Ideas for "hiding" pills?

[jcat]

To make a long story short, Jamie's HCM is now full-blown congestive heart failure, and he's gone from getting one pill a day to seven.
He's a biter, so just opening his mouth and sticking a pill in isn't an option. He's been "stuck" so many times this week that we have to forget about injections for the time being.

I'm getting the pills into him, but anticipating that he'll get wise to his "treats" containing pills, so I thought maybe getting some other ideas wouldn't be a bad idea.

Here's what I've been using successfully so far:

Cat sticks: basically the equivalent of pill pockets, because you just mold a piece around the pill. Pill pockets have been discontinued here.
Water-packed tuna: his favorite, but it has to be "human" tuna
Spray cheese (hissy's excellent suggestion): American Cheese is a hit
Cat liverwurst (from Lidl, for Europeans' info)

What I have in reserve:

Cocktail shrimp
Crabmeat
Hardboiled eggs

Suggested by a vet tech:

Whipped cream
Liver (cooked or raw)
Cooked chicken

Jamie doesn't like raw, but I suppose that would be an option for other cats? We don't have Kentucky Fried Chicken in this area - is that really irresistible?

 

[cheylink]

  I am so sorry for poor Jamie and you,

and

vibes for both.

 

[jcat]

Thank you. He's feeling a lot better and was really relieved to only have one vet visit today.

 

[Winchester]

Tricia, I'm so sorry about Jamie. I didn't see this until you posted about him in one of the threads in the Lounge.

When Banshee was so sick, she was taking two pills pretty much every day. In the beginning it was difficult trying to get pills into her. We tried pill pockets and she'd spit the pill out. We did the pill shooter and she'd still give us a hassle. She would froth at the mouth and everything; it was a mess.

Rick and I finally got to the point where I would hold her and Rick would take his thumb and forefinger and "push" at each side of her mouth, forcing her mouth open. He would say, "Open!" the whole time. And he toss the pill down, and then stroke her throat. She always got treats afterward, but it was a constant struggle.

Eventually, I got to the point where I could do it by myself. And one morning, I walked over to her when she was sitting on the back of the chair. I said, "Open!" and prepared to push against her mouth. And she opened her mouth on her own!  I was so shocked I just stood there.....Rick said, "Toss the pill, toss the pill!" And I did.

From then on, she was no problem. She'd open her mouth, I'd toss the pills, she'd swallow and she got her treats. And it got to the point that on Sunday mornings, when I was filling her pill holder with her pills, she'd sit on the back of her chair and chirp at me til she got her pills.....and her treats. It was amazing. I never thought a cat would be so docile with meds.

Human tuna is a good idea. Or how about a cheese cube that you could put the pill inside? Shrimp is good. Are the pills allowed to be crushed and mixed in with his food? Banshee's pills couldn't be crushed; they were time-release, that's why I'm asking. Have you tried to coat the pill with butter to make it a little easier to go down his throat? Or perhaps coat with honey?

I hope he'll be OK. Sending you and Jamie (((hugs)))

 

[feralvr]

Tricia, I did not know about your sweet Jaime . Here is what I currently use for pilling Pipsqueak. I use the Stella & Cheweys freeze-dried cat cubes. You would have to get this at a natural pet food store. I soak a cube in a bit of warm water for a few seconds till it is soft. Break it in half and stick the pill in the half of a cube. He gobbles it down then I give him the other half cube and maybe a few more for treats. Works great every time. :rub: to Jaime and to you

 

[carolina]

Tricia, I always pill Gracie with Purina Whisker Lickin's soft treats - the best ones are the chicken and salmon flavors. I flatten one on the palm of my hand, put the pill in, and fold the treat over the pill back again - does that make sense? You kind of rebuild the treat with the pill inside -always, always works, 100% of the time - have been doing it 2x a day for the last year, and it never failed me. I do different flavors so she doesn't grow tired of them, but she loves it. Hope it helps!!

 

[jcat]

Thank you for the great ideas and well wishes for Jamie!

From then on, she was no problem. She'd open her mouth, I'd toss the pills, she'd swallow and she got her treats. And it got to the point that on Sunday mornings, when I was filling her pill holder with her pills, she'd sit on the back of her chair and chirp at me til she got her pills.....and her treats. It was amazing. I never thought a cat would be so docile with meds.

Human tuna is a good idea. Or how about a cheese cube that you could put the pill inside? Shrimp is good. Are the pills allowed to be crushed and mixed in with his food? Banshee's pills couldn't be crushed; they were time-release, that's why I'm asking. Have you tried to coat the pill with butter to make it a little easier to go down his throat? Or perhaps coat with honey?

I hope he'll be OK. Sending you and Jamie (((hugs)))

Jamie was very impatient this morning because I wasn't getting his pills ready fast enough - he wanted that tuna! I've got a pill holder on order which will hopefully get here tomorrow. The stores around here only have them with two compartments per day, and I need three or four. Mozzarella cubes would probably work, since he likes that kind. Some of his pills (the beta blocker and aspirin) come precut by the vets' office, and the others I have to cut myself, so crushing them wouldn't be a problem, but making sure he eats his food is, since he rarely finishes his canned food and won't touch it in the morning. He insists on dry food for breakfast. Coating pills with butter or honey would be risky. I've already had two trips to the ER to have Jamie bites treated. The first time I actually had a cast on my arm and had to go to the surgeon on Christmas Day.

Tricia, I did not know about your sweet Jaime . Here is what I currently use for pilling Pipsqueak. I use the Stella & Cheweys freeze-dried cat cubes. You would have to get this at a natural pet food store. I soak a cube in a bit of warm water for a few seconds till it is soft. Break it in half and stick the pill in the half of a cube. He gobbles it down then I give him the other half cube and maybe a few more for treats. Works great every time. :rub: to Jaime and to you

Jamie loves freeze-dried meat treats, so that's a great tip. We have a brand here called Cosma Snackies, and soaking a cube would work. They're rather small, but some of his pills are, too, so I'll try that for the aspirin and beta blocker.

Tricia, I always pill Gracie with Purina Whisker Lickin's soft treats - the best ones are the chicken and salmon flavors. I flatten one on the palm of my hand, put the pill in, and fold the treat over the pill back again - does that make sense? You kind of rebuild the treat with the pill inside -always, always works, 100% of the time - have been doing it 2x a day for the last year, and it never failed me. I do different flavors so she doesn't grow tired of them, but she loves it. Hope it helps!!

Great minds think alike. I was using the Whisker Lickin's he got sent as a present till I ran out. They're not sold here, but the cat sticks are similarly soft and available in different flavors, so that's what I've been using instead. They're really useful for the bigger pills and very cheap in comparison to pill pockets. I have an idea that that's why the pill pockets have been discontinued here. I've seen the cat sticks recommended for hiding pills on a couple of German cat forums.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'm so sorry to hear about Jamie.  I had no idea he even had a heart problem, let alone how bad it is.  But I'm glad at least he can take pills to help with it. 

I'm dealing with the same issue as you right now with pilling a cat who doesn't cooperate, and am looking into compounding pharmacies on the internet.  They can compound many, many drugs, and can make them into many different type of solutions...pills form, powder form, liquid form, even topical to rub on their ears.  All your Vet has to do is call them and they'll make them up and mail them out.  Not all drugs can be compounded, but many can. 

 

[jcat]

I'll have to talk to my vets and the pharmacies around here to ask about compounding. We live in Germany, and it doesn't seem to be common here.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'll have to talk to my vets and the pharmacies around here to ask about compounding. We live in Germany, and it doesn't seem to be common here.

Internet is where I found pharmacies that compound.  Just google it.

 

[jcat]

I'll have to talk to my vets and the pharmacies around here to ask about compounding. We live in Germany, and it doesn't seem to be common here.

Internet is where I found pharmacies that compound.  Just google it.

I have several times. No go here. The vets' office couldn't help me, either, but will look into it.

On the plus side, Jamie can't wait for his pills right now. A little bit of tuna goes a long way with him. Tomorrow we'll try shrimp.

 

[misspremier007]

I am so glad I came across this thread, as my poor little Rusty is terrible when it comes to giving her her pills!! This maybe a silly question and I only ask as Ive never heard of it, but doesnt mozzarella not give them an upset tummy? x

 

[jcat]

I haven't found that mozzarella does that, but I don't give huge chunks of it, either. Jamie pretty much has a "cast iron stomach". The only times I recall he ever got sick from eating something was when he got his treat jar open and gorged, as well as when he polished off a couple of pieces of cake my m-i-l brought over and left on the kitchen table for us. IIRC, it was five pieces, and he only left a couple of crumbs. Maybe I could try cake to hide pills in?

Miezi is a cheese fanatic, and it never makes her sick. She even likes the "stinky" kinds.

 

[barbb]

Wow, that is so fabulous that he is responding to the good stuff! I am very sorry to hear about your kitty's HCM though :-( :-( :-(.

When all else failed, and most of my cats fight pills as if they are poison, I have had tremendous luck putting the pill in my kitty's mouth kind of from behind with my left hand, and then very quickly with my right hand squirting a little bit of water into kitty's mouth with a syringe. This really helps with horrible tasting pills. 

 

[jcat]

The shrimp was a bust, much as Jamie loves shrimp. I gave him a small handful this morning, three of them with pills inside. He devoured the ones without pills, and wouldn't even look at the "spiked" ones till I took the pills out of them. I guess shrimp doesn't cover the smell enough. He did eat the pills once I coated them with spray cheese.

I have a feeling he's going to be insisting on tuna every day.

 

[beautifuldoug]

I just joined today, so do not know you or your kitty at all. I wanted to say how sorry I am to hear your furrbaby is ill and hoping for the best.  I am not sure if you can do this depending on the medication. My cat got an eye infection and the ointment burned, so my vet put my cat on a pill.  The very first time I put the ointment on my cat, he learned the look of the tube, so if he sees the tube he runs, so I get that they become wise to our tricks very quickly.

Anyway, I cannot remember what it was my cat was on, but I grinded up one pill very finely and measured it. I did this three times, just for accuracy.  I found it was exactly 1/4 of a teaspoon each time, so I grinded up the entire bottle (my cat HATES the grinder...too loud) and put the spoon with the container, and even marked on the container (where I put the grinded up pills)  what color the measuring spoon was, as I noticed sometimes different measuring spoon sets vary very slightly, and if someone moved the spoon or washed it (yeah right...lol). I generally use real tuna and use just two spoons, so that I know he got all the medicine. When he grew tired of the tuna, I moved on to whipped cream. If he just sees the can he is my best friend. I can call and call him and he won't come. He will pick up his head and look at me, but will not come. But, if he hears or sees that whipped cream he comes....I put a bit of whipped cream down and then put the grindings on it and then add a bit of whipped cream on top. I did not mean for this to turn in to a long post...but I thought I'd share my idea. Hoing Jamie is getting stronger every day.

 

[jcat]

I haven't tried whipped cream yet, but definitely will. I figure Jamie is going to get sick and tired of tuna at some point. Some of his pills are too tiny to grind, but at least they're easy to hide.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

 When he grew tired of the tuna, I moved on to whipped cream. If he just sees the can he is my best friend. I can call and call him and he won't come. He will pick up his head and look at me, but will not come. But, if he hears or sees that whipped cream he comes....I put a bit of whipped cream down and then put the grindings on it and then add a bit of whipped cream on top. I did not mean for this to turn in to a long post...but I thought I'd share my idea. Hoing Jamie is getting stronger every day.

So, I'm guessing from the sound of this that you use something like Redi-Whip, in the can that sprays out of the nozzle?  Hmm, I would never thought of that as something cats would go for.  But may need to try it. 

Yesterday I asked my Vet for some tricks to use for Pepcid AC, since it's got a bitter taste, and she suggested hiding it in small pieces of hot dog.  So I painstakingly cut a small piece of hot dog, then cut a slit in it and got some tweezers to stuff my 1/4 tab of the pill into it so I wouldn't get any of the scent of the pill on the outside of the hot dog, and do you think that worked?  No Way!  So today I used Carolina's trick of flattening a soft Whiska Lickins and burying it inside, but FIRST, I coated the 1/4 tab with butter to hide the scent, and it WORKED

  I might re-try the hot dog, but coat the pill in butter first and see how that works.  Also, guess I'd better get a pill grinder to use with some whipped cream as a back-up.  I've tried grinding up those Pepcid tablets between 2 spoons, and that just didn't work.
 

 

[jcat]

Just thought I'd give an update. After two weeks, tuna has become a lot less enticing, so I'm now using spray cheese for his morning pills, and cat sticks for the evening ones. I think I'll have to change the "treat" every couple of days to keep him interested.

It's the tiny bit of aspirin that he keeps discovering and spitting out. (Yes, aspirin is poisonous for cats, but blood clots are what kill most HCM cats, so the cardiologist wants him on it.) I've tasted the dust from the beta blocker and diuretic, and they're both pretty bitter, too.

 

[ldg]

Well, at least you're finding options of things TO rotate!

for Jamie's health and your ability to get the pills he needs in him!