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how to make cats eat their medicine?

5K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  theinfinitesadness 
#1 ·
I bought these worm medicine tablets today. I cut it in smaller pieces, mixed it into the food and tried to feed it to the cats, but they just eat around it and leave the tablet pieces in the bowl :? I'm sure there is a much easier way to do it, I just can't think of it. :p
 
#2 ·
There sure is! the 'approved' method is to kneel on the floor, cross your ankles, and shove your kitty between your legs. Lift their head, drop the pill as far down their throat as you can and massage their neck until they swallow....

What I do is crush the pill into powder, mix it with a very small amount of something the kitty will eat (syrup, cheese whiz, yogurt), then wipe it on their front paws.

To make sure each kitty gets the right dose I then lock them in a big kennel until the medicine is gone. Works great.
 
#5 ·
I had a cat at the sanctuary that just wouldn't take his Prednisone, even if I "hid" it in canned food. I eventually just got some "tough love" with him... held him against me, shoved it down his throat, and held his mouth shut until he swallowed it.

I usually like to have the liquid forms of medicines better. Not only is it easier to give (usually), but the body absorbs things in liquid form better/faster than it does having to dissolve pills in the stomach and then process them.
 
#7 ·
I had really good luck with some fairly nasty pills by mashing a piece of bologna around the pill. The pills were for a cat of mine who is very squirmy and almost impossible to medicate. The vet even had to try a few times to get the first pill down (he kept hiding it in his mouth then spitting it out). The first time I gave the pill to my cat in the bologna the pill fell out, but smelled enough like bologna that he ate the pill right off the counter :)

If your cat really likes the occasional treat like a piece of people food (lunch meat or something) then I'd try that. The stronger tasting the food is the better to mask the bitterness of the pill.

If that doesn't work the ideas in that other thread sounds very promising, as does librarychick's idea.
 
#8 ·
Thanks guys! I'm having real problems with this now. Mixing the pills into the food didn't work at all. they rather spend a day without eating than going anywhere near it :? So now i bought some liquid stuff in a syringe. I checked out some videos on youtube to see how the pros do it, but I can't even make the cats sit down for a couple of seconds and I can't imagine pushing anything into their throats without totally freaking them out :( I know it won't really harm them, but i just don't think i can do it :p
 
#10 ·
She'll get over it and love you again.
I had a similar problem. I used Revolution on the nape for worms, but it's only effective against roundworms and hookworms. My cat had round and tape both. I tried making a corral with my legs as suggested and did manage to get the pill down OK.

This did not solve the problem with my semi-feral cat with tape worms though. I can give him the topical/systemic meds on the nape, but pilling is out of the question.
 
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