Any tips on the easiest way to give a cat a small pill?  

I'm hoping to find something to hide it in so she'll just eat it.  I tried the chicken flavored "greenie" but she chewed the empty sample up.  The second one had the pill and she spit the first bite right out and wouldn't even eat the "pill-less" leftover as a snack.

I've had success with a pill popper but don't want to make the pet sitter learn that trick.

As an update, we've been doing sub Q fluids almost a year now and the vet just said her kidney disease numbers are better than when we started.  The bad news is she's just developed hyperthyroidism.  The pill is the best treatment for our situation right now, but there are other options available to consider.

Have you had to deal with your cat's hyperthyroidism?  Has anyone gone the radiation route?

Thanks for your help and sharing your experience, friends.

~Sheri and Kitty

BTW:  100 tablets of 2.5 mgs of Felimazole ran $30 at the vet; $23 at http://drsfostersmith.com ; $13 at http://vetrxdirect.com .  So hoping NO ONE needs that factoid.  

Edited June 9, 2018 by rocksbride

We have had cats eat a treat and spit out the pill.  It is very difficult to get a cat to eat a pill.  We had a cat that really liked cheese but she wouldn't eat a pill in it.  The cheese would disappear but not the pill.  We finally used a pill popper.

I think the pill popper is going to be a finger saver!  LOL

Here's a good read for you on hyperthyroidism in cats.  Read her original post, also.

https://wheelingit.us/2018/06/03/new-wheels-a-birth-gdpr-2-pieces-of-bad-news-its-2016-all-over-again/

We had a cat with  hyperthyroidism. He also had heart problems. One of the medications he took was available in an elixir than came in beef or chicken flavor, but it has been long enough that I don't remember which one it was. We also had fair results hiding pills in liverwurst, which he loved. Or grinding them up and mixing them with liverwurst or his favorite wet food. Fortunatetly he loved just about any kind of food, even dry dogfood. Over the years, giving medication to finicky eaters has been problematic and we often had to resort to pelletizing. 

  On 6/9/2018 at 5:17 AM, rocksbride said:

Any tips on the easiest way to give a cat a small pill?  

I'm hoping to find something to hide it in so she'll just eat it.  I tried the chicken flavored "greenie" but she chewed the empty sample up.  The second one had the pill and she spit the first bite right out and wouldn't even eat the "pill-less" leftover as a snack.

I've had success with a pill popper but don't want to make the pet sitter learn that trick.

As an update, we've been doing sub Q fluids almost a year now and the vet just said her kidney disease numbers are better than when we started.  The bad news is she's just developed hyperthyroidism.  The pill is the best treatment for our situation right now, but there are other options available to consider.

Have you had to deal with your cat's hyperthyroidism?  Has anyone gone the radiation route?

Thanks for your help and sharing your experience, friends.

~Sheri and Kitty

BTW:  100 tablets of 2.5 mgs of Felimazole ran $30 at the vet; $23 at http://drsfostersmith.com ; $13 at http://vetrxdirect.com .  So hoping NO ONE needs that factoid.  

Peaches was a sirly grumpy cat that was priceless so we had him radiated and it was not cheep but we paid very little for him as a kitten.....the radiation worked very well so it was worth it in our situation.

KOI our current hairball needs morning and evening pills so I cradle him on his back in the crook of my arm and pry his mouth open just a little bit and drop the pill right down past his tongue....I NEVER ever put my finger in his mouth. Once the pill is dropped in his mouth I then rub his throat until he swallows and bingo the pill is down for good.....next I gently place him on the floor and he turns around and gives me the cat-stink-eye.......dogs just can't do the stink-eye like a freshly pilled cat......

Pilling KOI is still more fun than any sound-bite from the Pres so we just pill away since this is the price of having a grumpy cat.

Don't get me started on pilling Dolly the horse...... sometimes your arm is her mouth clear up to the elbow and her tongue is about two feet long.....cat is easy-pezzey.

Our other CAT is 350 HP and has a nice purrr but drinks too much Diesel at times......cats are seldom cheep but compared to horses they are free...

Drive on.... (Keep the cat .... Purring)

..

.

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I scruff the cat with my left hand hand and work the jaws open with the right while holding the cat down.  Have to also hold the pill in the hand opening the jaws.  Gotta flick the pill in to the back of the mouth.  A small pill is easy on a big cat.  The inverse is hard.

Thank you First Responders! Love to hear your cat stories. Hearing how you've handled chronic issues is minimizing my initial Shock and Awe Sh*&%#~t!  I could hardly talk for 30 minutes after that first diagnosis and prognosis (max 3 months if left untreated).  Thankfully we caught it early and she's NOT underweight, even though she was dropping weight fast.

Kitty begs for cheese but rarely eats it unless she sees it come right out of my sandwich in a 1/4" x 1/4" piece. Too bad we can't hide that pill in a potato chip.  LOL.  

Liverwurst sounds like a great plan ~ at least I like it if she doesn't, unlike the 6 or 7 flavors of open cans of cat food in the fridge.  Was pretty desperate trying to find something she'd eat after she quit the Hills kd fare.  She's starting to look better after a week of eating again.  Turns out there's a lot of discussion among vets on the right amount of protein for senior cats with renal issues, but I can tell you her "no protein" diet wasn't working.

Will try the other gymnastics, er.... pilling techniques this weekend before the cat sitter takes over Wednesday.  He is one of the few sitters she likes and maybe the cuddle technique will work.  I found a compound pharmacy (closed today) that may make up an ointment for the sitter to apply in her ear while I'm gone.  We'll see.

As for stink-eye, I've been giving her a water chaser via syringe before I let her go, followed immediately by kitty crack (Party Mix).  She might grumble a bit munching on snacks, but at least I don't have to see the stink-eye.  LOL

Dollytrolley, thanks for the comments on the radiation.  I may track back at a later date.  The vet tech had it done for her "Leo" two years ago and he's been fine since.  She did say the specialty vet keeps the patient a week and then sends the radioactive cat home.  BUT you are not supposed to spend a lot of time with the cat for a week... gloves for box duty, etc.  I don't know how we'd manage that in a fiver unless we all wore hazmat suits.  I don't want to get stopped or held at the border as a radiological undesirable.  We don't take the rig to Mexico, but we travel back and forth a lot in the pickup.

2gypsies: Thanks for the lead on Wheeling It blog.  Love Nina's style and appreciated her research and great links to more resources.  Bookmarked several pages and will go back often.  Here is a helpful page she linked to on the clinic they used for the radiation treatment for their cat Taggart.  How awesome to have a Kitty cam to watch your sweetie in post-treatment quarantine:

RVr's blog re their experience with radiation treatment for their cat

They show it's doable in an RV and it looks like Taggart just moved to France with them 2 years after treatment.  Here are more details for future Escapees looking into radiation treatment:  

Cornell vets explain feline hyperthyroidism & treatment options

One thing at a time.  This issue is new news and I have a short window to solve the pill problem before I have to leave her for nearly a week.  I'll be back after a few days just to do the sub Q treatment and then head back to Mexico for the rest of the week.

Thanks for your stories and advice.  I really appreciate all you've shared and find great comfort among those who get what we're going through.

~Sheri & Kitty