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Help. How to give my Cat a Capsule Medicine?
- Thread starter preciouspepper
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I know this is a few years old, but Thank you so much! My cat wont take meds dissolved in her food. She also doesn't eat human food so I dipped the pill into the gravy of her cat food. I let her start eating that and then pulled her away gave her the pill and then let her continue eating. It worked beautifully!
Good idea! Good job!
I was going to comment that the pill pockets are great to use a small piece of one 2 wrap a smaller pill in, (I do that w/ angel's allergy pill every night), but way to big to use as a whole.
Cat's aren't going to gulp it down like a dog would. You think the company would make them smaller. I just tear off a piece big enough to hide the pill in.
If I have to give him a capsule, I just use the piller I got from the Vet, rub his throat, & give him a treat afterwards, so it's sure to go down.
Another good thing about this procedure - you know the pill isn't getting stuck in their throat because the food will help push it on it's way to the tummy.
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My kitty gets mulitplie meds so I put them all into an empty gelcap and she just gets one dose that way.
She fought it at first, but eventually got used to it - she can sniff out a powder in food in a second and wont eat it, so I have no choice to pill her. Same with a pill pocket, she can sniff that powder out in a second.
This is what I do. I prepare her dinner of wet food and put it on the counter. Lift kittycat onto counter and keep my right arm around her so she can't wander - she's not allowed on the counter, so it distractes her a bit, as does the food bowl. I keep her relateively close to the edge of the counter, but stand behind her so she can't actually fall... but we will get to that. With my left hand, I go under the chin, near the throat and use my index and thumb fingers to stick in the corners of her mouth to force it open and then use index finger of my right hand to jam the pill down as far as it goes, and then close her mouth. Sometimes stroking her under the chin helps.They can fake you out and "pretend" to swallow - mine still gets away with that occasionally.
Show no fear and act fast. Some days are easy peasy, if he starts chewing at it, usually you have to start again. I've found that if the pill is lingering at the back of her throat, if you lift her front paws off the counter and almost "dance" with them but moving them, it distracts the cat and they just swallow it. Same goes with making them think they are going to fall off the counter, if you get her close enough to the edge so that a back foot ir two lose contact, she gets dirstracted and thinks the is going to fall... so she forgets about the pill and just swallows it because there are more pressing matters at hand.
Then I feed her right away to make sure the pill goes down with the food.
The vet uses a syringe filled with water after pilling just to make sure the pill goes down, but I figure the food does the trick - and she forgets all about being pilled once she gets to stuff her face.
Good luck. Once it becomes part of the routine, it does get easier for both of you.
She fought it at first, but eventually got used to it - she can sniff out a powder in food in a second and wont eat it, so I have no choice to pill her. Same with a pill pocket, she can sniff that powder out in a second.
This is what I do. I prepare her dinner of wet food and put it on the counter. Lift kittycat onto counter and keep my right arm around her so she can't wander - she's not allowed on the counter, so it distractes her a bit, as does the food bowl. I keep her relateively close to the edge of the counter, but stand behind her so she can't actually fall... but we will get to that. With my left hand, I go under the chin, near the throat and use my index and thumb fingers to stick in the corners of her mouth to force it open and then use index finger of my right hand to jam the pill down as far as it goes, and then close her mouth. Sometimes stroking her under the chin helps.They can fake you out and "pretend" to swallow - mine still gets away with that occasionally.
Show no fear and act fast. Some days are easy peasy, if he starts chewing at it, usually you have to start again. I've found that if the pill is lingering at the back of her throat, if you lift her front paws off the counter and almost "dance" with them but moving them, it distracts the cat and they just swallow it. Same goes with making them think they are going to fall off the counter, if you get her close enough to the edge so that a back foot ir two lose contact, she gets dirstracted and thinks the is going to fall... so she forgets about the pill and just swallows it because there are more pressing matters at hand.
Then I feed her right away to make sure the pill goes down with the food.
The vet uses a syringe filled with water after pilling just to make sure the pill goes down, but I figure the food does the trick - and she forgets all about being pilled once she gets to stuff her face.
Good luck. Once it becomes part of the routine, it does get easier for both of you.
Last edited:
My cats "eat" their capsule medicine. Once we got the routine down, it's a pretty drama free way to medication.
Copied from another thread:
Luckily, my cats will eat gel capsules along with their kibble. So I cut up a tablet and place it in size 4 or 5 capsule. Size 5 is the smallest and unobtrusive. Place the capsule in a snack made up of a teaspoon of wet food, a tsp of water, place capsule on top and cover with 6-8 kibbles. I use very small condiment bowls and I think that is essential. You want the snack to remain compact so they can hoover up food and medication together. You don't want the capsule to be moving around and to the side of a big bowl or plate. This has resulted in both cats gobbling up their prozac 99 times out of 100. Sometimes, if the capsule is off center in the bowl, I'll push back to the center and that's enough to encourage the cats to lick it up. A couple of times, they've finished the snack with the capsule still around. I throw a few kibbles on top of it and it all gets hoovered up.
Copied from another thread:
Luckily, my cats will eat gel capsules along with their kibble. So I cut up a tablet and place it in size 4 or 5 capsule. Size 5 is the smallest and unobtrusive. Place the capsule in a snack made up of a teaspoon of wet food, a tsp of water, place capsule on top and cover with 6-8 kibbles. I use very small condiment bowls and I think that is essential. You want the snack to remain compact so they can hoover up food and medication together. You don't want the capsule to be moving around and to the side of a big bowl or plate. This has resulted in both cats gobbling up their prozac 99 times out of 100. Sometimes, if the capsule is off center in the bowl, I'll push back to the center and that's enough to encourage the cats to lick it up. A couple of times, they've finished the snack with the capsule still around. I throw a few kibbles on top of it and it all gets hoovered up.
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It may take practice. One of my cats is a biter too. I never dreamed I'd be able to give her pills (or trim her nails for that matter) Gentle handling, and practice. It' shelps to get a cat used to being handled from day one. Even a cat who hates being handled, can learn that it's not the end of the world, even if he never learns to like it.
Let us know how you get on.
I still haven't gotten pilling down with my cat. She clamps her jaw shut so tight that I need both hands to open her mouth, so it's a two-person job. Lately I've been putting as many meds as I can into one gelcap (making sure none of them have interactions), then putting the gelcap in a pill pocket. This works most of the time, especially if I sneak the pill pocket under her nose while she's sleeping. I've had issues putting tablets directly into pill pockets sans gelcap, because she wises up to my tricks as soon as she bites into a hard pill. Plus she gets sick of them if I give them to her too often, so putting multiple meds in one gelcap helps. I mix some powders with baby food, but only if it doesn't drastically change the flavor or texture of the food.
