Cat remembers the gabapentin from the last vet trip and won't eat the pill pockets now. Any other suggestions for his vet appt next week?

parkersdad

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Willing to try anything 😂. He hates the vet.
 
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parkersdad

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Also, you could try feeding him the pill pocket a few times with a treat inside. When he readily eats those, pop in a pill.
The issue is that he won't even go near the pill pockets but I'll try it with a treat inside.
 

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oh man i swear hiding meds in anything leads to them cluing on and then avoiding that treat/food altogether. Unfortunately the hardest way is kind of the best way but totally get that thats not possible for some really squeamish cats (pill poppers, giving the pill to the cat by pushing down throat) It's a toughie
 
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parkersdad

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oh man i swear hiding meds in anything leads to them cluing on and then avoiding that treat/food altogether. Unfortunately the hardest way is kind of the best way but totally get that thats not possible for some really squeamish cats (pill poppers, giving the pill to the cat by pushing down throat) It's a toughie
It's a capsule so there's always putting it in his wet food but he never eats it all in one sitting and honestly one time I tried that and he sniffed it out.
 

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Could you stuff the pill pockets with treats and just leave them lay there until he gets curious? Assuming you have no other cats. 🙂
 

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Churu. Dab of Churu on your finger, pill, dab of Churu. If he misses it the first time, more Churu.

I swear by it as Nobel was an alligator when it came to pills and then began willingly taking his medication without the Churu, to get the Churu.
Magnus now thinks all medication is the best.

🤞 You find something that works!
 

cejhome

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Is he treat motivated? I know he is huge so this might not work. With our previous kitty, Nilla (hated the carrier, hated the vet, hated the car), I'd just get her when she was relaxed (I'd approach her in a relaxed calm manner), quickly open her mouth and shove a a gabapentin wrapped in a tiny bit of pill pocket (so the pill wasn't slippery and I could get a good grip on it), and just poke it way down the back of her mouth. Then I'd quickly give her treats. She was a small/average sized dainty girl kitty though. Key was to do it during "normal" time - when we were relaxing in the evening. The next morning I would shut her up in "her" room - cat trees, litter box and nothing she could hide under, and then do the same with the 2nd gaba dose. She was very wiggly and fast, so I had to get it done in a few seconds, but still be calm about it. I am sure her gaba dose and capsule was a lot smaller than your boy though.
 
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parkersdad

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Is he treat motivated? I know he is huge so this might not work. With our previous kitty, Nilla (hated the carrier, hated the vet, hated the car), I'd just get her when she was relaxed (I'd approach her in a relaxed calm manner), quickly open her mouth and shove a a gabapentin wrapped in a tiny bit of pill pocket (so the pill wasn't slippery and I could get a good grip on it), and just poke it way down the back of her mouth. Then I'd quickly give her treats. She was a small/average sized dainty girl kitty though. Key was to do it during "normal" time - when we were relaxing in the evening. The next morning I would shut her up in "her" room - cat trees, litter box and nothing she could hide under, and then do the same with the 2nd gaba dose. She was very wiggly and fast, so I had to get it done in a few seconds, but still be calm about it. I am sure her gaba dose and capsule was a lot smaller than your boy though.
The problem is my cat knows when something is up. He'll suspect I'm up to no food and run away 😭. I'm gonna try treats in the pill pockets for now.
 

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I don't know about getting the pills down, but this information may help while putting her in the carrier. (Unless you get the gaba down and it works better than I think.)

SG will, normally, tolerate being picked up and carried around the house some. We did that make it possible to do so in emergencies. However, last time I tried - she was going to the vet - she did that cat semi-explosion, turned around inside her skin like a badger then the claws came out.

She went to ground and I had time to consider what happened and why. It took awhile but I realized the key difference between when she tolerated being picked up and taken to her carrier and when she went to that cat place was I had put on my going outside the house clothes. I think that's why she knew she was going somewhere.

It takes 2-3 weeks for her to let me pick her up again. The next time I try the plan is to grab her and shove her in the carrier and let her wait there while I change clothes.
 
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parkersdad

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I don't know about getting the pills down, but this information may help while putting her in the carrier. (Unless you get the gaba down and it works better than I think.)

SG will, normally, tolerate being picked up and carried around the house some. We did that make it possible to do so in emergencies. However, last time I tried - she was going to the vet - she did that cat semi-explosion, turned around inside her skin like a badger then the claws came out.

She went to ground and I had time to consider what happened and why. It took awhile but I realized the key difference between when she tolerated being picked up and taken to her carrier and when she went to that cat place was I had put on my going outside the house clothes. I think that's why she knew she was going somewhere.

It takes 2-3 weeks for her to let me pick her up again. The next time I try the plan is to grab her and shove her in the carrier and let her wait there while I change clothes.
He doesn't like being held and he's heavy so I don't even try. He doesn't really have an issue with the carrier which is weird. It's more just the whole vet experience, I think he has some trauma involving dogs when he was real real young.
 

Kflowers

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He may or may not have had trauma before you got him, but even if he didn't the vet smells of strange people, dogs, cats, and sometimes other animals. All of which are viewed as a threat by cats.

Does he like any human food? Making your own pill pockets with steak, or peanut butter, or cottage cheese. Unless he actually chews his food then he'll just find the pill.

If you can get him in the carrier, the vet should be able to give him something there. Tell the vet what's going on. They may let you bring him in early so they can give him a light sedation in his carrier. You'd have to wait for the sedation to take affect, but you'd be there with him.

Many vets also have something my vet called a squeeze cage. I was allowed to pick it up and put my really rowdy cat in it when I was bringing him in. they would sedate him before letting him out. There was no gaba back then. Even if they won't let you pick up the squeeze cage, if you get him into his carrier they should be able to move him from the carrier to their squeeze cage. This isn't perfect, it isn't what you want, but it should make it where the vet can see him.
 

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daftcat75

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Churu. Dab of Churu on your finger, pill, dab of Churu. If he misses it the first time, more Churu.

I swear by it as Nobel was an alligator when it came to pills and then began willingly taking his medication without the Churu, to get the Churu.
Magnus now thinks all medication is the best.

🤞 You find something that works!
My Betty is like this. In her case, it's Hills A/D. I call it her cake frosting because she'll eat as many capsules as I put down for her as long as they were dipped in A/D. And we got past the sniff and snubs of her food by smearing a little of her cake frosting on top.

This isn't Betty (or me.) But we learned our technique from this video.

 
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parkersdad

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He may or may not have had trauma before you got him, but even if he didn't the vet smells of strange people, dogs, cats, and sometimes other animals. All of which are viewed as a threat by cats.

Does he like any human food? Making your own pill pockets with steak, or peanut butter, or cottage cheese. Unless he actually chews his food then he'll just find the pill.

If you can get him in the carrier, the vet should be able to give him something there. Tell the vet what's going on. They may let you bring him in early so they can give him a light sedation in his carrier. You'd have to wait for the sedation to take affect, but you'd be there with him.

Many vets also have something my vet called a squeeze cage. I was allowed to pick it up and put my really rowdy cat in it when I was bringing him in. they would sedate him before letting him out. There was no gaba back then. Even if they won't let you pick up the squeeze cage, if you get him into his carrier they should be able to move him from the carrier to their squeeze cage. This isn't perfect, it isn't what you want, but it should make it where the vet can see him.
Oh the vet knows, they gave me the drugs 😂. He's not squeeze cage bad....there was two of them with large gloves holding him down but he made some noises id rather never heard again (he was getting a shot or blood drawn I don't recall). On gabapentin he literally doesn't have the capacity to fight back. It works so well for him. I just gotta get it in him. It's very difficult orally as well as he spills most of it out of his mouth.
 
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parkersdad

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You might have missed my earlier post -
The problem is my cat doesn't like human food, is becoming more food motivated but only with his limited amount of dry food. I've tried so many treats and let him sniff all the human food he wanted, and he had no interest. He's a peculiar dude.
 
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