Like their hoomins, furkids aren’t at all fond of injections but their hoomins know that it keeps them healthy so 2-3 seconds of hurt-iness is worth it. Also, their hoomins know they’re not the ones giving the injections which does colour their outlook just a bit.
However, when it comes to pilling, they generally are the ones administering the dosage on a regular basis. Dogs, as a rule, are easy to pill. Hide the tablet in some meat and they woof it down without ever knowing something extra was there. Cats, on the other hand… they can detect an attempt to hide a pill in food 500 metres from their food bowl. It doesn’t stop them eating; they just spit out the pill.
To ensure their cats actually swallow the pill, their hoomins need to administer it up close and personal. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn’t.
This is the Furkids team’s TEDdy talk on how to pill a cat.
This is hilarious! I had a cat who could not be pilled. My Russian Blue trusted me, but not that far. Apparently cats have a code on how far hoomins can be trusted and I crossed the line. What I had to do was get the medication in liquid form. It was more expensive. Mishka spit out the liquid but he couldn’t spit it all out and he swallowed some of it. That was all that mattered. Believe me, the extra few dollars was more than worth the trouble.
{{{Michelle}}} – I gave up long before step 10, much less step 20. My guys get their meds in liquid squirted down their throats via syringe or if it’s something that can be injected subcutaneously (like insulin for the cat with diabetes I had once) then injection. Maybe a paste/gel I can rub on the inside of their mouths. Maybe. (But they can usually smell that before I can get to them and they hide.) I hope Ms. Loula doesn’t give you this much trouble. (Or actually I hope she doesn’t need meds.) Healing Energy & moar {{{HUGS}}}
We ended up using a pill shooter, and still . . . It was mildly gratifying to see our vet, a big guy, try to wrestle a pill into our large, red tabby cat. He said large farm animals were easier to handle than this dude. Cat NOT like pills. On our vet’s side, cat lived to be 20. Funny piece brought back memories.
My big red Maine Coon is much better armed than I am. Looks a lot like the kitteh on #10. I used to kneel on the floor and back the cat up between my legs. That left only one avenue to escape. If I moved fast enough, I could then force a pill down his throat. Can’t get down on the floor any more (old and broken) so I may have to resort to liquid in the future.
The last time we had to pill the cat, we had such a hard time that afterwards I went straight to Amazon and ordered a cat bag.
However, if it comes to that again, I’m not sure we’ll be able to get the cat in the bag.
“Ok, I saved myself eighty scratches and losing a pint of blood by putting the cat in a bag. And all it cost me was eighty scratches and losing a pint of blood. Hey…wait a sec…” ??
Brilliant. Thanks for the Sunday laughs. I don’t have a cat-never have but after reading this I feel as if I have.
If you want to really feel it, give yourself fifty paper cuts and then pour lemon juice on them. That’s the experiential approach to understand what it’s like to pill a cat, lol.
LMAO!!!! I miss my kittehs so much but this is all funny and true. I did find a way with the last three that worked, but it wasn’t easy. Nobody ever forgets trying to pill a cat!
This piece is brilliant!! I have six cats (all strays, and two are feral). My 17 year old Felix is prone to upper respiratory infections, and is on Clavamox liquid regularly. He’s not an overly-big cat, but he can be a handful. I’ve rolled him tight with a small blanket, but he manages to get his back paws free and “thumps’ the heck out of me. His latest trick is to take the liquid, hold it in his mouth until I let go, then spits the stuff in my hair.
My Bella, a feral Russian Blue, needed Clavamox; she can be petted, but can’t be held. There was NO way I was going to try to hold her. Instead, I put the liquid in her cat food. One sniff, and she walked away. I tried shredding tunafish with some of the oil – still no-go. I then chopped up sardines (the smelliest fish I could find), and put the Clavamox in the sardines. Not even a nibble. So I called my vet (thankfully, she comes to the house) and she dosed both Bella and Felix now, too – it’s worth the vet fee…
I’m a dog person but both in high school (for a short while) and some years later in college I worked as a kennelman for a vet. (A childhood friend of my dad’s) Yep, giving cats pills is a tough task, but while some dogs are easier to fool I can assure you plenty will fight tooth and nail against getting that pill into their throat. And you’d be surprised at how many of them recognize the hide the pill in the food trick. Seeing a clean bowl with a damned near pristine pill sitting there is more common than you think. I had a dog that I’d caught a few times (before giving up and doing things the hard way) licking the bowl while avoiding the pill – and stopping to look me dead in the eye with a “do you think I’m stupid?” look!
But yes, cats are particularly difficult. Even for cat people. Although entertainingly funny there’s more than a little painful truth you presented!
Ah, yes. How well I remember this process…and dread the time when I have to deal with it again. (Are you sure 20 steps isn’t an underestimate?!) The thing that has worked best for me for SOME of my cats is Greenie’s pill pockets. They come in several flavors and some cats like them like they like treats.
My kitty requires 30 minutes of wrestling, in which she demonstrates that she’s far better at yoga than me. Then the pill gets in, I hold her mouth closed to a slow count to ten, ensuring she’s swallowed at least four times. Then I release her, she spits the pill onto the floor, runs off, and I don’t see her for two hours.
I was able to pill mine without help, but it involved clamping her between my elbow and my side, holding her head with my left hand, and once her mouth opened, throwing the pill in and holding her mouth closed. It usually worked. (Only had to do it for one period – abscess on her rear end, where she had obviously been leaving the scene.)
Its been way too long since i laughed so much. Thanks, I needed that.