Foaming during pilling

Ted has always been rather difficult to pill but when he had to receive two courses of antiobiotics in December, he became very stressed about it all and began foaming up before I even got the pill into his mouth. Now that he's in acute renal failure and I have to give him both antiobiotics and potassium pills, I'm faced with a real struggle. He's the only cat I've had to wrap in order to pill, as I did tonight when holding him from behind didn't work, but even so it's a battle to get his mouth open and get the pill down. Between his head jerking around, his tongue lashing, his trying to bite me (though I'm using a pill pusher) and the masses of saliva bubbling out of his mouth, I keep getting the pill back - mushy and unusable.

How does everyone else deal with the copious saliva issue?

I find sometimes the pill pusher causes more problems than it's worth. I would try catching Ted when he is just waking up and not expecting the pills. Maybe space out the pills not give them all at one time.

I've had to use meds on nice and easy cats and very hard cats.I think if you put the pill pusher in his mouth quick right in the center a bit further than you'd like pointing down his throat and quicky disperss it may help.I had to do that with 1 difficult cat.I did it fast and put that pill pusher right down his throat(Not really) but almost.I hate to say it that way but it worked for me.I hold the scruff of the neck too.His fur..... not his neck.I never hold their face or neck...it's too dangerous.Just the fur on the back of his neck gently.But it seems to work.Good Luck

Poor scared boy. I lay the cats on my lap, scruff difficult cats in my left hand, use my right hand to gently push on the jaw right back where the jaw open, then use my right to hold the pill and toss the pill in. Sicne I have to medicate both Allen and Pouncer this mornign I'll do a video. Pouncer is a dream cat to pill - Allen is a nother story. I'll show you both boys

I hate those pill pushers and the wet med syringes -- I can't quite get the timing down to pry open the jaw, insert syringer or pill pusher, release.

Ok, this video does not flatter me at all, so ignore my face (thats cut off) and just watch the boys :D

Basically, you'll see I hold the boys on their backs (Flutter gets belly down on the table since she has her "thing" about laps) basically, put them where you have most control over them (laps vs. table, etc). Some people have to put the cat in a pillow case - which is what we have to do with Allen for wet meds. I scruff the boys with my left hand while holding the pill between the index finger and thumb of the right hand. I use my pinkie and ring fingers to pry the jaw open.... some times its easy like you'll see in the video, others you actually have to work. If you have them scruffed, the amount of head movement is drastically cut down -- they are nearly locked into postion if you've got a good firm hold on them.

PS: If you can't view the video by clicking on it, right click the video and select the option to save it to your computer, then you can view it.

Kim, those BOTH looked easy! Mine fight like tigers. I wish mine were that easy to pill! I had absolutely no luck at pilling mine until I got a pill popper and even then, they struggle and fight but at least I don't get bit using that.

I watched Kim's video, scooped Ted up onto my lap, onto his back, gently took his scruff and pilled fast with my right hand. It worked like a charm. Neither of us could believe it went down that quickly. He looked up at me from the floor with a stunned look on his face and I looked back with a grin. I wouldn't have been able to do a second since I released only just in time to prevent being clawed, but he only gets one in the morning so it worked like a charm. He doesn't associate being on my lap with being pilled so he didn't get stressed and foamy in advance, and that helped enormously. I'll keep trying this way, though I may have to make adjustments and use a wrap also.

Thank you very much for taking time to make the video, it helped enormously.

See if the vet can prescribe a cream antibiotic that is applied inside the ear. We had to do this for our Spike since he's impossible to medicate either pill or liquid. We are also doing this with Scooter right now. It works great!

I'm so glad the videos helped! Believe me, Allen isn't always so willing - and he's a sneak because he will cough up the pill after I've sworn he's swallowed it.

Be careful to never pill him while sitting on the same chair because he'll see you going to that chair and start foaming. Be tricky and vary where you pill him so he can be caught by surprise. Poor Angel taught me that one. She KNEW my desk chair was where she got pilled. So then I learned to use the steps, the couch, kitchen chairs, the bed..... you name it just so she wouldn't start panicking before I could get a chance to scruff her.

Wow, Kim you are so helpful! I remember you made a (pretty funny) nail trimming video a while back as well. I can see you how you would make a great obedience trainer. :)
I just love to see PTers helping each other out & sharing knowledge! Awesome. :)

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Originally Posted by Kater

Wow, Kim you are so helpful! I remember you made a (pretty funny) nail trimming video a while back as well. I can see you how you would make a great obedience trainer. :)
I just love to see PTers helping each other out & sharing knowledge! Awesome. :)

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LOL... considering how awful Pouncer is to have his nail trims it is surprising what an easy boy he is to pill! I had forgotten about Pouncer's lovely nail trimming demo! :D

I was only too glad to help out. Pilling cats is very scary to people. I am certainly not the best piller out there, but I found a method that works well for me and my cats, so why not share the knowledge?

What I do is to have the Vet give me the prescriptions in a Gel which I wipe on thier paws,or on thier nose,and The Found Cats ahve no choice but to try and lick it off.
I do find that so much easier than the pills.

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Originally Posted by catmandu

What I do is to have the Vet give me the prescriptions in a Gel which I wipe on thier paws,or on thier nose,and The Found Cats ahve no choice but to try and lick it off.
I do find that so much easier than the pills.

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I'm afraid this made me smile because it made me remember what Ted did when I used to put Laxatone on his paws or nose - shake, wipe and roll along the carpet or bedding, everything on the walls, carpet and furniture but none to his tum. It was quite amazing to watch, and very frustrating.

I just called the vet about getting both medicines made up in ear massage formula and they are checking into it. I used this method with heart medicine for another cat, so I know it works well but also know that not all medicines can be absorbed well enough by this route.

What a relief to be able to post here instead of boring the pants off people at work!

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Originally Posted by K & L

See if the vet can prescribe a cream antibiotic that is applied inside the ear. We had to do this for our Spike since he's impossible to medicate either pill or liquid. We are also doing this with Scooter right now. It works great!

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This is one possibility. The vet can do this through a compounding pharmacy.
However, there are also two readily available alternatives to potassium pills. Flavored gel (consistency like Nutri-Cal) and powder forms are available. The brand I see most often here is Tumil-K. These can be mixed into the food and delivered via feeding syringe.
If you reduce your pills by half, I think that would make pilling easier. ;)

Can the medication be compounded??? I do not know how to explain, but the med is made into a more papable form and the cat is able to take it without all the grief. I guess the best place to start is by asking your vet, Good Luck!!

Ted doesn't find anything palatable right now so he's as likely to foam up and rid himself of a compound as he is anything else, unfortunately. If I can continue pilling him the way Kim showed me, it's fast and clean. Any liquid or gel would be diluted by his saliva and I wouldn't be sure how much he was getting and how much he was drooling or spitting out. The vet checked on an ear massage version of Baytril and it can't be done.

Thank you for the suggestion about a powder form of pottasium that I can put in his liquid feed, Kater. I check if I can just grind up one of his pills, they look as though they crumble easily. I don't want to do that with the Baytril since I think it tastes bitter and might make him throw up.

Kim - I do understand about changing where I do the pilling since I try to vary where we are when I scoop him up for fluids. The problem is that I'm doing so much to him right now, that in the 4-5 hours I have with him in the evening before bed, he assumes that when I come near him I'm more likely to do something nasty to him than something nice. He's an extremely affectionate and needy cat so I hate to see him torn between craving my attention and avoiding me. I guess this will be a "Ted weekend" instead of the "gardening weekend" I had planned.