giving a cat a pill (revised)

[cellio]

1. Order medicine in capsule form specifically so you can open the capsules and mix the powder into attractive food.

2. Observe that cat is totally uninterested in attractive food.

3. Place cat on counter (at convenient height), get cat into a hold (looping pinky through collar as an anchor), gently press jaws open, and attempt to insert pill.

4. Retrieve pill from counter.

5. Repeat 3 more forcefully. Insert pill and quickly press jaws shut.

6. Retrieve pill from space between cat's gum and lip and try again.

7. After several variations on this theme, get pill solidly into cat's mouth. Hold jaws shut while massaging throat to get cat to swallow.

8. Observe cat swallow. Remove hand from mouth and retrieve soggy pill (with small puncture, leaking powder) from counter a few nannoseconds later.

9. Repeat 7, waiting a really long time and observing multiple swallows.

10. Remove hand and observe half of pill in cat's mouth. Replace hand in an attempt to get the cat to swallow some of the powder.

11. After cat wriggles free, clean up spilled powder from counter and hope enough got into cat to do some good.

That was this morning and tonight he ate some food (with the next dose in it), so that's a good sign. The apparent fever he had this morning seems to be gone, which might be related. (I don't think the antibiotic would have done that all on its own, so that's just lucky timing, I expect.)

Comments

[dagonell.livejournal.com]

1.) Kneel on floor with cat between knees.
2.) One hand under chin to keep cat looking straight up.
3.) Use fingers of same hand to press in at jaw points to open mouth.
4.) Drop pill into throat (aim for the black)
5.) Exhale sharply into cat's nose as if blowing out a candle.
6.) Let go. When cat sneezes, pill is swallowed.
It takes practice before you can do it smoothly, but it can be done.
-- Dagonell

Alternate method

[brokengoose.livejournal.com]

There's also this method (http://www.nanceestar.com/CatPill.html)

[alienor.livejournal.com]

Actually, I discovered that my vet's weird requirement of a syringe of water *helps* with the pilling process. After I get the pill in his mouth (using a technique similar to dagonell), I open my hand just a *bit* so I can put the tip of the syringe in between his teeth. He has to swallow the water that I'm *slowly* putting in his mouth, and the pill goes with.

Hope he feels better soon!

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

We had better luck with an antibiotic liquid one time Duke needed it. The last time we had pills, and it went pretty much as you just described.

[kayre]

Medicine syringe or dropper-- I like a plunger-style syringe best. You'll find them in the baby section of a drugstore. Mix the medicine with liquid, about the consistency of syrup. You can force the tip between teeth and squirt. With a mouthful of liquid, the cat really HAS to swallow.

[ealdthryth.livejournal.com]

We had to give our other cats medication as they got older. We used steps 1-4 of

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<ljuser=dagonell>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

We had to give our other cats medication as they got older. We used steps 1-4 of <ljuser=dagonell>'s method. It worked most, but not all, of the time. I didn't know about blowing into the nose. That might have helped with Minerva. Good luck with the medicine!

[zare-k.livejournal.com]

1. Try to get cat to come to you by making friendly, cat attracting noises.
2. Turn small apartment upside down looking for cat.
3. Find cat in space you did not know existed.
4. Pry cat out of alternate space-time dimension.
5. Marvel that cat has clearly been lifting weights while you are away at work. Resolve to spend more time at gym.
6. ...

[dragontdc.livejournal.com]

We have had good results with small pills by completely embedding them in a "moist" kitty treat and following a close variant of dagonell's method. What little comes off the pill in the cat's mouth is treat-flavored, so our cats have come to accept it well. YMMV. Just pop it in and don't let them chew. Chewing makes the pill come out on the floor.

Pilling the Cat.

[anniemal.livejournal.com]

Used to be, cats just disappeared when they got old and sick, and that was the expected norm. No longer so. Not here and now. We went through an incredible number of tests trying to figure out what the devil was wrong with Roo. And the best the vet could come up with was steroids. It bought him another couple years. He fought me, but let S_C pill him. I had to be invisible during that time each night. I was the one who took him to the vet's. He was ornery as hell, but not stupid beyond that.

I think each cat has to be approached as the unique creature it is, even when forcing a nasty-tasting thing down its throat for its own good. Hiding pills in tasty things has never fooled one of my cats. They explore their food cautiously, possibly because getting extra tasty food is likely a trick. They are sure. And don't trim their claws right before pilling. Administer catnip after nails. And be tough, but not brutal. They'll meet you there. Sort of.

[jducoeur]

For the last couple of years of our boy's lives, we were pilling them regularly. The method was somewhat similar to what dagonell describes, although without the blowing at his nose. Key elements mostly seemed to be psychological, frankly. They included:

-- Do it quickly and confidently. If you approach it hesitantly, it turns into psychodrama and scratches, but if you get it done fast, he generally doesn't mind it so much.

-- Establish quite clearly that you are the alpha cat, and he *is* going to cope. Again, being very firm is essential.

-- Really plonk the pill way back. You need to drop it into the back of the mouth, down at the throat. This means not being afraid of getting your finger near his teeth.

Putting that together, the process is very quick. Grab him; pull the head back; pop the jaws open with one hand; pop the pill in with the other; close. Maybe stroke the throat to make him swallow if you're not sure he has. And pet him afterwards, to establish that this was a "good kitty" moment. Whole process takes maybe 15 seconds.

Takes practice, but once you get the hang of it, it really isn't traumatic. I had my apprentice (ladysprite, the professional vet) teach me, and it became pretty second-nature after a while...