Wednesday, April 11, 2012

A new trick


I have developed a knack over the years that I can pill pretty much any cat I can pat.  I won't be so boastful to say any cat I can pat, but I have yet to find one I can't.

But quite often it is seen as such a betrayal.  Fleurp in particular gives me such a vibe that it hurts my heart to pill her.  I apologize constantly and I give her yummies to make up for it and she seems to forget about it the second she gets something yummy, but still it bugs me to do it.

I've tried pill pockets but while that is often successful, sometimes the cats will chew the concoction and then I am left with a wet gross pill that won't come off my finger when I manually pill, so I tend to avoid those.

Tonight I thought I'd sneak her pill in with some meat baby food.  I've been giving it to Fleurp with some PetTinic mixed in to help her get a little more iron.  It isn't the best option out there, but it works in that she doesn't hate it (just hates it being forced into her mouth; mixed in with the baby food she eats it more then willingly) the first pill I manually hid in the meat by pushing it in and then covering it with my fingers.  Messy and I don't much recommend it.  The competition from the rest of The Crew motivated her to eat it fast.  Went right in and she didn't seem to notice.  The second one I put a little on the spoon, then put the pill on the meat then scooped up a little more so it was buried.  That too went down with no observable notice..

I hate to say that I'm more then a little excited by this..

10 comments:

  1. One little trick we have learned is to use the smallest gel capsules you can find. A lot of the pills taste bitter which is what the cat responds to but with the gel capsule there is no taste. Makes it more pleasant all around. Pilling is certainly an art form!

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  2. I wish pills were made in a powder or liquid form and palatable too, so they could just be mixed in with food. It would make life much easier.

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  3. I prefer pills to liquid medicine for the cats. Simply because my cats tend to foam at the mouth with the liquid. When I pill the cats, I usually have a syringe of water with me. It gets the cat to swallow (syringed from the side of the mouth) and also help the pill go down. If the pill is small, I sometimes crush it and mix it with stinky tuna. :)

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  4. I, too, really wish the meds could be made palatable for cats, and in liquid that could be added to canned food. It would be ever so much easier. With all the advances in pet pharmaceuticals, I don't get why this can't be done.

    I suck at pilling or syringing cats. Truly.

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  5. Mom says quick is the best way. Over the years she has gotten pretty good. One of the shelters here mixes the doxy with a vitamin base that is fish flavored. Most of the kittens don't like it, but mom has caught Mo licking the bottle..... weird boy. :)

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  6. We've gotten pretty good at the quick-and-fast method with Benny, since he gets pills twice per day. I have done the meat baby food, and that usually works. Pill Pockets sometimes work, but they often avoid them. Another trick is to put on a thin coat of butter, so they slide down the throat.

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  7. I am a complete coward with Austin and pills. It’s like he thinks I’m trying to kill him and like you with Fleurp I feel so guilty.

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  8. Anonymous9:46 PM

    Applause for your success, and I hope your beautiful girl is feeling better, but there is an easier way: Certain druggists specialize in making suspensions. The one I've often used in New York, Bigelow's, will flavor the liquified medicine with anything from chicken to tuna to beef and beyond (they also do suspensions for children (no meat flavors involved). Anyway, such suspensions saved my first cat's life more than once -- and let us remain best buds in the process. --Kerry

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  9. I love everyone sharing their pilling tricks. It is always great to gather these sorts of things in one place.

    Pilling her is not my problem as I'm quite good at it and it is almost no effort for me... Keeping the stink eye off Fleurp who I call hope and joy in a fur coat was my goal and I was just thrilled that it worked. I hadn't ever tried it before because I have always just popped them down the throat.

    Well except some medication we had compounded for Emmy back when we were trying alternative support for her diabetes. The herbalist gave me some herbs that was best compounded. We had it done at a local pharmacy.

    Tonight I tried the trick again, and she was away from the other cats so she ate it slower and found the pill. I shoved it back in some more food and tried again, this time with the other cats trying to steal it from her and it went down faster then you can say "where's the pill" (literally) .. so in our case, competition is the key :)

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  10. Anonymous12:57 AM

    I'm excited too! :o)

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