Getting
pills into cats can be difficult. Always ask for spot-on products, palatable or nice tasting pills, or for products that can be mixed with food, if possible.There is now something called Easytabs,
a meat flavoured cover for a pill made by Bayer. Another called Pill Pockets. You press the pill into the
meat pellet. Clever stuff. Other medications may come in malt flavoured creams that can be wiped on to the cat's mouth so that it licks it off. If you have to give a pill, ask the vet for the smallest pill possible and the pill which will last longers. ie. you want to give a pill once a day rather than four times a day if possible.
If you must administer a pill, this is how to do it. Kneel and place your cat facing away from you between your knees. With
thumb and middle finger, pull cat's head back until it is facing straight
up at the ceiling. It is crucial that the cat's head must be facing upwards
at 90 degrees. Use gentle pressure from thumb and middle finger on either
side of the cat's jaw, at rearmost crease of the lips, to open cat's mouth.
Pop tablet on the tongue as far back down the throat as possible. Close cat's
mouth and keep the head pointing up at the ceiling. Hey presto, the cat will
swallow the pill. Other good methods are featured on YouTube and also on www.fabcats.org
For flea and worm treatments, ask for a spot-on rather than a pill. Profender
now works for all worms.
For other medication, buy a pill crusher from your vet, and mix the
crushed pill with butter or marg with perhaps a little Marmite, and smearing
on the front paws. Keeping drugs very cold before mixing them with food will
reduce the smell and taste of the drug and therefore make it more likely the
cat will accept it. But many cats will refuse anyway!!
Some people find a Mikki pill gun or a Catac pill giver helps get pills into pets. There are also pill pulverisers (to grind them up for
mixing with food), a pill splitter for dividing too-large pills, a pill cutter
and a super dropper for liquid medication available from online stores made by MBS, 51 Manor
Farm Rd, St Neots, Huntingdon, PE19 1PW.