How to get your cat to take her meds

**Tstratton** · 01-19-2018, 07:53 PM

I brought home a rescue kitten and had to give her deworm medication in the pill form.
I crushed it up and blended it in her wet food.
She refuses to eat and I've had to throw out every dish for the past 3 months
HELP how do I get her to take the pills?

**maid25cats** · 01-19-2018, 08:30 PM

Pill Pockets work great!!

**Tstratton** · 01-19-2018, 09:08 PM

Originally Posted by maid25cats

Pill Pockets work great!!

What are pill pockets?

**Catty1** · 01-19-2018, 09:43 PM

Originally Posted by Tstratton

What are pill pockets?

They're treats made by Greenies and come in different flavours. They have a hole in them - insert pill, squeeze hole closed, and put it on the floor or in kitty's food dish.

https://www.greenies.com/products/cat/pill-pockets

**Karen** · 01-19-2018, 10:14 PM

Or - harder with cats, but still doable - if you can pry open her mouth, to see the pill down as far as you ca, then hold her mouth shut and stroke her throat tip she swallows - it can work with some cats, but not all. Can you get the medicine in liquid form?

Either that, or put it in some yummy people food - a bit of tuna salad perhaps - and tell her she is forbidden to eat it ....

**mon** · 01-19-2018, 10:33 PM

I think it's insane to make cat medication in pill form. Sadists!

**cats4ever** · 01-20-2018, 07:41 AM

I think the secret to cats taking pills in food or pill pockets is that they have to be hungry.
I feed my cats twice a day. By dinner time, they are all hungry. 3 of my cats will take their meds readily in pill pockets, another one will eat her food with meds mixed in. I have also one medicine made into a "Tasty Chew", seafood flavor, by a compounding pharmacy.
Another option is medicine made into a transdermal gel. It then will be rubbed onto the cat's earflap and absorbed into the system.
Tstratton, talk to your veterinarian, they can give you all the options. Good luck!

**Randi** · 01-20-2018, 08:14 AM

Cats are SO different, some will take a pill without a problem, others will put up a fight. My cat was too smart for hiding pills in treats. I tried his favourite... carefully cut open a few shrimps and stuffed the crushed pill inside, but as soon as he could taste the pill he walked away.

After that, I used to lean over my cat while he was sitting in the windowsill, looking out. I did that at other times, also, so he was used to it. I gave him some chin scritches first and then opened his mouth and popped the pill in, as far back as I could - then immediately closed his mouth and stroked his throat, that will make a cat swallow.

In this link, there are several suggestions of how to pill a cat. Good Luck!

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...light=pill+cat

**mon** · 01-20-2018, 12:24 PM

Years ago I tried for over an hr. to give my kitten Smokey a pill and he scratched my arms so bad, blood everywhere. I finally threw it across the room, quite frustrated, it bounced off the wall and he ran over and ate it

**cats4ever** · 01-20-2018, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by mon

Years ago I tried for over an hr. to give my kitten Smokey a pill and he scratched my arms so bad, blood everywhere. I finally threw it across the room, quite frustrated, it bounced off the wall and he ran over and ate it

That's awesome! Did it work every time?

**cats4ever** · 01-20-2018, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by Tstratton

I brought home a rescue kitten and had to give her deworm medication in the pill form.
I crushed it up and blended it in her wet food.
She refuses to eat and I've had to throw out every dish for the past 3 months
HELP how do I get her to take the pills?

What kind of worms is it for? Dewormer for tapeworms comes as an injection, the vet has to give it. Other dewormers come as oral liquid.