How To Give Your Cat A Pill

How Do I Keep My Cat Healthy

There you have it: how to give your cat a pill simply and effectively. Of course, if any questions pop up, you can reach out to a trusted veterinarian. At Pawp, vet care is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Youâll love the affordable online vet with emergency coverage, too! Donât wait another second to join the qualified vets at Pawp and get answers to all of your questions about giving your cat a pill.

GIVING A CAT A PILL SOURCES:

What Do You Need To Know About Cats

Cats are one of the most popular pets in the United States. There are actually over 500 million cats in the world.

Cats and humans have been associated for over a thousand years. There are a myriad of reasons why cats and human beings have a special relationship, and youâve likely experienced this unique bond yourself. Studies have even proven that cats, while they are sometimes more standoffish than their canine counterparts, also bond with their humans.

Itâs time to run through some fun facts about feline behavior. Cats actually sleep for an average of 13 to 14 hours per day this is to conserve energy. These animals have powerful night vision, and theyâre able to see light sources that are six times lower than human beings can perceive.

These animals are also very sneaky and can be excellent hunters for small animals such as mice. Youâll notice that your cat also has an excellent sense of hearing and smell too.

How To Give Your Cat Liquid Medicine

Giving a cat his medicine is rarely easy, but knowing the proper procedure and what to expect can make the process more pleasantfor you and your cat. Find out more here!

Many people find liquid medicines easier to administer than other types, such as pills, capsules, eye drops or injections. But it still takes patience, precision, and a bit of strength to get your cat to sit still and swallow the right amount. Here, how to make the medicine go down easier.

The Basics

Liquid medications are prescribed to treat a variety of conditions. Some medicines that are usually prescribed as pills or capsules can be changed, or compounded, to a liquid formulation for easier administration. If you have trouble giving your cat pills, ask your veterinarian if compounding is possible.

Follow Recommendations

Its important to use only medicines prescribed by a veterinarian and to treat for the full length of time prescribed. Dont stop treatment early, even if the problem seems to be resolved. You can ask your veterinarian to demonstrate how to give the medicine.

Technique

Liquid medications should come with a dropper or syringe for administration. Fill the dropper or syringe with the prescribed amount of medicine.

Holding your cats head still with one hand, insert the tip of the dropper or syringe into a corner of the mouth, between the cheek and the teeth, aiming toward the back of your cats head.

Reward your cat with a treat approved by your veterinarian.

Restraining Your Cat

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Encourage Your Cat To Swallow

There are a couple tactics you can use to encourage your cat to swallow. These include:

• Blowing gently on your cat’s nose
• Stroking their throat softly

Stay in position and keep blowing on their nose and stroking their throat until youre reasonably sure that theyve swallowed. Most cats will lick their nose after they’ve swallowed a pill, so watch for that when you do release their jaw.

Remember to be patient, as cats have been known to spit out medicine many minutes later. If your cat does spit out the pill, stay calm. As long as your cat doesnt appear agitated, you can try repeating the above steps right away. If they do appear distressed, take a break and wait until they have calmed down a bit before repeating the steps. Dont hesitate to call your veterinarian if your cat continues to refuse the pill.

Fun fact: If your cat doesnt like the taste of the pill, they may foam or froth at the mouth during this step. Thats righttaking a pill could give your cat a drool output worthy of a Mastiff. Consider yourself warned!

How To Get A Cat To Eat A Pill

Diazepam and a related drug midazolam have been used in this role, but they have fallen out of favor.Diazepam has also been implicated in causing liver disease in some cats.Drop the pill back as far as you can over the cats tongue.Gently grasp the back of your cats jaw, open her mouth, and place the pill on the back of the tongue.

Have that pill ready to go!Hide the pill in crushed food.How do you give an uncooperative cat a pill?However, if the cat decides to only eat 60.

However, shes fairly easy to pill so here is some more info:Ive had success kneeling on the floor and holding chula between my knees, then tipping her head back and popping the pill in.If you look on amazon, there are other models available.If your cat will not eat their regular food, offer them a bland buffet.

If youre wondering how to get your stubborn cat to take a pill, try this trick:In this article, we will be going over how to get your cat to eat catnip with ease.Just scruff your cats neck and gently push the syringe to the back side of their mouth, behind their back teeth.Look at your cats refusal to eat as a peak into their.

Since your thumb is shorter, it seems as if the cat get a good bite on it while its in her mouth.Sprinkle a little on a new cat bed to get your cat used to relaxing there and your cat will begin to sleep there our of habit.Start by hiding the pill in her usual food dish with her usual food.The drugs mirtazapine and cyproheptadine are better options.

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Get The Medication Compounded

Another way you can tackle this is by potentially having the medication youâre attempting to administer compounded into a flavored formulation. Reach out to a veterinary pharmacy about this.

Besides changing the flavor, veterinary pharmacies have other capabilities. Pawp veterinarian Dr. Laura Robinson says that these pharmacies can âchange the form of the medication. For example, if you cannot give your cat a pill, they can change the form to liquid, which is typically easier to administer to cats.”

Safety Tips When Giving A Cat A Tablet

• If your cat scratches or doesnt like being held, try wrapping their body and legs in a towel, allowing only their head to remain exposed.
• Always hold over the top of their head to reduce the risk of being bitten.
• If your cat is particularly unruly, get another person to hold them while you administer the pill.
• If you or your cat are getting stressed, stop and give them a few treats and gently stroke and soothe them before trying again.
• If you get bitten by your cat, contact your GP for advice. Cats teeth harbour nasty bacteria which can cause an infection.

• When you get a new cat or kitten, you can try training with treats to get them used to having their mouth opened gently. Keeping up with regular training in this way can help to reduce stress if they need tablets later in life.

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Today Let Us Have A Look At Some Of The Challenges And Steps On How To Provide Pills To Cat

Challenges:

• Cats are known to be more sensitive to taste than dogs. Hence they can easily identify the taste of bitter medicine even when it is mixed along with their favourite food.
• Cats normally associate those things which are important for their survival and also if anything can cause danger to them. Thus any unpleasant situation is linked with danger.
• Even though cats are known to be highly social in nature but at times they can turn out to be uncooperative.
• Cats can observe your behavior or the time of the day when the food starts tasting different than usual. Based on their instincts they then associate or link the various situations. Eg: you going through the medicine box before feeding the cat or particular part of the day etc.

Once they identify certain behavior or changes, they would start to take action so as to get rid of the danger. There are various tactics used by the cat to save themselves from danger.

Dry Pilling Can Be Dangerous For Cats

Dry pilling without a water ‘chaser’ can lead to pills getting stuck in your cat’s esophagus, which is the tube leading from the mouth to the stomach. If you are going to dry pill, you want to use a ‘liquid’ chaser as discussed below. The reason is that it is possible for both tablets and capsules to get ‘stuck.’ Even though we think of a capsule having a, smooth, gelatinous surface they also can lodge easily in the esophagus if using dry pilling. If a person repeatedly dry pills, it is possible that multiple capsules or tablets can lodge in a cat’s throat.

How to Give Your Cat a Liquid Chaser

One method veterinarians advocate for to prevent issues with dry pilling, is following the dry pilling with 6mls of water via a needle-free syringe or dropper. It may seem impossible to force a cat to drink, but it is possible to help it along. Follow pilling with a liquid by using a syringe. Use a pet syringe from your vet’s office and fill it with either plain water or low-sodium broth. The water chaser should be given right after the dry pilling. Approaching your cat with the syringe from the back or side for easier administering of liquids, rather than forcing the syringe into the front of its mouth, advises veterinarian Dr. Lisa Pierson on CatInfo.org. Keep the cat’s head level, rather than tipped back, to facilitate swallowing. When administering a liquid chaser following dry pilling, be careful not to administer the liquid to quickly and allow your cat time to swallow.

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Other Tips For Giving Your Cat Liquid Medication

• Always check with your veterinarian to see if its safe to give your cats medicine with food.
• Have the proper amount of medication drawn up and ready. Most liquid medication comes with a syringe to help administer the correct amount.
• Ask your veterinarian if this approach is appropriate for the particular medicine prescribed.

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Instructions For Giving Your Cat A Pill

Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat’s mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouthwith right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of 10.

Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, holding front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold cats head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat’s throat vigorously.

Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with its head just visible from below spouse’s armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force cat’s mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

Stop by furniture shop on way home to order new table.

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Giving Your Cat A Pill

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The easiest way to give your cat a pill is to hide the pill in food. Crushing the pill may not work, as most cats detect the taste and then refuse to eat the food. A good trick is to hide the pill in a small amount of something soft and yummy such as a piece of cold cut , tuna, butter, or cream cheese. To ensure that the pill is actually taken, it is best to give a small amount of food that the cat is certain to eat rather than a large portion that the cat may not finish. A good tip is to give a few teaser treats without the pill in them, then sneaking the pill in the third or fourth treat. Some cats may spit out the pill, so it is important to monitor this activity. If your cat persists in spitting out the pills or if dietary restrictions prevent you from hiding the pills in an appealing treat, you will need to administer the pill directly into the cats mouth.

How To Safely Give Your Cat A Pill

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Cat’s are notoriously difficult to get pills into. Just ask your vet! If your sick cat coughs or vomits after taking a pill, there is good reason to stop trying to administer the pill using the method you are using. The most common method of administering medications that can cause problems is dry pilling. If you’ve ever tried to swallow a dry aspirin without liquid, you’ll recognize how uncomfortable the experience can be.

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The Direct Method Of Giving A Cat A Pill

If youâre anxious about your cat not getting their pill, you can give it to them directly. While this isnât as âappealingâ for your cat as the food method, it could definitely work better for some pets.

The first thing you need to do is prepare a safe place where you can give your cat their pill. Be sure that the pill is easily accessible and ready. You donât want to get your pet to the room to give them the pill and then have to run and fetch it.

Once youâre there, you might opt to place your cat in your lap. This is especially useful if youâre the sole administrator of the medication. Another tactic is to wrap the cat securelyin a towel or a blanket with just their head exposed.

Next, lubricate the pill using a small amount of either butter or margarine. This will help guarantee that the pill doesnât stick to your petâs mouth. By greasing the pill, youâre helping make it easier for your cat to swallow. This is also extremely helpful when youâre administering capsules.

The next step is to hold your catâs pill in between your index finger and thumb. Be sure to use your dominant hand for this task. Next, gently hold your catâs head from above, using your other hand. Put your thumb on one side of their upper jaw, and place your fingers on the other.

Laurie Anne Walden Dvm

Try It in FoodAmerican Association of Feline PractitionersGive It by Hand

• Make the experience positive for your cat. Dont drag him out from a hiding place or scoop him up when hes trying to eat or use the litter box. You want him to have only positive associations with his food and litter box.
• Have someone else gently hold the cat from behind. If youre alone, place your cat with his back in a corner. You might need to wrap a towel around your cat to keep his paws away from his face.
• Place one hand over the top of your cats head with your thumb and middle finger on each corner of his mouth. Lift his head so his nose is pointing up.
• With one finger of your other hand, gently pull down your cats lower jaw to open his mouth.
• Drop the pill onto his tongue and use a finger to quickly push it to the back of the mouth, or use a pill gun to place the pill on the back of the tongue.
• Let your cats head drop back down but keep holding his mouth shut until you see him lick his lips or move his throat in a swallowing motion. Blowing on his nose might encourage him to swallow.
• After he swallows, tell him hes the best cat in the world.
• Give him a bite of food or a little water by mouth through a syringe afterward. This step is very important to ensure that the pill goes all the way down. Some medications irritate the esophagus if they get stuck partway.

Try a Different Form of Medication

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Follow The Tablet With Water

If Felix is a master at holding the tablet in his mouth and spitting it out when you least expect it, try following the tablet with water. Its best to syringe it in straight after the tablet, then hold the mouth closed and tilt the head slightly upwards to encourage swallowing. The proper head height is important, too if you hold the head too high, the cat will struggle to swallow.

Using Food To Give Liquid Medication

The easiest way to give liquid medication is to mix it in with your cats canned food. Mix a small amount of their normal portion of canned food with their liquid medicine and hand-feed it to them to ensure they get the entire dose. Cats can often be picky and will not eat the food with the medication. This means you will have to give the medication directly into their mouth.

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