My cat is onto me with the pills...

[BluOnyx]

For that one difficult to administer drug that requires strict compliance, you may want to ask your vet about having it compounded into an easier form. A Tiny Tab may go down easy with a little bit of bisque treat. Especially if these aren’t easy to chew. Transdermal may not absorb as well as oral. But if you can’t get it in him any other way, less optimal absorption is better than missed doses.

Pimobendan for dogs: Uses, Dosage & Side Effects

I don't even think it is the flavor, he hates the texture. He ate them at first. They are very dry and crumbly. Even the vet assumed this one would be the least problematic but it is the one he hates the most. It is easy to grind down into a powder but if he knows it is in something, he turns his nose up to it. I am thinking maybe tuna may be the way to go since the smell is strong and I can just mix it with some of the liquid and a few bits of it.

 

[Alldara]

If you talk to the vet, sometimes the pills come in different 'flavours' and you can try a different flavour pill.

My late cat Lily loves the chicken version of one medication for example and it was very difficult to get her to take the vanilla. The flavours are usually synthetic, so even if he has a chicken allergy, he should be able to eat it.

 

[BluOnyx]

So an update.

He is still taking all his meds with the pill mask. I have to make sandwiches with treats and put that in the middle with the pill inside. He doesn't seem to be getting any stomach upset from the chicken treats which is good. He gets about 8 to 10 of them each time.

As for the Pimo... I was able to get him to take it with one of his new foods. I syringed three poo shaped piles onto a dish but put the Pimo in the middle. He ate it all.

He is still taking his taurine and ubiquinol with the bisque stuff.

Fingers crossed this is what works and will continue to work.

He is not keen on his mid-day pill though. This was optional so I don't have to give it to him but I am still going to try a few more days. It is to help with his flutters. I am looking into natural options as well. Maybe do something natural mid-day instead of the pill. He will still be getting his standard two doses a day. Vitamin C is said to help. I can't remember what study I read last night but it was 85% effective for AFib.

 

[BluOnyx]

Maybe do something natural mid-day instead of the pill. He will still be getting his standard two doses a day. Vitamin C is said to help. I can't remember what study I read last night but it was 85% effective for AFib.

I found some non-acidic vitamin C for cats and dogs. It was only $10 and should last him about 40 days, assuming he is okay with it being added to his food. I will taste it first. Make sure it is not bitter. I will probably just give this to him as a snack with one of those wet treat stick things.

 

[BluOnyx]

Everything is still working. I will be giving him a new flavor today for his pimo pills. He liked the lamb one. One can lasts about 3 days which is good. I will just rotate the flavors so he doesn't get sick of them. Same with the treats he gets with his pills.

The vitamin C I got him just came. I mixed it with a small wet treat and put it next to his dinner on the plate and he ate it. I tasted it and there is virtually no taste, no bitterness at all. I got the Dr. Goodpet Crystal C. So for anyone looking for a good vitamin C for their cat or dog, this seems to be a winner. It is sourced from Switzerland which is a bonus. Unlike most C that is sourced from corn in China.

If anything changes, I will update the thread again. Thus far, this seems to be the winning formula.

I hope between the ubiquinol, taurine, vitamin c, and fish oil we will get good news that his heart is improving for his next visit. I am not giving up and settling for it getting worse with time, I want to see improvement. If this works, it can help someone else's cat too. Fingers crossed!

 

[BluOnyx]

He decided tonight, he is not having the pill wrap. He took one pill as mentioned with it sandwiched between treats and snubbed the others. I ended up having to smash them and mix them with some food which he did take but if I do that too often, I know it will ruin the food for him.

I am hoping he will take them in the morning. There doesn't seem to be any other flavors other than bacon pill masks for cats, well except peanut-butter and I know he will not touch that.

He was so upset he didn't even finish his food. Walked away from it several times and eventually ate some of it. I think he may have tasted one of the pills too much or he is just sick of the bacon wrap flavor.

 

[BluOnyx]

He decided tonight, he is not having the pill wrap. He took one pill as mentioned with it sandwiched between treats and snubbed the others. I ended up having to smash them and mix them with some food which he did take but if I do that too often, I know it will ruin the food for him.

I am hoping he will take them in the morning. There doesn't seem to be any other flavors other than bacon pill masks for cats, well except peanut-butter and I know he will not touch that.

He was so upset he didn't even finish his food. Walked away from it several times and eventually ate some of it. I think he may have tasted one of the pills too much or he is just sick of the bacon wrap flavor.

Took one pill and didn't want anything to do with it after that. I think he is put off by the pill mask now.

Does anyone know of any other brand like the Tomlyn one for cats but in a different flavor? I think I may get some of that calorie paste stuff and see if he likes that but I have to find a store that carries it. Amazon only has a 2-pack right now and I don't want to buy two until I know he likes it.

I had to mush up his pills and try several different times with different foods to get him to take them. He eventually did.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Sadly, the only other pill masker I know of also is bacon flavored - Vetoquinol. I bought it but have not yet opened it. The only other thing I can come up with might be the Sheba Meaty Tender Sticks which might be moldable, but both the tuna and the salmon ones have turkey in them, and I can't remember if your cat can eat turkey or not.

Both Tomlyn and Vetoquinol have nutritional pastes that don't appear to contain chicken. They seem to be available through Chewy. You might want to check local pet stores for one or the other.

Tbh, you probably should also look into dog treats that are moldable - they are more inclined to carry flavors other than chicken and I cannot imagine there is enough of anything in them that would not be suitable for cat when using just for pill administration.

 

[louisstools]

You might also ask the vet if there are other forms for these medicines, like liquid or transdermal. They don't always offer these suggestions.

 

[BluOnyx]

Sadly, the only other pill masker I know of also is bacon flavored - Vetoquinol. I bought it but have not yet opened it. The only other thing I can come up with might be the Sheba Meaty Tender Sticks which might be moldable, but both the tuna and the salmon ones have turkey in them, and I can't remember if your cat can eat turkey or not.

Both Tomlyn and Vetoquinol have nutritional pastes that don't appear to contain chicken. They seem to be available through Chewy. You might want to check local pet stores for one or the other.

Tbh, you probably should also look into dog treats that are moldable - they are more inclined to carry flavors other than chicken and I cannot imagine there is enough of anything in them that would not be suitable for cat when using just for pill administration.

He can't have chicken though I have been using dry treats with chicken in them to give him with his pills. Turkey is okay. He eats those as treats now and then so those wouldn't be a good pill option (the Sheba sticks) especially because he got bored of them after awhile and I had to stop buying them for months before he wanted them again.

He is still somewhat taking his pills with the mask. He only takes one or two and then doesn't want anymore so I just have been having to sneak the ones he doesn't take into his main meal. I just don't want that to put him off from eating again like it did last time.

The molds I have found are hickory, cheese, or peanut butter. He won't touch any of those. He is very picky with cheese. I did try just regular cheese once but he was not having that.

 

[BluOnyx]

You might also ask the vet if there are other forms for these medicines, like liquid or transdermal. They don't always offer these suggestions.

I can ask at his next appointment. I think there are more options this route for dogs than there is for cats.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I can ask at his next appointment. I think there are more options this route for dogs than there is for cats.

There are actually a ton of different options, even for cats, to compound meds, with a multitude of flavors. Just as an example, you can look at Wedgewood Pharmacy to get an idea of what is possible. If you see some you like, you can call them and ask more questions, but they are somewhat sticklers on getting too specific as they don't like to do that without a prescription. Your vet might know of some other compounding pharmacies, but I found the ones my vet recommended that were more local didn't have nearly the possible options displayed on their web sites as did Wedgewood.
Veterinary Pharmacy for Compounded Pet Medications (wedgewoodpharmacy.com)

 

[louisstools]

I can ask at his next appointment. I think there are more options this route for dogs than there is for cats.

Yeah, the options do vary as FeebysOwner said but your vet should be able to find something that works for both you and the cat. It's not uncommon to have issues giving medicine to cats and a bare-minimum competent vet (not even a good one) should be able to help.

I've used wedgewood in the past and they were great. As easy as express scripts who I actually like lol. However pay attention to the potential for a UPS strike b/c that will send USPS and Fedex a surge in demand that will delay things like mail-order medicines (for humans and cats).

 

[FeebysOwner]

your vet should be able to find something that works for both you and the cat. It's not uncommon to have issues giving medicine to cats and a bare-minimum competent vet (not even a good one) should be able to help.

I have had a couple of really, really good vets and they are limited in their awareness of all of the compounding options. They can advise on a very general basis, but sadly the cat owner needs to be proactive to find alternatives that work for them and their cats. These same vets were very amenable to me suggesting things that they had not thought of or known about - that, to me, is what makes a good vet!

 

[daftcat75]

Transdermal might seem easiest for you. But most cats aren't crazy about it. That means you might be chasing your cat. You also have to alternate ears and wash off the off-day ear so you aren't layering doses and reducing absorption. So while transdermal might seem like an appealing option, not every cat is going to go along with you on this. However, for meds that are absolutely critical to give the same time everyday no matter how stubborn the cat is being, sometimes transdermal is the only option that makes sense even given its drawbacks. I did Krista's pred as transdermal.

Flavored oils is another way to go. You can probably even get Wedgewood to send you some non-medicated flavors to run past your cat before the medicine is compounded. One thing that worked well with Krista for her chemotherapy was getting the oil concentrated if the medicine you're looking at has multiple strengths to choose from. In this way, I got her dose down to 0.1 mL of an anchovy flavored oil. I added this to a plate with an approximate equal amount of unmedicated salmon oil. The combined oil puddle was no more than a dime or a nickel's worth of oil that Krista happily lapped up each time without issue.

Wedgewood has many other formulation options to consider. They will probably send you unmedicated flavored blanks of different formulations so you can be (almost) assured he'll eat it before you get it compounded. It might cost a small fee plus shipping. If you do get something compounded that he's just not crazy about, they will work with you to make it right.

And as simple as Betty is to medicate, I currently have Betty's gabapentin compounded with them to minimum effective dose for her in a capsule I know she'll take with A/D. It saves me the time, trouble, and inaccuracy of splitting up larger doses the vet gave me. And neither she nor myself want to bother with the liquid formulation.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Wedgewood has many other formulation options to consider. They will probably send you unmedicated flavored blanks of different formulations so you can be (almost) assured he'll eat it before you get it compounded. It might cost a small fee plus shipping. If you do get something compounded that he's just not crazy about, they will work with you to make it right.

You might make sure you ask Wedgewood to send samples - they never offered that to me during any one of my phone conversations with them - admittedly, I never thought to ask. Also, I will tell you, once you have a specific compounded prescription (which has to be requested by the vet in detail) and your cat does not like it, Wedgewood requires another, new prescription from the vet if you want a new compounded version. They will not alter the composition on an existing prescription, even if the med and dosage remain the same.

 

[daftcat75]

They will not alter the composition on an existing prescription, even if the med and dosage remain the same.

I think trying different flavors within the same formulation doesn’t require a new prescription. We tried an antibiotic in duck flavor that Krista had a reaction to. I called them up and told them we couldn’t use that flavor. I picked another and paid a rush shipping charge. I don’t think they called back to the vet for a new prescription. But if I wanted to change from oil to tiny tabs, that probably would require a new prescription.

 

[BluOnyx]

I thought I should update this. So he stopped wanting the treats I was using with the pill mask. Had to start giving him cat crack (Temptations) and now he is refusing any other treat he is offered pretty much but he happily comes up to me to take his pills. I wrap the pills in the pill masker and then put it between two Temptations. He sometimes gets the treat off and spits it out but I put another Temptation on top before he sniffs it and he takes it.

He stopped wanting to take his pimobendan with food so now I am having to do that with treats. He got real fussy with his extra food that was being used for his fish oil, taurine, vitamin c, and ubiquinol so I am having to make adjustments for those. I might have to hunt down something new to use.

And in typical cat fashion, he decided to change his mind on everything AFTER I ordered $65 worth of the extra food.

 

[FeebysOwner]

On Feeby's more picky days she sometimes will snub the pill masker covered pills, so I end up coating them in FortiFlora and that seems to do the trick. I just put a pack of FortiFlora in a condiment cup and then drop a pill masker pill in and shake it around to coat it. I can put a lid on the condiment cup to preserve the remainder for future uses.

If you haven't tried the Temptations Meaty Bites that might be another option.

Did you say you have tried some of the lickable treats? There are other meds of Feeby's that I can mix with one of many lickable treats and she will eat them that way.

 

[BluOnyx]

On Feeby's more picky days she sometimes will snub the pill masker covered pills, so I end up coating them in FortiFlora and that seems to do the trick. I just put a pack of FortiFlora in a condiment cup and then drop a pill masker pill in and shake it around to coat it. I can put a lid on the condiment cup to preserve the remainder for future uses.

If you haven't tried the Temptations Meaty Bites that might be another option.

Did you say you have tried some of the lickable treats? There are other meds of Feeby's that I can mix with one of many lickable treats and she will eat them that way.

What I am doing now is working so I am happy about that. For his medication anyways.

His supplements are another story. I was using lickable treats for the vitamin C. I bought every chicken-free kind I could find and he ended up only liking a few of them, all of which he is sick of now. I used separate food for the rest but he seems to not want any of it. Just promptly walks away.

I am going to use PureBites mixers and see if those last for him for his supplements. I am going to have to try mixing his fish oil back in his food as well as his vitamin c. I will just do smaller doses 4 times a day instead of 2 and 1 dose. Should mask it better without ruining his meal time.