Pilling the Monster

[Emeraldgreen]

I was also going to suggest having the meds turned into a transdermal gel. My cat Jimmy is on prednisilone and I've used that on him for a couple of years. As Jenn mentioned, you just squirt out the dose which usually isn't much and smear it on the inside of his ear. It enters his body that way and is so much easier. I use the back of a spoon to get it onto his ear.

You can also take the clomicalm to a compounding pharmacy and have them mix it up with a flavored suspension (chicken, salmon or beef) and then administer the suspension by syringe into his mouth or if you're able to, hide the now flavored meds into a similarly flavored food. But if your cat is anything like a few of my cats, they might be very suspicious of anything that could have 'tainted' their food.

That pill popper thing is pretty cheap, I think it's under 10.00 and most vet clinics sell them.

[mamaducky]

Emeraldgreen, BIG hugs to you -- I am keeping you & Tiger in my thoughts and prayers.

Thanks, everyone, for some really good suggestions; I'm going to try the wet cat food idea later this evening and see how it works.

Hugs,
Diana

[Pawsitive Thinking]

My hubby's grumpy old cat Tweed had to be wrapped in a towel and virtually sat on to get anything down her throat My RB Cally on the other hand would take a tablet out of your hand

[MoonandBean]

I have never had any problems pilling my cats alone so this may sound ridiculous to those of you with experience with more difficult cats but I'll give it a shot anyway (I only thought of it because I've been having my SO hold Moon down while I apply his frontline because that has been a challenge alone).

So...what about getting help? Have one person hold his front paws and another hold the back paws and then you can open his mouth and pill him?

[catmandu]

I TRY TO HAVE THE MEDS IN A GEL SO I CAN WIPE IT ON THIER PAWS OR NOSE, AND SOMETIMES THEY LICK IT OFF.
ALTHOUGH JJJ3 HAS THE KNACK NOW OF SHAKING HIS HEAD AND THROWING IT OFF!!!
THE ONLY ONE WHOS NO TROUBLE IS MICHAEL THE DREAMWHO ACTUALLY PURRRS AS HES PILLED AND MEDICATED. THATS WHY HES THE DREAM CAT

[aki]

the best way i know to pill a cat, is to put them on your lap or a table, and then scruff the back of their neck. not hard and do not pick them up. but just enough so you can tip their head back a little and their mouth will automatically come open. then drop the pill as far back into their mouth as you can, so they won't spit it back out. then just hold on to make sure they swallow it. it takes literally like 5 seconds and less tramatic IMO than wrapping in a towel.

[krazyaboutkatz]

When Storm was on Clomicalm his was compounded into a liquid form and he hated taking it. It must really taste bad. I wanted to try the cream version so I could rub it into his ear but my said it wouldn't be as effective so I never tried it. Now he's on an herbal calming pill instead and luckily he loves the pill pockets so he now thinks that he's getting a treat.

Starr is my worst cat to pill or medicate so I have to use a klaw kontrol bag. I also use this for nail trims and you can zip all of their paws inside they then only their head is sticking out and they can't run away from you. I don't have any one here to help me so this has worked very well for my situation. Here's the link to the Klaw Kontrol bag: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...fm?pcatid=3159. You can also probably order something similar through your vets office. I also use a pill dispenser so that my fingers don't get bitten off and I put some water in a syringe to help wash the pill down. Good luck.

[jenluckenbach]

The clomicalm (at least the generic version) tastes REALLY REALLY bad!!! I doubt any cat with taste buds would eat it out of a dish, even mixed with tuna!

Wrapping is a towel is a good idea! Beware, though ,they may run away when they see the towel coming, in the future.

Scruffing is also a GREAT way to pill a cat. And so is having help.

I like to turn the cat on its back and lay it across my lap so when the mouth opens, gravity works with me and not against me. Just pop the pill!

But most of all, just keep trying. Once you get a technique that works, the cat will relax more and more with time.