Powdered Medicine

Kvla

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 3, 2019
Messages
86
Purraise
69
Help! I’ve tried so many ways to hide my cat’s medicine in her food. Right now, my vet and I are in the process of finding a medication/dosage that helps with her anxiety and her biting. We’re on gabapentin 100mg capsules. We previously tried gabapentin liquid at a lower dosage.

My first thing was to squirt the liquid medication into her wet food. But she refused to eat it. (She gets 1/4 cup dry and 1.5 oz wet AM/PM) Already, my cat does not like to be pet, she does not like to be held, or restrained, or cuddled. I had a VERY hard time giving her the liquid medication because I would have to restraint and scruff her to give the medication. She would be extremely mad and lash out at me after being given the med.

So we switched to capsules. I thought this would be super easy to sprinkle the medicine into her wet food and she wouldn’t be able to taste it as much. She refused to eat that too. I tried pill pockets, a different brand of wet food, baby food, peanut butter, yogurt, cheese, various types of meats. When none of this worked, I pilled her quick for the first time and she was so surprised that she took it pretty well. She wouldn’t come near me for a while after. Tonight we tried to give her her med the same way as yesterday and she would not let me open her mouth. I had my roommate towel her and she would crawl out everytime. She bit, she scratched.

If this medication is going to be long term I don’t want this to be the worst experience ever. I don’t want her to run and hide and hate me!!

What can I do to trick her to eat her powdered medicine? What can cats eat that is absolutely irresistible. I’m so frustrated because this medication is supposed to help me solve my first issue which was that she was biting, but now I’m trying to give her this medicine and I feel like it’s just contributing to her bad attitude.

I’m a college student, so I’m busy and I don’t have much money, but I’m willing to do whatever to get her to eat this medicine!

TIA
 

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
39,271
Purraise
53,927
Location
Colorado US
Hi! I'm not an expert with this, but could the medicine be compounded into something (a cream?) that could be applied to her ear?
 

sargon

High Priest of Freya, The Slightly Bitey.
Super Cat
Joined
Sep 22, 2016
Messages
725
Purraise
577
Location
St. Louis Metro Area
Some can be compounded into transdermal gels. For my cat I use a pill gun to give her her medicine in capsules, then give her her favorite treat. She actually comes running for her "treat."

Powdered and tablets can generally be put in a capsule. I think that is the easiest way to handle bad tasting medicines.

To be precise, I get her medicine in tablets that I put in a capsule so she doesn't taste them, and which is easy to pill her with using a pill gun.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

Kvla

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 3, 2019
Messages
86
Purraise
69
Hi! I'm not an expert with this, but could the medicine be compounded into something (a cream?) that could be applied to her ear?
I’m not sure! I’ll ask my veterinarian tomorrow.

Some can be compounded into transdermal gels. For my cat I use a pill gun to give her her medicine in capsules, then give her her favorite treat. She actually comes running for her "treat."

Powdered and tablets can generally be put in a capsule. I think that is the easiest way to handle bad tasting medicines.

To be precise, I get her medicine in tablets that I put in a capsule so she doesn't taste them, and which is easy to pill her with using a pill gun.
It comes in a capsule already, I just break it open to get to the powder. Does your cat have a bad reaction to the pill gun? Do you have to hold her?
 

Caspers Human

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 23, 2016
Messages
2,693
Purraise
4,703
Location
Pennsylvania
What can cats eat that is absolutely irresistible.
Liverwurst.

Casper is a picky eater. He rarely eats human food, at all. Maybe he'll have an occasional lick of butter or Vegemite. He'll nibble on tuna fish. But, besides that, he eats his cat food and his kitty cookies and that's it.

He's also very recalcitrant about taking pills even though we have to give him pills regularly for his urinary crystals and his megacolon.

Casper figured out Pill Pockets after the second time. First he ate the treat and spit out the pill. After that, he won't take the treat even if there isn't a pill inside.

Our vet has many of the meds she prescribes compounded into chicken flavored pellets. We can pulverize them in a mortar and pestle then mix them up with his food. That's the only way we can get Casper to take his meds unless we physically make him.

As for the liverwurst... It's the only human food that I have ever gotten Casper to eat on any kind of a regular basis.

I cut a slice, microwave it for ten seconds to warm it up a bit then I portion him a few cat sized pieces. The rest I eat on toast with mustard.

So, try some liverwurst. Maybe you can hide your cat's medicine in a piece of that.
 

Antonio65

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 27, 2017
Messages
6,053
Purraise
9,672
Location
Orbassano - Italy
Gabapentin is something extremely bitter!
Taste it yourself to believe :biggrin: (*)
I think that there's no way to mask that bitter taste, even with the most smelly and tasty cat food. No wonder your cat refuses to eat anything with that med in it.
The best you can do here, is to have it compounded in an eargel, as sargon sargon has suggested.

What I do not understand is why Gabapentin has been prescribed for the anxiety in your cat.
As far as I know, it is used as a pain killer in pets, and it's also an anti-epilectic in humans.

(*) I ALWAYS taste all new meds for my cats before administering. I want to know what I'm going to deal with.
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
Try these pilling tips for the capsule:

Pilling Cats: Must-know Tips For Hiding Pills
The Best Pill-taking Secret I Know...
Pilling Cats and Dogs Safely
How We Give Our Pill Hating Cat A Pill
Getting Cat To Take Pills... Post Tips Here.

I had to give the capsule form of Gabapetin once. I used a bacon flavored pill dough to get my cat to eat the capsule.

Any compounding pharmacy can make the Gabapetin into a different form. Wedgewood Pharmacy is a popular online one and has these options: Gabapentin Medication & Information for Animals, Wedgewood Pet RX, Wedgewood Pet RX There is no transdermal gel / cream option at Wedgewood Pharmacy but call around to local compounding pharmacies to see if they offer a transdermal option.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

Kvla

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 3, 2019
Messages
86
Purraise
69
Gabapentin is something extremely bitter!
Taste it yourself to believe :biggrin: (*)
I think that there's no way to mask that bitter taste, even with the most smelly and tasty cat food. No wonder your cat refuses to eat anything with that med in it.
The best you can do here, is to have it compounded in an eargel, as sargon sargon has suggested.

What I do not understand is why Gabapentin has been prescribed for the anxiety in your cat.
As far as I know, it is used as a pain killer in pets, and it's also an anti-epilectic in humans.

(*) I ALWAYS taste all new meds for my cats before administering. I want to know what I'm going to deal with.
I did accidentally try it and it tasted sour, and I know cats have a smell that’s really strong sense of smell. I figured that’s why she wouldn’t eat it.

Also, for the gabapentin, the biggest reason she was put on it was because of the biting. I figured the reason was because she was just an anxious cat. She always seems to be headstrong even after hours of playing and would still bite and draw blood. When she actually gets the full dose of the med and plenty of playtime, she is relaxed. If you read some of my previous posts, you can see all of the symptoms she’s had in the past. Her back ripples and twitches a lot, especially when being pet. It would trigger her to bite. The medicine helped with that too.

I’m not exactly sure what it does but I know it helps. Another medication the vet recommended was amitriptyline. I don’t know if you’re familiar with that or if that’ll give you a better picture of what the med’s for.

Try these pilling tips for the capsule:

Pilling Cats: Must-know Tips For Hiding Pills
The Best Pill-taking Secret I Know...
Pilling Cats and Dogs Safely
How We Give Our Pill Hating Cat A Pill
Getting Cat To Take Pills... Post Tips Here.

I had to give the capsule form of Gabapetin once. I used a bacon flavored pill dough to get my cat to eat the capsule.

Any compounding pharmacy can make the Gabapetin into a different form. Wedgewood Pharmacy is a popular online one and has these options: Gabapentin Medication & Information for Animals, Wedgewood Pet RX, Wedgewood Pet RX There is no transdermal gel / cream option at Wedgewood Pharmacy but call around to local compounding pharmacies to see if they offer a transdermal option.
Thank you! I’ll look into it!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

Kvla

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 3, 2019
Messages
86
Purraise
69
Update: liverwurst was a no go ):
 

sargon

High Priest of Freya, The Slightly Bitey.
Super Cat
Joined
Sep 22, 2016
Messages
725
Purraise
577
Location
St. Louis Metro Area
Gabapentin is, as I recall, a fairly common choice for feline aggression. Why that instead of a different option is something she'd have to ask her vet. Different meds have different potential side effects, so that may be why.

There are a number of drugs, and you might have to try a few different drugs or doses to find one that works. I'm just glad that, for my cat, the first one we tried worked well.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

Kvla

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 3, 2019
Messages
86
Purraise
69
Vet says there aren’t many options left! They said there isn’t a topical medication for the high dosage of gabapentin that she’s on. They do have chewable tablets, but they cost $75 a month :cringe: I’m willing to try it..

Is there any other tips/tricks you guys have?? I’m at a loss
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #15

Kvla

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 3, 2019
Messages
86
Purraise
69
You gotta' be kitten me!

What self-respecting cat doesn't eat liverwurst? ;) ;) ;)

Did you warm it up a little bit?
Casper likes his liverwurst better when it's warm.
I didn’t let her smell the plain liverwurst because I was afraid that she might be able to tell the difference between just liverwurst and liverwurst with meds.

I used 2 capsules to try to get her to eat it. I first sprinkled the med into some liverwurst and rolled it around and mixed it. When she refused to eat that, I took another capsule and put a whole capsule (not sprinkled) in one ball and 3 more balls without the med. She didn’t eat that either. I did try warming up her other meats and she would smell it, but not eat it. I heated up one of the meatballs without the med anyway and again, she wouldn’t touch it.

This sucks!!
 

pigfinn

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Sep 11, 2019
Messages
5
Purraise
2
Help! I’ve tried so many ways to hide my cat’s medicine in her food. Right now, my vet and I are in the process of finding a medication/dosage that helps with her anxiety and her biting. We’re on gabapentin 100mg capsules. We previously tried gabapentin liquid at a lower dosage.

My first thing was to squirt the liquid medication into her wet food. But she refused to eat it. (She gets 1/4 cup dry and 1.5 oz wet AM/PM) Already, my cat does not like to be pet, she does not like to be held, or restrained, or cuddled. I had a VERY hard time giving her the liquid medication because I would have to restraint and scruff her to give the medication. She would be extremely mad and lash out at me after being given the med.

So we switched to capsules. I thought this would be super easy to sprinkle the medicine into her wet food and she wouldn’t be able to taste it as much. She refused to eat that too. I tried pill pockets, a different brand of wet food, baby food, peanut butter, yogurt, cheese, various types of meats. When none of this worked, I pilled her quick for the first time and she was so surprised that she took it pretty well. She wouldn’t come near me for a while after. Tonight we tried to give her her med the same way as yesterday and she would not let me open her mouth. I had my roommate towel her and she would crawl out everytime. She bit, she scratched.

If this medication is going to be long term I don’t want this to be the worst experience ever. I don’t want her to run and hide and hate me!!

What can I do to trick her to eat her powdered medicine? What can cats eat that is absolutely irresistible. I’m so frustrated because this medication is supposed to help me solve my first issue which was that she was biting, but now I’m trying to give her this medicine and I feel like it’s just contributing to her bad attitude.

I’m a college student, so I’m busy and I don’t have much money, but I’m willing to do whatever to get her to eat this medicine!

TIA
 

pigfinn

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Sep 11, 2019
Messages
5
Purraise
2
just open her mouth and place it down her throat... then close her mouth and hold her head until she swallows... I know it's terrible, but it's the only way I get my cat to eat pills.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #18

Kvla

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 3, 2019
Messages
86
Purraise
69
just open her mouth and place it down her throat... then close her mouth and hold her head until she swallows... I know it's terrible, but it's the only way I get my cat to eat pills.
My cat isn’t that docile. The vet clinic had to sedate her for bloodwork before her spay and to get an FIV/FeLV test done. After about 7 months of age, they needed to start to sedate her for nail trims so I stopped bringing her in for those.

If I pill her like I pill dogs, I would probably get my hand bit off.
 

Caspers Human

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 23, 2016
Messages
2,693
Purraise
4,703
Location
Pennsylvania
I gave Casper some liverwurst, plain, before attempting with medicine. Then, I gave him the medicine after he decided he liked it.
Maybe that's the difference? I don't know. Just guessing.

When it comes to MAKING Casper take his pills, there is no question about it. He WILL take his pills.

I just don't like doing it because he's such a sweet, gentle cat at any other time. He's just a stubborn, little fuzz face, sometimes.

I have been giving pills to pets ever since I was a kid. My father used to breed hunting dogs. I learned how to give pills, early on. I have given pills to dogs as big as a Saint Bernard or German Shepherd and as small as a Miniature Schnauzer. Handling a cat isn't much different. Just watch out for the claws. Wear long sleeves and long pants. Throw a blanket or towel over them first, if you need to. Then just sit on the animal and do the deed. It's over in thirty seconds.

Girl Human has a sneaky way of making Casper take his pills that works well for her. She just waits until he's asleep on the sofa. Then she sneaks up and does the deed. It's over before he even knows what happened. He'll give her the "F-U" look for a few minutes but he'll be back to normal in a short time.

I used to have one dog, a black Labrador Retriever, named "Reggie" who would want to eat anything that he thought his humans were eating. If you wanted to give Reggie a pill, all you had to do was pretend like you were eating candy and he'd come begging for some. You just gave him the pill and he would gulp it right down.

This is the same dog who would lick Tobasco Sauce from a spoon and come back begging for more! Yeah, that dog had a couple of loose screws! ;)

Most of our other pets... dogs or cats... would eat their pills if you wrapped them up in a piece of raw hamburger.

But, Casper... He's a stubborn, little fuzz face when it comes to pill time.
 
Top