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Cat and Meds -- A Vent

Oh, yes, those little things that become the big things! :slight_smile:
Congratulations to you and Noel! And best wishes for continued success.

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back when I was teching in the specialty hospital, one of our go-tos for fussy cats was meat flavored baby food, especially when it was warmed slightly (so stank terribly). that may be an option for your kitty if the current yummy food stops working.

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I have had success with Hartz Delectables, Churu, and baby food (make sure itā€™s ONLY meat, water and cornstarch - no onions!) for powders. And depending on the volume, you can also fill empty gelcaps and dose like pills with a pill gun/popper and/or coated in butter.

Miralax is tough because of texture and volume givenā€¦ so you really need to either mask it in a large volume of food/liquid (less ā€œgooeyā€) or something really tasty. I would usually start out with minimum dose and titrate up to effective dose. Also, is cat constipated due to an underlying condition (CKD, for example)? Or a medication (buprenorphine, for example)? My CKS/Panc/SCL kitty was only ever on it intermittently, as neededā€¦ then we would taper off.

For small pills, I have success with hollowed out temptations. Bigger pills - pill popper with or without aid of gelcaps. I do find the gelcaps mask taste and you can put multiple pills in one.

I also use a silicone-tipped pill popper for pillsā€¦ just be careful to ensure that the silicone tip is on securely so they donā€™t accidentally swallow it (ask me how I knowā€¦)

You might also look up the ā€œparfaitā€ method for medicating.

If you choose to syringe liquid medications, aim for cheek pouch or across tongueā€¦ cats are very prone to aspirating.

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Well, she loved todayā€™s offer of ice creamā€¦

ā€¦until I added the meds. Then she would not touch it.

Sigh.

So tomorrow I will try something elseā€¦

Meanwhile I think I will melt some of my Ghiradelli dark chocolate and spoon it over the ice cream. For me.

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Feel free to reach out with more specifics of what has and hasnā€™t worked and I can brainstorm. At the end of Bergieā€™s life, she was on a TON of them, and every few hours - from pills to powders to subQ fluids to sublingual bupe. And she wasnā€™t a warm and fuzzy, compliant lady. Iā€™m pretty good at all types of kitty medicating!

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And ā€¦
Tonight success with Inaba Churu, which just came in the mail today. Yay!

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Yes, she has CKD.
She gets 1/8 tsp of Miralax twice a day. Backup is Lactulose; thatā€™s the one the vet wants me to titrate off. We will probably see the vet sometime this month for a checkup and labs update.

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I just went back and searched the kitty CKD forum, and it appears my go to was mixing Miralax (and other powders like K+ and Visbiome) with a tiny bit of water and a small amount of Hartz Delectables Bisque in a soy sauce/condiment dish (so, small) and feeding in advance of the real meal when she was hungry. Hope that helps! (Hartz Delectables Bisque - the Kidney cat version - was a lifesaver for me and always on hand in case she wouldnā€™t eat or I needed to give meds. I used it sparingly so it was always a special treat in emergenciesā€¦)

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I am glad the Delectables work for your kitty.

I just posted that Iā€™d read somewhere that Hartz products were dangerous for cats, but couldnā€™t remember where Iā€™d read it.
So I Googled it. Seems I may have read it right here on COTH ā€“

This appears to be about their flea and tick medicines/shampoos. The treats donā€™t seem to be implicated in anything. That said, I can understand wanting to boycott a company who does shady business. The treats are basically junk food and weā€™re kitty crack with supposedly low Phosphorus, so I leaned on them heavily when needed.

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Low phosphorous is good. When I Googled them just now I saw that Chewy sells Hartz Delectables, and that is a second good recommendation seconding yours.
I will call our vet in the morning. I see these treats everywhere including my grocery store.

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