I don't know the difference in price - pills vs cream - but there is an alternative to pilling her every day. The medication can be mixed as a cream and applied to her ear daily. This is called a transdermal dosing method.

We had a cat once, Nelly, with thyroid problems. The cream was not yet available, so we gave her a liquid mix each day. She had no side effects - I read somewhere that only about 15% of the cats do experience any.