My cat is onto me with the pills...

[BluOnyx]

So my cat is taking 5 different medications twice daily and has been taking them with food really well. I would crush them up and give him a small bit of food prior to his first and last meals of the day. He started not being so keen on it the last few days and now will snub the food if he knows I put the medication in it. I have ordered the only chicken-free wet treat I could find but it will not be here until Wednesday. I figured trying something completely new may help.

In the mean time, does anyone have any tricks to giving their cat pills? Should I try not crushing them at all and see if he licks them up? I don't want this to become a stressful thing for him. He loves meal time, it is his favorite part of the day aside from going to bed (he sleeps next to me every night after having treats).

 

[neely]

Unfortunately this is a common problem for a lot of people trying to give their cat a pill. I thought this recent thread might have some helpful advice and information for you: My cat knows i sneak his medication into his wet food and now isn't eating it

And here is an Article on this subject which has some good tips: Pilling Cats: Must-know Tips For Hiding Pills - TheCatSite

 

[tabbytom]

In the mean time, does anyone have any tricks to giving their cat pills?

More tips and tricks:-

The Best Pill-taking Secret I Know...
Pilling Cats and Dogs Safely
How We Give Our Pill Hating Cat A Pill
Getting Cat To Take Pills... Post Tips Here.

 

[jman_in_mn]

I've been using just the pill shooter into the mouth, followed by a treat. Well that went well for about a week, last night's experience didn't go so well as the pill started to dissolve before being swallowed and there was some foaming

I'm still trying to find that successful pill regimen...

 

[BluOnyx]

Thanks everyone, I will look through this stuff and see if I can come up with something. I am going to try something I found on a video last night when his wet treats come. You just put it on the pill and let them lick it up but it has to be on a rough surface. It seems to work for some cats based on the comments. Assuming he likes the treat enough, I think it could work. I will post the video below.

 

[Binxie]

Have you tried using pill pockets I get the catnip flavored ones and it works, other flavors not so much.

 

[daftcat75]

Thanks everyone, I will look through this stuff and see if I can come up with something. I am going to try something I found on a video last night when his wet treats come. You just put it on the pill and let them lick it up but it has to be on a rough surface. It seems to work for some cats based on the comments. Assuming he likes the treat enough, I think it could work. I will post the video below.

This is the method I use with my Betty. She takes five capsules in the morning and four in the evening. She eagerly takes them all, purring the whole time. I use Hills A/D because she hasn’t demonstrated an intolerance to chicken yet. I call it her “cake frosting” because I’m sure I could get her to eat anything if I coated or topped it with A/D. It took some time for her to learn the scoop and swallow technique and not try to lick the food off the capsules. Definitely a textured surface helps. Now she seems to know the capsules help her because even the few times she’s missed a capsule lately, she’ll go back for it. But it took some time, weeks or longer, of taking the pill she licked around, re-dipping it in A/D, and retrying with her until she would take the capsule. Only after she’s taken all her capsules, I will take a little of the A/D and top her medicine meal to get a few bites of food in her stomach to go with the meds until they kick in. Once the meds are working, she’ll usually finish her meal on a second pass.

 

[BluOnyx]

This is the method I use with my Betty. She takes five capsules in the morning and four in the evening. She eagerly takes them all, purring the whole time. I use Hills A/D because she hasn’t demonstrated an intolerance to chicken yet. I call it her “cake frosting” because I’m sure I could get her to eat anything if I coated or topped it with A/D. It took some time for her to learn the scoop and swallow technique and not try to lick the food off the capsules. Definitely a textured surface helps. Now she seems to know the capsules help her because even the few times she’s missed a capsule lately, she’ll go back for it. But it took some time, weeks or longer, of taking the pill she licked around, re-dipping it in A/D, and retrying with her until she would take the capsule. Only after she’s taken all her capsules, I will take a little of the A/D and top her medicine meal to get a few bites of food in her stomach to go with the meds until they kick in. Once the meds are working, she’ll usually finish her meal on a second pass.

I just tried it and I am mind blown. He took all his pills in less than a minute. He licked around one but went back for it when I put more food on it. Even the bitter one, he spit it out and look it right back in with more food. I am so happy and relieved. I wish I knew this years ago.

 

[BluOnyx]

Have you tried using pill pockets I get the catnip flavored ones and it works, other flavors not so much.

No, he has a chicken allergy, those are all chicken-based.

 

[BluOnyx]

I just tried it and I am mind blown. He took all his pills in less than a minute. He licked around one but went back for it when I put more food on it. Even the bitter one, he spit it out and look it right back in with more food. I am so happy and relieved. I wish I knew this years ago.

For reference, I found a tuna based food by BFF that is beef. Very healthy ingredients and has a strong smell. I was giving this brand to my cat that had cancer. It was the only food he would eat but he had the chicken based variety. It is expensive but I am only doing a syringe at a time, twice a day for this so a 5.5 oz can should last him 4 or 5 days. I just have to hope he is interested still after it has been int he fridge. I also got those wet stick treats that I can give him every few days so he does not tired of this one. I have to get a better syringe though cause this one got jammed quickly.

I really could kick myself right now for not thinking of this or finding it sooner lol

 

[daftcat75]

I just tried it and I am mind blown. He took all his pills in less than a minute. He licked around one but went back for it when I put more food on it. Even the bitter one, he spit it out and look it right back in with more food. I am so happy and relieved. I wish I knew this years ago.

It's just so much easier when they take their own meds. Betty looks forward to it. She always shows up for her meds. And those times she'll come up to the counter to supurrvise me, she'll break for her meds spot right after I've collected the meds and warmed up the A/D in the microwave (a second or two on each side just to take the fridge chill out of it--not to actually warm it up.) She doesn't wait for me to plate her breakfast or dinner. "Yeah yeah. I want the cake frosting!"

 

[daftcat75]

For reference, I found a tuna based food by BFF that is beef. Very healthy ingredients and has a strong smell. I was giving this brand to my cat that had cancer. It was the only food he would eat but he had the chicken based variety. It is expensive but I am only doing a syringe at a time, twice a day for this so a 5.5 oz can should last him 4 or 5 days. I just have to hope he is interested still after it has been int he fridge. I also got those wet stick treats that I can give him every few days so he does not tired of this one. I have to get a better syringe though cause this one got jammed quickly.

I really could kick myself right now for not thinking of this or finding it sooner lol

I don't bother with a syringe. I have a small tray. It's the top of a microwave-safe sauce container. I spoon out some A/D onto that tray and microwave it for 1 or 2 seconds. Flip it and microwave it for another 1 or 2 seconds. The goal isn't to warm it up. I just want to take the fridge chill off it. It's actually too soupy if it gets too warm. Then for her, I simply twist the capsule into the A/D. I'm not so much trying to hide it from her. She knows by now. But I am giving her something tasty in return for her cooperation. She just seems to know now to scoop and swallow and not bother trying to chew it open. One of her pills is dried poop from carefully screened donor cats (AnimalBiome Gut Restoration Supplement aka "poobiotics".) She bit into that ONCE, and I believe that was instructive. I just twist and drop. Twist and drop. Twist and drop. Until we're done. Then I take a little of the A/D that's left and spread it across the top of her meal.

The other trick here is that once you've found his version of "cake frosting", you only let him have it for taking medicine. Or you use it very sparingly like a topper if he needs a little extra help eating before the meds kick in like Betty does. If he gets it as food too, he will lose interest.

 

[daftcat75]

I'm sorry the video is so dark. I've been meaning to take a better one.

 

[BluOnyx]

It worked for a few days but now he just licks around the pill or spits it out so I am going to have to try and find another method. The foods I was crushing the pills in for a few weeks, he is completely put off from them. Won't even touch them without medication now. I really do not want to force feed him meds.

 

[daftcat75]

It worked for a few days but now he just licks around the pill or spits it out so I am going to have to try and find another method. The foods I was crushing the pills in for a few weeks, he is completely put off from them. Won't even touch them without medication now. I really do not want to force feed him meds.

It took many weeks or possibly months for Betty to perfect the scoop and swallow. Sometimes she still leaves the pill behind. But she knows by now what’s expected, and she'll go back for it. Only after she's taken all her capsules will she get her meal and a reward smear of A/D on top. Don’t give up so soon If he still likes his version of the “cake frosting.” For Betty, we had to experiment with a lot of things like how warm or cold the A/D (a couple of seconds in the microwave for A/D), how much to coat it with (don't even need to coat it completely with Betty, just enough to help it go down), the size of the capsule (fives and fours, at first, but now she'll take a 3 with no trouble.), etc. She likes the A/D so we kept trying until she figured it out. Now it's not even a question anymore. Most mornings I feel like she shows up for the meds and sometimes sticks around for the meals. A starter strip of A/D on top of her meal does get some food in her belly until those meds kick in. Then she'll make a second pass and that's usually game over for that plate.

 

[BluOnyx]

It took many weeks or possibly months for Betty to perfect the scoop and swallow. Sometimes she still leaves the pill behind. But she knows by now what’s expected, and she'll go back for it. Only after she's taken all her capsules will she get her meal and a reward smear of A/D on top. Don’t give up so soon If he still likes his version of the “cake frosting.” For Betty, we had to experiment with a lot of things like how warm or cold the A/D (a couple of seconds in the microwave for A/D), how much to coat it with (don't even need to coat it completely with Betty, just enough to help it go down), the size of the capsule (fives and fours, at first, but now she'll take a 3 with no trouble.), etc. She likes the A/D so we kept trying until she figured it out. Now it's not even a question anymore. Most mornings I feel like she shows up for the meds and sometimes sticks around for the meals. A starter strip of A/D on top of her meal does get some food in her belly until those meds kick in. Then she'll make a second pass and that's usually game over for that plate.

So you put her pills in capsules? Is that what you mean?

I have not been doing that. Maybe that is part of the issue. I mean I know they can't taste good but he had been taking them the last few days so well. I just had to give him his last pill manually and felt terrible doing it. I don't want to have to do that every time.

 

[daftcat75]

So you put her pills in capsules? Is that what you mean?

I have not been doing that. Maybe that is part of the issue. I mean I know they can't taste good but he had been taking them the last few days so well. I just had to give him his last pill manually and felt terrible doing it. I don't want to have to do that every time.

Oh yes! I pack all her meds into capsules so she doesn’t have to taste any of them. I then twist the capsules into the A/D and drop them on the carpet. The carpet (or another textured surface like a fabric placemat or towel) reduces the lick and flick. And Betty just isn’t interested in chewing the capsule. I buy empty size fives for her pills that I cut and repack (pred and ondansetron.) I make up a week’s worth on Saturday morning. It takes about 15 minutes. She also takes gabapentin which I have compounded into capsules. And once a month I turn a dozen human sized s. boulardii capsules into 50 cat sized capsules with the aid of a capsule filling machine. She takes these two a day. This takes about 20 minutes per month. I use one of those days of the week pill boxes to keep her capsules organized. She gets ondansetron alone in the morning and ondansetron plus prednisilone in the evening. To make this 5am proof so I don’t mix them up, I put the ondansetron in orange (ond/orange) capsules and the pred plus ondansetron in purple (pred/purple) capsules. Her other capsules she gets twice a day so I don’t have to worry about grabbing the wrong one there. The nice thing about having my meds prep time each Saturday is that I know a week in advance when she needs a refill. I know how many whole pills of each it takes to make a week’s worth of repacked capsules, and I can tell a week before I run out when I’m going to need to call up the vet for a refill. No more frantic emergency prescriptions because I got caught napping on dwindling inventory.

The empty capsules I buy off Amazon. The size four capsule filling machine I got off of Etsy. I guess size five machines are regulated by the DEA. But I only need the filling machine for powders. And size five would be too small for most powder doses.

 

[BluOnyx]

Oh yes! I pack all her meds into capsules so she doesn’t have to taste any of them. I then twist the capsules into the A/D and drop them on the carpet. The carpet (or another textured surface like a fabric placemat or towel) reduces the lick and flick. And Betty just isn’t interested in chewing the capsule. I buy empty size fives for her pills that I cut and repack (pred and ondansetron.) I make up a week’s worth on Saturday morning. It takes about 15 minutes. She also takes gabapentin which I have compounded into capsules. And once a month I turn a dozen human sized s. boulardii capsules into 50 cat sized capsules with the aid of a capsule filling machine. She takes these two a day. This takes about 20 minutes per month. I use one of those days of the week pill boxes to keep her capsules organized. She gets ondansetron alone in the morning and ondansetron plus prednisilone in the evening. To make this 5am proof so I don’t mix them up, I put the ondansetron in orange (ond/orange) capsules and the pred plus ondansetron in purple (pred/purple) capsules. Her other capsules she gets twice a day so I don’t have to worry about grabbing the wrong one there. The nice thing about having my meds prep time each Saturday is that I know a week in advance when she needs a refill. I know how many whole pills of each it takes to make a week’s worth of repacked capsules, and I can tell a week before I run out when I’m going to need to call up the vet for a refill. No more frantic emergency prescriptions because I got caught napping on dwindling inventory.

The empty capsules I buy off Amazon. The size four capsule filling machine I got off of Etsy. I guess size five machines are regulated by the DEA. But I only need the filling machine for powders. And size five would be too small for most powder doses.

My vet game me some (size 3) for one of the pills but he ate it with food, first cat she ever knew that would. Not anymore. lol He will not touch food with pills in it. I have one of those weekly AM/PM pill organizers so I cut and prep his pills for the week. I assumed you were putting them all in capsules and just did that myself after commenting and will try it tomorrow. So he will have two that he needs to get in the AM and two in the PM, plus one mid-day one for his heart flutters. I color-coded all the pill bottles with his schedule as well. It helps a lot.

I hope this is enough to get him back on track with taking them.

He is taking 5 different medications plus three supplements (fish oil, Ubiquinol, and taurine which he started last night). The taurine he ate the first two times, it is a chewable but refused the last one. I had to cover it in food several times but he eventually took it.

I know his original vet, not the heart specialist, mentioned he had some teeth issues that will need to be fixed in the future. I am wondering if that is making things suddenly worse for him as he seems reluctant to eat anything other than pate now. He goes back for another check-up in 6 weeks. I am going to see if she will take a look at his teeth and get her opinion.

 

[BluOnyx]

Update... he couldn't do the capsules. He tried biting them every time. I ended up having to crush them up again but thankfully he did eat most of the food with the medication. I am going to try those treat sticks. I got more flavors, some he has never had before. Had to hunt for some without chicken but I found some. I also got one of those mortar and pestle things so I can smash up his pills to very fine powder and mix it with the food right in the bowl.

It seems like this is the best option right now. As long as I rotate the flavors and only let him have them with the pills, I think he will be okay with it. When he had food with and then without the pills, he could taste the difference and it put him off I think.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I probably already suggested this (didn't go back in this thread to see, sorry). Have you tried the pill masker? There is the Tomlyn brand that is bacon flavored, no chicken. You can cover a pill with as little or as much as you want. I even coat them in Forti Flora if I think they will stick to a plate. So far, that works for the pills I am afraid to crush up for fear of their taste. The pills I don't worry about the taste get crushed up and mixed with a number of lickable treats - all the ones I use are chicken based, but there are others that are not.
Feeby would not do capsules either, she tried to chew them and that was the end of that!!
TOMLYN Pill-Masker, 4-oz jar - Chewy.com