Cat pills made easy!

[MedusasOwl]

Just wanted to pop in real quick with a handy tip! Mortar & Pestle. Bed, Bath, & Beyond is my hero.

Cleo's been on a lot of stuff lately, and traditionally injecting her is easier than giving her pills but now thanks to our lovely new $12 marble mortar & pestle it's a breeze! Undetectible fine powder in the food, in tuna juice, whatever works depending on the taste of the pill. This thing is a godsend! Anybody with an elderly or chronically ill critter should have one of these! I'm a weakling and can crush these things up so easily now it's rediculous.

So yeah, wanted to share with anybody else that may find this useful. Giving a cat a pill once a day is hellish. 3 times? Forget it. With this, it's a cakewalk and she's none the wiser! Everybody wins.

[Snakeman]

at petco we sell these things called "pill pockets" where you put the pill into a treat that is made so the pill goes inside the treat and your cat will never know!!

[N4S]

I think the pill popper is uber easy.

My cat got used to it too and everytime i put him on the table he knew the routine.

[MedusasOwl]

Maybe Cleo is just devious then, because she not only fights like crazy but eats *around* hidden pills. She also somehow spits out pills, and can squirt liquid meds out of the corners of her mouth. Very literally too smart for her own good. With the powder, there's nothing for her to eat around!

Anytime we come up with something that works, one or two attempts later she has figured out how to thwart it. The mortar and pestle is finally Cleo proof. We're still working on giving her subcutaneous fluids more easily though.

[wolfy-hound]

I use a pill "syringe"( I think it's called the pill popper too) to you use to get the pill down into an animal's throat(back of mouth).
It works like a charm, especially for those meds that shouldn't be crushed up. If you can crush them to powder and put it in tuna juice, go for it.
For a little easier crushing.. they make a pill crusher, they sell them at drug stores. Little plastic cylinder, put pill in, screw section back on, unscrew section back off and pour out powder. I used it for a long time.
Wolfy

[SatanicIntention]

Good idea with the pestle and mortar. Cats are HORRIBLE to pill and will even go as far as to start foaming and throwing spittle at you(which means no rescuing of the already dissolved pill...). I do like the pilling syringe, but if the cat starts to recognize it, OH BOY! That's a party right there, LoL.


Keep doin' whatcher doin' girlie Sounds like Miss Cleo is on the good road right now.

[slartibartfast]

I've tried both the pill popper and the grinding method, but for some meds (metronidazole) that just doesn't work.

Pill Pockets are my new favorite thing in the world. My old cat hangs out outside the bathroom all day now, begging for his "treat". Not every cat will eat them, but for most cats, they've been a miracle. For tricky ones, I'll mix them with a little ground dried catnip for a few times to get them thinking it's a treat, and then start sneaking a pill into the middle after a couple of days of plain "treats". We've had so many clients come back and thank us for them.

Grinding works well for meds that don't have a strong flavour, but many cats are discriminating enough to just refuse to eat any food so contaminated.

[sweety314]

I loooooooved using the M & P when I had to medicate Stripe, but I had originally purchased it for the kitchen and since most of the Stripe stuff was just vitamins, I'd wash and sanitized it back and forth.


Now that I've had to do the rat meds, and those were steroids, I wanted a separate m & p for it...(esp. since my first one is still "somewhere")....but NO ONE carries them around here!

Thanks for the link for B B & B. I finally found one at Target.com but if I can't get one from there, I'll head downtown to the BB&B here in Corvallis and look for one there.


RuLyn

[Alice]

Good idea on the M&P!


I use the pill pocket with my dogs - they are absolutely great. A tad expensive when you've got to give 3 pills/day for 2 weeks, but it was well worth it for me.

[slartibartfast]

Good idea on the M&P!


I use the pill pocket with my dogs - they are absolutely great. A tad expensive when you've got to give 3 pills/day for 2 weeks, but it was well worth it for me.

You may have discovered this trick already, but if not....buy the large size and divide them up. One large pocket can easily cover 3-4 pills this way.