[kty78]

Do they work? I have to give Ollie Drontal again... he can't seem to get rid of the tapeworm(s). First time I tried crushing the pills and putting them in wet food. Big mistake. He wouldn't eat the food. Got more pills and tried coating them in butter and sticking them on the back of his tongue. Every time I thought he had swallowed them I found it stuck to my shirt, or on the floor, or the couch... so I might not have gotten the whole dose down him. This time I thought I'd try pill pockets. He loves Greenies treats, I bought them because I wanted to see if he'd eat them, before I bought pill pockets. My plan now is to buy pill pockets, give him a couple and then give him some with the pills in it. He has to take one and a half, so I figured I'll probably have to break them into 1/4's and sneak them into the pills which means he'll have to have 6. I'm just hoping he won't chew the pill pockets and find out there's meds in there. He foamed at the mouth and shook his head like crazy last time I gave them to him. He even acted like I was poisoning when I tried to give him a treat afterward and wouldn't go near his food bowl for an hour or two in case I had poisoned that too.

Miley is showing no signs of the tapeworm in her stools since her fist dose of Drontal. I know this because they both feel the need to go potty while I'm scooping the litter box so I get to see whose is whose. Plus Ollie gets the little segments on his tail and I haven't seen any on hers recently. I have also been treating them with Advantage for the last 3 months, and they don't have any fleas. Anyone have experience with this? How in the heck do you get a pill down them? I thought Miley would be the one I'd have a problem with but she took hers the first time without a hassle. Ollie is the more laid back cat who will let you do anything to him.... except stuff a pill down his throat, apparently. Why do they have to taste so nasty?

 

[LadyK]

Josie loves the Pill Pockets. When she was on antibiotics, I slipped a pill in each pocket, pinched it closed, and she ate it quickly without a problem. I think you need to make sure you don't touch the pill pocket with the same hand as you do the pill, to avoid transferring any pill smell. But give it a try - it worked for us!

 

[minikin44]

I agree

Josie loves the Pill Pockets. When she was on antibiotics, I slipped a pill in each pocket, pinched it closed, and she ate it quickly without a problem. I think you need to make sure you don't touch the pill pocket with the same hand as you do the pill, to avoid transferring any pill smell. But give it a try - it worked for us!

My cat Tugs loves them too... but definitely follow LadyK's advice... Tugs could taste the pill if I closed the pocket with fingers that had touched the pill.

 

[kty78]

Makes sense. Before I checked this thread I was actually thinking about using tweezers to place the pills in the pockets that way I don't get it on my hands. I think it's so bitter it probably would leave a taste on the pill pocket.

 

[doodlebug]

Every cat is different, really no way to know how they'll respond. My experience with Callie was to give her an empty one, which she ate just fine. Then I put the pill in....she ate that too. I'm thinking I hit the jackpot. Next time I gave her one she ate the treat from around the pill and spit the pill out. BTW, just because she likes regular Greenies, doesn't mean she'll like PPs...completely different products.

There's a Sticky here on how to pill a cat, you may get some ideas from that. I put the pill in a pill shooter and also have a syringe with water prepped. Then I wrap the cat in a large towel (bath sheet or beach towel size). With pill shooter in my right hand, I put my left palm over the eyes and use my thumb and middle fingers to press on the jaw hinge. Shoot the pill towards the back of the throat, hold the mouth closed and grab the water. Squirt it in to the side of the cheek and make sure the cat swallows a few times.

Good luck...hope the pill pockets work...

 

[laurief]

Call around to your local pharmacies and find one that carries empty size 3 or 4 gelcaps. Put the cut up Drontal into the gelcaps to hide their icky taste, then put the gelcaps in Pill Pockets to further mask the taste. The strongest flavored and most irresistible of the Pill Pockets (according to my feline household) are the duck flavored ones, so buy those if you can find them.

If you can't find #3 or 4 gelcaps and you need to put the Drontal directly into the Pill Pocket, cut the PP in half so that you are giving the smallest bite possible. Cats are more likely to chew an entire PP (and end up biting into the med itself - yuck), but they'll often swallow a half PP whole. If you use a gelcap, though, you'll need an entire PP to cover it completely.

Laurie

 

[kty78]

Well, I picked up the Drontal after work today and a bag of feline greenies pill pockets. I have never used pill pockets before so I didn't know they were so pliable, or I would have bought the dog ones since they're bigger and you get more more the money, and broke them into smaller pieces. Anyway. For cats they only had chicken and salmon. Salmon anything is hit or miss with my cats, so I went with the chicken. If they had beef I would have gotten that, they go crazy for beef anything. I saw the duck for dogs but they looked so big... I hadn't read about the duck ones being irresistable until just now. I realize now greenie treats have nothing to do with pill pockets. LOL. Oh well. The cats like them anyway.

So... long story short, Pill Pockets were a success! I took out a couple with no meds in it, gave Miley one so Ollie would be jealous, then gave him one. Miley dissected hers and had it on the dishwasher in 3 pieces before she ate it, but Ollie just sort of chewed his. He wasn't about to let go of it. Then I locked myself in the bathroom to cut up the pills and stuff the pockets, grabbed a couple more for Miley and the 6 medicated ones for Ollie. I held them in opposite hands so I'd remember whose were whose. Again, gave Miley one first and when she gobbled it up I gave Ollie a couple, he eats faster, he chewed them and I was worried but he didn't get to the icky center I guess. Never knew what hit him. Then I gave him a plain greenie to make sure he swallowed everything. No problemo whatsoever. Yay! Then I started thinking, why didn't I just use a chunk of ground beef or cheese cubes. LOL. But the Pill pockets definitely seem to have a strong enough flavor to help mask the icky. I remember my dad using liverwurst to give pills to the dogs. I don't even know if the cats would eat that, anyway. My only complaint about the pill pockets is they're kind of expensive. I'll have to hide the rest so nobody feeds them to the cats and I'll have them next time I have to give a pill.

 

[cinderflower]

Well, I picked up the Drontal after work today and a bag of feline greenies pill pockets. I have never used pill pockets before so I didn't know they were so pliable, or I would have bought the dog ones since they're bigger and you get more more the money, and broke them into smaller pieces. Anyway. For cats they only had chicken and salmon. Salmon anything is hit or miss with my cats, so I went with the chicken. If they had beef I would have gotten that, they go crazy for beef anything. I saw the duck for dogs but they looked so big... I hadn't read about the duck ones being irresistable until just now. I realize now greenie treats have nothing to do with pill pockets. LOL. Oh well. The cats like them anyway.

So... long story short, Pill Pockets were a success! I took out a couple with no meds in it, gave Miley one so Ollie would be jealous, then gave him one. Miley dissected hers and had it on the dishwasher in 3 pieces before she ate it, but Ollie just sort of chewed his. He wasn't about to let go of it. Then I locked myself in the bathroom to cut up the pills and stuff the pockets, grabbed a couple more for Miley and the 6 medicated ones for Ollie. I held them in opposite hands so I'd remember whose were whose. Again, gave Miley one first and when she gobbled it up I gave Ollie a couple, he eats faster, he chewed them and I was worried but he didn't get to the icky center I guess. Never knew what hit him. Then I gave him a plain greenie to make sure he swallowed everything. No problemo whatsoever. Yay! Then I started thinking, why didn't I just use a chunk of ground beef or cheese cubes. LOL. But the Pill pockets definitely seem to have a strong enough flavor to help mask the icky. I remember my dad using liverwurst to give pills to the dogs. I don't even know if the cats would eat that, anyway. My only complaint about the pill pockets is they're kind of expensive. I'll have to hide the rest so nobody feeds them to the cats and I'll have them next time I have to give a pill.

they are really expensive, but i found excellent sales at doggiefood.com, that was the reason i first went there. you can use hamburger, any kind of ground meat, cheese is hit or miss unless it's kind of strong-smelling and semi-soft because sometimes they eat around it.

dogs are a little easier because they'll just swallow it whole. your cats might like liverwurst, mine love liver, cooked or not.

 

[doodlebug]

I hadn't read about the duck ones being irresistable until just now.

I'll have to hide the rest so nobody feeds them to the cats and I'll have them next time I have to give a pill.

The duck have been discontinued.

Seal them up really well otherwise they'll get hard.

 

[kty78]

they are really expensive, but i found excellent sales at doggiefood.com, that was the reason i first went there. you can use hamburger, any kind of ground meat, cheese is hit or miss unless it's kind of strong-smelling and semi-soft because sometimes they eat around it.

dogs are a little easier because they'll just swallow it whole. your cats might like liverwurst, mine love liver, cooked or not.

I know, our dog used to swallow everything whole... a bagel, a meatball sub... How do they do it? You turn your head and your entire dinner is gone and the dog sits there looking innocent.

 

[laurief]

The duck have been discontinued..

Doodlebug, what makes you think the duck flavored PP's have been discontinued? They're still marketed on the Greenies website at FELINE GREENIES Cat Dental Treats & Dental Chews | Greenies.com

 

[doodlebug]

The last time I ordered them, my distributor had them noted as discontinued...

I had been having trouble getting any PPs at all, many sizes and flavors (both dog & cat) out of stock for several weeks. Then when they finally came back into stock, the cat duck flavor was showing as discontinued. Usually that means that the manufacturer is no longer making them, but it's possible that the distributor just decided not to carry them anymore.