How To Build Trust With My Cat (to Give Him A Pill)?

[meto]

Hello,

I'm trying to build my cat Caine's trust with me, especially now, because I need to give him a pill and I want him to understand I'm not trying to hurt him. I've struggled with this in the past with just picking him up to put him in the carrier, it's not something he goes along with. He was a shelter cat and I adopted him around a year and a half ago. He's opened up to me a lot, and he's very affectionate, but he can also be very timid and paranoid.

I think that giving him a pill could be a very frightening experience for him if he doesn't trust me enough. For a couple days I've been giving him treats while practicing lightly grabbing his head in the way necessary to give a pill, but I don't know if this method will bring progress. Conversely, he now seems to associate me giving him treats while he's laying down with having his head grabbed, and he is becoming flighty to the point that I don't know if he will decline the treats next time.

Knowing his personality, I can't just force it (like wrapping him in a towel or something) and expect things to be fine between us afterwards. So i want to get him to cooperate somehow. I'll keep trying the treats thing but since it's failing, I'd like some other suggestions. Thank you for any help you can offer

Edit: It's a capstar, because he has fleas and other products have failed. Since it's not medically necessary to administer it immediately, I have time to build up trust to the point that I can administer it repeatedly if needed. Just thought I'd calm any concerns about his health.

 

[rubysmama]

Not sure if these will be helpful or not, but TCS has a couple articles on giving pills to cats.

How Can I Give A Pill To My Cat
Pilling Cats: Must-know Tips For Hiding Pills

 

[jen]

How about using pill pockets? Does he like treats?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Why does he have fleas? Does he go outdoors? The only reason I am asking is because whatever the source of the fleas, if it isn't reduced or stopped, you would need to give Capstar daily. It only kills adult fleas, so any eggs on your cat will not be killed and will produce a whole new set of adult fleas, only to produce a whole new set of eggs, and so on...

What other products have you tried and where are you located? There are some topical treatments that are less effective in some areas than others. But, typically not all the products available are ineffective in a specific location. Have you checked with your vet to see if they know which ones are and are not effective in your area?

 

[jen]

Other flea products have failed because either you aren't treating for months on end, you are constantly using the same product, you aren't treating the environment....etc. You would have to give Capstar daily for there to be any results and all that is doing is killing the adult ones currently on him. They are in your home, laying dormant in the nooks and crannies of your home, etc.

Have you heard of Comfortis or Revolution Plus? Revolution Plus would be ideal as it also kills ticks and heartworms, hookworms, roundworms and ear mites as well. you would need to keep him on it for at least 3 months to kill all the live stages of the fleas. You also have to treat your house. Daily Capstar is a huge waste of money in the long run and you are doing nothing to stop any of the critters from infecting your cat.

 

[LTS3]

Use Pill Pockets or some other method to give pills more easily. In addition to the links above, here's another one: The Best Pill-taking Secret I Know...

My cats love bacon flavored pill dough. Pill Paste for Cats - Bacon Flavored

Do topical flea preventatives not work for your cat?

 

[1 bruce 1]

Hello,

I'm trying to build my cat Caine's trust with me, especially now, because I need to give him a pill and I want him to understand I'm not trying to hurt him. I've struggled with this in the past with just picking him up to put him in the carrier, it's not something he goes along with. He was a shelter cat and I adopted him around a year and a half ago. He's opened up to me a lot, and he's very affectionate, but he can also be very timid and paranoid.

I think that giving him a pill could be a very frightening experience for him if he doesn't trust me enough. For a couple days I've been giving him treats while practicing lightly grabbing his head in the way necessary to give a pill, but I don't know if this method will bring progress. Conversely, he now seems to associate me giving him treats while he's laying down with having his head grabbed, and he is becoming flighty to the point that I don't know if he will decline the treats next time.

Knowing his personality, I can't just force it (like wrapping him in a towel or something) and expect things to be fine between us afterwards. So i want to get him to cooperate somehow. I'll keep trying the treats thing but since it's failing, I'd like some other suggestions. Thank you for any help you can offer

Edit: It's a capstar, because he has fleas and other products have failed. Since it's not medically necessary to administer it immediately, I have time to build up trust to the point that I can administer it repeatedly if needed. Just thought I'd calm any concerns about his health.

I would take a different approach. I would talk to your vet about doing a day or so's board while you wash everything, flea bomb the house or apartment, while your cat is at the vets. Have them give him the capstar, he'll get it down him, you won't be the "bad" guy, and the environment will be treated.
Fleas can be a bear but if you start fresh, it might be a better option than trying to gain trust then possibly destroying it almost immediately, a capstar will kill the fleas on him but in 24 or 48 hours the fleas in the house will be back on him and the problem will repeat itself.

 

[meto]

Use Pill Pockets or some other method to give pills more easily. In addition to the links above, here's another one: The Best Pill-taking Secret I Know...

My cats love bacon flavored pill dough. Pill Paste for Cats - Bacon Flavored

Do topical flea preventatives not work for your cat?

Thanks! I finally managed to administer it to him, I guess I gave up too soon on pocketing in treats since that ended up being the solution. He is picky about treats and I thought he would be able to taste it, but I remembered that he scarfs down the sheba sticks treats so i quartered the capstar and hid it in four chunks. Worked great!

I'm going to make a separate response for why I used capstar since a lot of people asked, hopefully they can all see it. ^ ^

 

[meto]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I was going to go through one by one, but I noticed a lot of repeats so I hope this one response reaches you all.

Some of you mentioned pocketing the pill in a treat, and this ended up being the solution. I considered it long before, but I didn't think it would be possible until I revisited the idea. What ended up working was cutting the pill into quarters and embedding it in the one type of treat he scarfs down without tasting it, which is "Sheba Meaty Tender Sticks".

Some of you raised concern about me using capstar, saying I'd have to use it daily. This isn't the case. He has had a very minor flea infestation ever since I adopted him in late 2017. I have gone through 4 or 5 types of topical products, and none of them have eliminated the infestation. I am constantly treating the home, and I have used a flea comb on him. The role capstar will play in Caine's health is reducing the flea population down to an amount that renders home treatment, topical treatments and other minor things an effective solution.

It will only be necessary for a short period, and it is the best tool for me to use in this circumstance. Once the population is significantly reduced, I can finally eliminate his fleas, which originated from the shelter where I adopted him. I'm sure they've made their home here as well, so I'll be diligent about home treatment especially while the capstar is taking effect.

Someone mentioned flea bombing the house, I will treat that as a last resort because the infestation is minor and that is expensive and inconvenient, but I will definitely keep it in mind.

Thank you all again for your responses and concern, I hope this addressed everyone.

 

[daftcat75]

Pilling a cat will be a violation every time. I don’t think there is trust to be built here. It’s best to learn how to do it quickly and decisively. Get it over with and give him a treat afterwards. The treat will go further to restore trust than some fancy pilling practice or protocol. If you can do pill pockets, go with those. Let Caine pill himself.

I don’t think there is such thing as a minor flea infestation. The flea lifecycle is such that you can be killing fleas for months and doing nothing about the eggs or larvae. I recommend removing cat and people from the place and doing the bomb. Take the cat to the groomers. Then launder every washable item at once. Use every machine at the laundromat if you have to. Don’t bring laundered items home if you still have other items to wash. If you wash in stages, you could be infecting freshly laundered items with stuff that hasn’t been laundered yet. Finally use borax powder in the carpets. To kill adult fleas and larvae. Vacuuming and the flea comb will help with the eggs.
Borax for Fleas: 3 Simple Steps for Flea Removal