Affordable Alternatives to Pill Pockets?

[WillowMarie]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place. I wasn't sure if I should put it here or in Health.


What does everyone use to help give pills to their cats?

I've been using pill pockets for years, but it has been a while since I've caught a good sale to stock up and have less than 2 packs left. Normally I buy them $3 or under for a 45 pack, and looking for another solution around the same price or cheaper.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[LTS3]

You can look on Chewy or Amazon for pill dough / paste. There are a bunch of different brands. The one I use for my cat, Earth's Balance bacon flavored pill paste, is pricey for a small container. I think it was $9 for the last one I bought. It's the only chicken-free pill paste that is easy to use. I don't recommend the Flavor-Doh brand. It's too dry and crumbly to mold around a pill. The Tomlyn and Vetroniquol pill pastes / doughs are made by the exact same company and the products are exactly the same but there is a big price difference between the two. I sent an inquiry to customer service of both companies once about a vague ingredient and got the exact same answer from the exact same customer service rep

 

[di and bob]

I never used a whole pill pocket, I tore them up and just used a piece. That way they last longer. I also used a tiny piece to 'paste' a piece of pill to a tiny piece of bacon.

 

[misty8723]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place. I wasn't sure if I should put it here or in Health.


What does everyone use to help give pills to their cats?

I've been using pill pockets for years, but it has been a while since I've caught a good sale to stock up and have less than 2 packs left. Normally I buy them $3 or under for a 45 pack, and looking for another solution around the same price or cheaper.

Thanks for any suggestions!

I don't know how you use them, but the rescue where I volunteer only uses enough of the pocket to wrap around the pill, thereby getting several uses out of one pocket.

 

[LTS3]

You can also use the dog Pill Pockets and use just enough of the dough to cover a pill. A single dog Pill Pocket might be enough for 2 or 3 cat sized pills.

 

[mrw5641]

Hi LTS3 I was going to send you a private message, I wanted to ask more, it seems like your cat has an allergy to chicken? So does mine, I didn't want to cloud the forum.

 

[Talien]

As long as it's not too dry and crumbly you could use a small piece of cheese.

 

[WillowMarie]

You can also use the dog Pill Pockets and use just enough of the dough to cover a pill. A single dog Pill Pocket might be enough for 2 or 3 cat sized pills.

Oh, that may work as it seems almost 3x the grams in the dog package vs. the cat. Looks like the ingredients are the same, too. Sometimes dog and cat stuff has different ingredients, so I didn't think to use dog before. But seems like it is same and might work well! Good idea!

Thank you for all the good ideas!

 

[fionasmom]

I just want to add that I use Pill Pockets now for Jamie's blood pressure meds and have never even used probably 1/6 of a whole one. I take a tiny bit of the PP and attach it to the tiny pill and "stick" them to the Temptation treat that he dearly loves and he eats it that way. Even one small package lasts a long time.

 

[LTS3]

Hi LTS3 I was going to send you a private message, I wanted to ask more, it seems like your cat has an allergy to chicken? So does mine, I didn't want to cloud the forum.

Yes, my cat has a chicken allergy due to IBD. Ironically, it was diarrhea caused by a single chicken flavored Pill Pocket that made me realize that my cat couldn't have chicken anymore. The bacon flavored pill paste is how I get pred pills into him. There are probably other chicken-free pill pastes out there you can try.