicine in water, the smell got so much stronger that I decided I should never do that again

.  Granted, it wasn't simmering water.  Maybe I should try that.   When you say "goodly amount of water", how much is that, realistically.  You are only  making enough for your cat to eat for one meal, right?  How much does he eat per meal...maybe 1/2 a can of food?  So maybe 2 T of water, 3/4 (square) inch of (raw?) salmon and 1/2 can (what size) or cat food?  Am I on the right track here?  I would SO love to be able to get my girls' herbal medicine into her

, but so far she has refused everything I have tried, including dividing it into about 10 pill pockets

 

[coqui]

Yes this is just for one dose in one meal for the morning (which is actually two dosages put together in one), and then same thing in the evening. I'm notorious for not actually measuring while cooking in the kitchen so bear with me. A more detailed procedure may help:

I use one of those real little single egg cooking pans which gives a great automatic portion size and put about, I'd say, 1/8 cup of water in it, enough to flood the bottom. The herbs call for 1/4 tsp. of two different herbs and I judge how much water to put in by that. Also, my boy only takes his normal wet food mixed with hot water anyway so I think it helps that it's soupy and familiar. I let the sides start to simmer without fully bringing it to a boil and then add just a small chunk of salmon (canned salmon - one can will last at least 8-10 doses!) and spoon-chop it to mix - reduce to low if any heat, those little pans heat up real quick and it should be enough at this point to just turn it off. The wet food cans I buy are in 13.2 oz. cans and again I take just a healthy spoonful of that and mix it in real good to thicken the "soup". I pour the mixture in his food bowl and add a splash of cold water first in the pan to help pour out any mixture that got stuck  and to help cool it all down. Careful not to burn your kitty's tongue! This all takes maybe three minutes total to prepare, it's super quick.

My cat needs encouragement to start eating so I have to pet him to get him going, and if he still doesn't like it I'll add just a tad more salmon or wet food to cover up the herb smell. Sometimes he does not eat it all in one sitting if I made it too soupy but if I add more wet food he'll think of it as a normal meal and finish it when he's hungry later. It turns out to be a decent size meal but I simply feed him again with normal wet food if he's wanting more. (I'm trying to get his weight back up and that means he gets to eat any and every time he's slightly wanting food). I think the feeding times are important to note: once in the morning when he's plenty hungry for it, and once in the evening when I can wait a good while after his previous meal so I know he's plenty hungry again. He does not get any in-between dry food snacks, if I can help it.

It has taken me many many many tries to finally get him to eat the herbs and I wonder if he is just used to them being somehow incorporated in his food that he won't put up the fight anymore! Keep trying! Let me know if I can help more.