Treat ideas for giving meds to allergic cat

[kiora]

My cat, Dawn, recently got diagnosed with kidney disease and we're having trouble giving her the Epakitin powder she needs. I'm looking for treat ideas that I can give her with the powder.

She's currently on a hydrolized hard food due to allergies and is also known to be allergic to chicken, turkey, duck, beef, rabbit, tuna, cat nip. I suspect she's allergic to most fish but haven't tried them all.

She likes tuna a lot, so hoping to find something enticing like tuna (though I'm sure nothing quite compares ).

Things I've tried:
- Bonito flakes
- Pumpkin
- Banana, mashed
- Blending & wetting her current food to make 'treats'
- Hydrolized treats: this worked but sadly i can't find them now.

 

[sivyaleah]

All of my cats have loved a small amount of cream cheese. I've used that a lot to hide meds for CKD and other illnesses. One of my cats didn't even lick at it - he pretty much inhaled the lump of it whole LOL. Was easy but I know many cats don't tolerate dairy well. I've been lucky all of mine have no issue with it.

Maybe mixing in nutritional yeast with one of the things you've tried already to hide the flavor? I can't imagine cats actually enjoying pumpkin or banana but if some of the nutritional yeast is mixed in supposedly it tastes like cheese so it might work (I have not tried it myself yet, not sure why, I probably would like it). The same cat already mentioned loved it sprinkled over his food. We used to do that to get him to eat when his appetite was off - we called it "Shakies" and he would run to the dish!

 

[maggie101]

Try tiki sticks or chuuru tubes. They come in tuna flavor almost 90% water

 

[LTS3]

Is the hydrolyzed food available in a canned version? If so, you can mix the powder into that.

Maybe try meat only baby food?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Gerber baby food meat (Stage 2) has a ham version that your cat may be willing to eat with the Epakatin in it. Also, if the hydrolyzed dry food doesn't come in a canned version, try mixing it with some water to see if she will eat some that way, if so, you could mix the Epakatin with it.

 

[kiora]

Thanks! From what i can tell the hydrolized food does not come in a canned version. I've mixed the dry with water to try and create a 'soft food' version, but she was not convinced.

The baby food is a good idea. If she's OK with that I may be able to create some 'treats' using her hard food and the baby food.

 

[Geul]

I give Benadryl to my cat and I know how difficult it might be. I tried many ways, but nothing worked, so I have nothing to do but wrap her in a towel, point her head to look up at the ceiling, gently insert the syringe at the side of her mouth, and squirt the medication slowly into her mouth. I should say she got used to this procedure with time. Also, I can suggest reading an article here https://www.cаtfoodpoint.com/benadryl-for-cats/ Maybe you will find some useful information there.

 

[kiora]

Thanks, I'll take a look! I have tried mixing the powder into water and giving it in syringe, but it doesn't mix well. We give her pills so if it would come in pill form we'd be all good

An update - she didn't like the baby food options i was able to find. Currently, I've been able to blend her hard food better with water to make a sort of paste - then I sprinkle fortiflora on it because she likes the taste of it. So far this is working.