Help me give my cat her medicine...please!

[zackaboo]

You know I have been here before...you leave the vet's office with all of the confidence in the world that you can do exactly what they told you...no problem. Wrong! :( My cat has been losing weight recently so she has been undergoing tests to find out what is wrong with her. Tests showed problems with her liver and kidneys as well as thickening in the wall of her heart. Ultimately this is been attributed to a pancreatic problem. She is 13 years old and I have had to give her medicine numerous times before. Why did I think this would be easy? She has to have 3 kinds of medicine a day. One is a small tablet, which I think I will just have to put down her throat. One is a tablet which you crush and sprinkle over her food 15 minutes before giving it to her to "ripen". The third is a capsule which you open and mix with her food. So far the only luck that I have had is with the small tablet. She turned her nose up at both other medicines mixed in with tuna. She doesn't eat canned food so I thought I would try tuna - which she normally loves. Help! What do I do now? I could try cream and see if she will drink that...but I don't see why she wouldn't detect the medicine in there either. I also did buy some cans of food but so far she has turned her nose up at every one that I have opened.

I know that many of you have cats. Do you have any ideas for me? She really needs this medicine to make her better.

[ShadowCat]

First of all, I'm sorry your kitty isn't feeling well - hopefully she'll start taking the medicince and it'll help soon!

I don't have much experience here as we've only had to give my cat liquid meds from a dropper, which, while not easy, I can pretty much get him to swallow.

One thought about putting something with food, have you tried any of the pouch foods instead of canned (I know that IAMS and Whiskas both make this kind). The reason I say this is that some of the stuff in the pouches has a "gravy" in it, maybe the crushed pills will disolve better in that so your cat won't notice as much. I know my cat LOVES that gravy, so maybe yours will too :).

It's just an idea, I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in with suggestion too.

Hope it all works out soon for you!

[RunnerKim]

Garlic powder has a strong odor and many animals will eat that - so that might be worth a shot. I've read about sprinkling it on when trying to get cats to switch from one food to another. So in that situation you sprinkled it on the food they normally ate for a couple of days or whatever and then on to the new food. I don't know if that will help you at all. I know it can be very stressful to give a cat medicine. Hang in there.

Kim

[Carrie W]

Our dear kitty is 15 years old, and has had chronic kidney failure for the past several years. :( She, too, will not eat canned food (it comes right back up!), but has had problems with weight loss. Since we've moved, our new vet told us to give her medicine mixed in with baby food, and it works like a charm! She gets Renal K, either as a powder or gel, and it mixes in perfectly with the baby food. Our vet suggested Gerber Stage 2, either chicken with chicken gravy or turkey with turkey gravy flavor. One small jar lasts us 3-4 days. And she's back to her 9lbs.

The clerks at Target still look at us strangely each time we just get 7-10 jars of one flavor of baby food. :)

Good luck!

[mcgeiger]

The baby food idea is good, just check for NO garlic, especially in an already sick kitty. If you are still having problems check with your vet--most medications come in multiple forms!

[tamawrite]

I, too, was going to suggest baby food. Cats seem to love it, especially if you get them used to it "plain" before adding meds.

If that doesn't work, you could try mixing the meds with baby food and using a small syringe to get it down her little throat (like liquid kitty antibiotics). :(

[armel]

Ok, so I am definitely not one who has had great success with getting her dog to take pills. But I do have 2 things that I can give her.

1. her amitryptiline, the pharmacy was able to make into a transdermal gel and so i just rub it in her ear. so, maybe they can give you the cat's meds in a different form?

2. whenever i need to settle her intestines, i crush a little piece of pepto and mix it in with spray cheese. the only time she has ever gotten this cheese is when it is mixed with the pepto. my thoughts were that if she never learned how the cheese tasted without the pepto, she wouldn't know the difference. so maybe if the meds was mixed with something cats really like but that she hasn't had before?

and if none of this makes sense, just ignore it. Like i said, i haven't had great success with my dog so what do i know.

[syzygy]

One more thought for you. I had some success using baby food (turkey or chicken) but my cat wouldn't eat it "as is" from the jar; I guess she didn't like the texture or whatever. I did find, though, that if I thinned it out by mixing a little milk into it, she took it much more readily.

Good luck to you and your kitty. Hope you find a good solution for getting her meds into her.

[RunnerKim]

Mcgeiger - sounds like i made a bad recommendation. Is garlic bad for cats? I don't give any to my cats but I certainly want to stop passing along the garlic powder tip I've heard others use successfully (to switch foods).

Thanks,
kim

[Miss_Liss]

My workmate has a kitty with serious kidney problems and she has to give him liquid medicine. As she was having serious problems with getting him to swallow using a dropper, she ordered empty capsules over the internet. Basically, they look like a regular capsule, which you open up, dropper in the medicine, close up and give like a tablet. She says it has been working really well and kitty is a lot less stressed.

Anyway, thought it might be worth mentioning :)

[PamN]

One of the pet pros needs to chime in, but I know with people, the method of administration can make a difference in the drug's effectiveness. Tablets shouldn't be crushed, capsules opened, liquids encased in gel caps UNLESS otherwise instructed or okayed by the medical pro who prescribed them.

I'm not sure exactly why, but I get the idea that some medications must either soak into/be activated by saliva in the mouth or oral membranes or something. Others, you want to get directly into the stomach without rolling around in the mouth -- and the coating of the particular drug is designed to dissolve within a certain time (e.g., if you put a tablet or liquid into a gelcap, it might take so long for the gel cap to dissolve, the drug would have passed through without sufficient time to absorb).

[Miss_Liss]

One of the pet pros needs to chime in, but I know with people, the method of administration can make a difference in the drug's effectiveness. Tablets shouldn't be crushed, capsules opened, liquids encased in gel caps UNLESS otherwise instructed or okayed by the medical pro who prescribed them.

I'm not sure exactly why, but I get the idea that some medications must either soak into/be activated by saliva in the mouth or oral membranes or something. Others, you want to get directly into the stomach without rolling around in the mouth -- and the coating of the particular drug is designed to dissolve within a certain time (e.g., if you put a tablet or liquid into a gelcap, it might take so long for the gel cap to dissolve, the drug would have passed through without sufficient time to absorb).

Great advice PamN. I should have mentioned that my workmate checked with her vet to make sure it was okay to give liquid medicine this way. All the ideas are great but check with your vet first :)

[zackaboo]

One of the pet pros needs to chime in, but I know with people, the method of administration can make a difference in the drug's effectiveness. Tablets shouldn't be crushed, capsules opened, liquids encased in gel caps UNLESS otherwise instructed or okayed by the medical pro who prescribed them.

I'm not sure exactly why, but I get the idea that some medications must either soak into/be activated by saliva in the mouth or oral membranes or something. Others, you want to get directly into the stomach without rolling around in the mouth -- and the coating of the particular drug is designed to dissolve within a certain time (e.g., if you put a tablet or liquid into a gelcap, it might take so long for the gel cap to dissolve, the drug would have passed through without sufficient time to absorb).

That is exactly my current problem. Of the three medications, I am still struggling with the one that helps her to digest her food properly. It has to sit on the food for 15 minutes before she eats is. I have tried canned cat food (which she wouldn't eat even plain), tuna (which she loves plain but detected the medicine on) and baby food (which she also loved plain but wouldn't eat with the medicine on it). :( . I have already called the vet's office once but guess I will have to call again this afternoon and see what else they suggest. My understanding of this particular medication is that it's sole purpose is to help her digest whatever she eats it with so she can put some weight back on, so it defeats the purpose to give it to her any other way.

It is so frustrating because I know how important it is for her to get this medication but she is just being a typical cat!!! Thanks for all of the suggestions. I am open to more ideas...

[PamN]

Maybe if you mixed the medicine with some strained baby food and gave her that with oral syringe and then offered a *different flavor* cat food or baby food she would get enough of the medicine and food together to help? You could dilute the food portion for the syringe with a little water so it would be easier to administer.

If you hadn't already thought of it, you might want to remove other food that she has available and keep to a definite mealtime. We ordinarily fed our cats dry food and left it out for them to eat whenever, but we removed it and went to a two-meal feeding time (and offered yummy food) if we had to give them meds with food. That way, they were more likely to be hungry and actually eat, even if they were miffed about having to take meds.

[luv2cook]

You can go to a compounding pharmacy and have most medicine made into a liquid or chewable. There's one here in Houston. Their prices are reasonable. If you want the info, PM me. I used them for years when Catrina & Dixie were alive.

Try heating up the baby food...my picky Catrina would eat it that way...

[sophiekitty]

I totally understand! My Sophie has to take medicine for her heart- twice a day, forever! We first crushed it up and put it in food- she ignored that....we then had a copmound pharmacist make us a tuna flavored mixture....For a little while it worked to mix it with some fancy feast that had some gravy...and then she decided that she didnt want it anymore. We tried giving her just a little and taking away all other food until she ate the meds....she went on ahunger strike!
Our vet then told us to put the syringe in her mouth to deliver the meds...So far I am unsuccessful. It is such a helpless feeling because I know its to help her live longer and be healthy- and she just wont hear of it. Cats are so smart....they know exactly what you have put meds in and what to walk away from.... cant they just understand that if they open their mouth- it wont be such a fight....any suggestions for using the dropper??

---and I am emphasizing that someone else wrote about how important it is to check with your vet before crushing up a pill or changing the way you give the meds. When meds go into the body there are different ways for it to be digested and delivered to us....Certain ways are ineffective depending on the type of meds. So just be sure to check first!

[zackaboo]

I totally understand! My Sophie has to take medicine for her heart- twice a day, forever! We first crushed it up and put it in food- she ignored that....we then had a copmound pharmacist make us a tuna flavored mixture....For a little while it worked to mix it with some fancy feast that had some gravy...and then she decided that she didnt want it anymore. We tried giving her just a little and taking away all other food until she ate the meds....she went on ahunger strike!
Our vet then told us to put the syringe in her mouth to deliver the meds...So far I am unsuccessful. It is such a helpless feeling because I know its to help her live longer and be healthy- and she just wont hear of it. Cats are so smart....they know exactly what you have put meds in and what to walk away from.... cant they just understand that if they open their mouth- it wont be such a fight....any suggestions for using the dropper??

---and I am emphasizing that someone else wrote about how important it is to check with your vet before crushing up a pill or changing the way you give the meds. When meds go into the body there are different ways for it to be digested and delivered to us....Certain ways are ineffective depending on the type of meds. So just be sure to check first!

First of all, welcome to the boards. :) I am flattered that your first post was in support of my situation!

Yes...cats definitely know when you are trying to give them something that they don't want. The resolution for us (with guidance from our vet) has been to simply make her swallow all of her mdeications. I am wondering if that might change the effectiveness but it was the only thing that we could do. For the medicine that is supposed to make her digest her food better, we follow it immediately with a jar of chicken-flavored baby food (which she loves plain) to make sure that she is eating something to be digested. It is a challenge and has forced us to change some of our plans. We were supposed to be out of town right now but someone has to be here to give her her pills! :rolleyes: But I love my kitties and wouldn't think of doing anything else...

Sorry I don't have any tips about using the dropper. We didn't have too much luck with that because she spit out at least a third of what we tried to give her. One suggestion I did get for pills though is to coat them with butter. That works great - especially on the large capsule that we have to make her swallow.

Good luck to you sophiekitty and thanks again to everyone for your advice. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that this medicine makes her better!

[luv2cook]

has a pill popper been recommended?

[zackaboo]

has a pill popper been recommended?

Never heard of it...please elaborate!

[wallycat]

A final thought...
have you checked to see if that variety of med can be made transdermal??
Our Wally could not take thyroid pills because it made him violently ill (not to mention what it did to us trying to administer them!!) and then the University of Wisconsin-Madison Vet school mentioned that some drugs are now made topically applicable.
YIPPIE...sure enough, not only did they make the thyroid meds that way, but our cat totally did not throw up from this.

We had a dosage amount we simply rubbed into his inner ear. His little hair-ends eventually died off and he had a bald inside ear, but felt better and didn't get sick.
After a few years, we had to up the dosage and we thankfully had two ears to work with!

Good luck.
Cats ARE smart and the thing I hate about the syringes/poppers or even grabbing them and pulling their head back to take a pill is that eventually, they know the time and they run and hide. I don't like my cat dreading me coming near him. Sometimes you have no choice, but thought I'd mentioned the dermal approach.

(By the way, our Wally lived to 22/23 with this approach).

[zackaboo]

A final thought...
have you checked to see if that variety of med can be made transdermal??
Our Wally could not take thyroid pills because it made him violently ill (not to mention what it did to us trying to administer them!!) and then the University of Wisconsin-Madison Vet school mentioned that some drugs are now made topically applicable.
YIPPIE...sure enough, not only did they make the thyroid meds that way, but our cat totally did not throw up from this.

We had a dosage amount we simply rubbed into his inner ear. His little hair-ends eventually died off and he had a bald inside ear, but felt better and didn't get sick.
After a few years, we had to up the dosage and we thankfully had two ears to work with!

Good luck.
Cats ARE smart and the thing I hate about the syringes/poppers or even grabbing them and pulling their head back to take a pill is that eventually, they know the time and they run and hide. I don't like my cat dreading me coming near him. Sometimes you have no choice, but thought I'd mentioned the dermal approach.

(By the way, our Wally lived to 22/23 with this approach).

Thanks for the information about transdermal applications. I have never heard of that before. I will have to ask our vet next time I talk with him.

Fortunately my sweet little kitty is very forgiving and even though I am sure she knows exactly what is going on when we grab the towel that we wrap her up in (a kitty straight jacket ;) ), so far she hasn't run away from us. It doesn't hurt that I think she has also learned that following the medication, she will get something that she really likes to eat.

I hope that my cats live as long as your Wally did. It bugs me that they are considered "senior" at age 7 by pet food manufacturers!

[luv2cook]

It's a long plastic syringe looking thing. It has a split rubber tip that you stick the pill into and just open their mouth, slide popper in, click and wahla! you're done. Can be done in about 2 seconds...