Best way to give my cat her meds??

wacckky

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So I've asked my vet to prescribe my cat anxiety meds because she has urinary issues that we believe is linked to stress, and the ride to the vet is quite stressful for her.

They prescribed her 100 mg gabapentin, she doesnt see the vet until monday but i was wondering whats the best way to administer this? Currently shes on antibiotics that i can shove in her mouth no problem but these ones seem like they might be more difficult to do so as its a little larger. I can take apart the capsule and put the powder in something but i want to make sure she gets it allll. I dont have pill pockets either idk how she would do with that
 

MoochNNoodles

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I use soft cat treats molded around pills for my cats. Noodles was not easy to handle and I didn't want to stress her when we were medicating her for heart failure to begin with. The soft treats worked well. I do the same for Mooch now. I always give the pills first and then give one without to make sure they swallowed it. It works well when I travel and a sitter has to give meds too. (It's been our routine twice a day for years now.)
 
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wacckky

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I use soft cat treats molded around pills for my cats. Noodles was not easy to handle and I didn't want to stress her when we were medicating her for heart failure to begin with. The soft treats worked well. I do the same for Mooch now. I always give the pills first and then give one without to make sure they swallowed it. It works well when I travel and a sitter has to give meds too. (It's been our routine twice a day for years now.)
Thank you so much! Never thought about this definitely will give it a go before her vet visit thank u!
 

sweetblackpaws

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My boy is on gabapentin. I sprinkle the capsule onto a spoon and roll a pill pocket around it (as if you were rolling cookie dough).

I suppose any soft treat or dab of food could work if you don't have pill pockets.
 

sidneykitty

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I'm watching here for your tips, too! Good ones so far. Thanks!

I've had the hardest time in the past getting gabapentin into my kitty. If I put it in food, she smells it and won't eat it. I can't pill the big capsule the normal way. Last time I tried that it didn't go down and then she started foaming at the mouth due to the taste. I even tried it compounded once with chicken flavor and it was just as tough.

Maybe I'll have to try the rolling in the pill pocket method from sweetblackpaws sweetblackpaws next time!

I know they make gabapentin chews you could ask your vet about. But its a gamble if your cat will eat them. Some do, some don't!
 

di and bob

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I would open it and mix it with a small amount of tuna juice that disguises the smell. Keep the rest in the fridge and use it next time after slight warming in the microwave. If it is not TOO big, put it or half of the inside powder in the middle of a small ball of cheese, giving two smaller 'balls', or smash it into a small piece of bacon, which cats can't resist. I gave a small pill for years squashed in bacon.
 

ladytimedramon

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I must have the one kitty who is an exception. She won't touch bacon, cheese, yogurt, whipped cream, peanut butter, etc. I had to give her an antibiotic. First couple of times I hid it in her wet food. She got smart to that quickly. good thing it wasn't a long term antibiotic.
 

sidneykitty

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ladytimedramon ladytimedramon you and me both! I tried putting meds in baby food, tuna juice, even milk for my cat and she wouldn't eat it. She's very picky and very smart I guess. Times I tried switching her kibbles and mixed the two types together, she would selectively eat only the old kibble and leave all of the new. Same with trying to mix kibble with wet to increase her wet - she won't touch any of the kibble that has even the smallest bit of wet food touching it.

My first cat was the total opposite. She took her meds in a bit of yogurt or a pill pocket - it was easy peasy!
 

daftcat75

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Krista is toothless now (after struggling with resorptive lesions for too long!) I don't know if this will help with toothed cats who might chew a bit more. I give her prednisilone every night. I cut the pill in half with a pill cutter, smear in just a small amount of food to give it a sticky surface, put that into sacchromyces boulardii (probiotic yeast which has a bready taste she enjoys. This makes it kind of tacky. Then I wrap a bonito tuna fish flake around it tightly and smear in food once more to hold it all together. I make these balls very tight like barely bigger than the half pill itself. The food and yeast are there to keep the fish flake from being licked off the pill. She "chews" (gums) at it a couple of times and then down the hatch, she swallows it whole. We've been doing this nightly for a couple of months now. She climbs all over me and the counter while I'm prepping the bites. These are easily her favorite part of her day. Probably because it's the only time she gets fish flakes now.

You could try to mix the gabapentin powder with a small amount of cream cheese and then poke that into her mouth. The cream cheese will insure that she won't be able to spit it out. I can't do that with Krista because every cream cheese brand I've seen uses xanthan gum which is very bad news with her gut and butt. It wouldn't be worth it.
 

fionasmom

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I have a cat where the only solution is a pill popper if you are comfortable with doing that. Hopefully one of the other suggestions will appeal to your kitty.
 

kittenmittens84

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Dunk it in churu or butter, pill her the normal way, and then chase it down with 1-2 ml of water from a syringe (or offer tuna water in a bowl) to prevent the pill from getting stuck or foaming.
 
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