Sharing my cat pilling pain LOL!

[sascha]

We are now 2 doses in to a 2-month course of twice a day pilling. I expect not to be able to find her at all for her evening dose after she immediately skedaddled this morning and hid for 2 hours, eschewing breakfast.

Most aggravating thing? This cat was on months and months and months of thrice daily pilling years ago and did absolutely great. Apparently now she is older and crankier.

2nd most aggravating thing? She is not a treat hound. Bribery is off the table.

The former queen of pilling cats and maintaining their trust and compliance has not only had her crown slip, she’s been completely overthrown by a tiny, opinionated old lady cat

Please laugh with me so I don’t cry

[MunchingonHay]

OMG. I am so sorry.

This is going to be the longest two months of both of your lives.

You may have to sequester her to one room for both of your sanity.

My the Force be with you Sascha.

[2DogsFarm]

Is it possible to dissolve the pill in a little water & syringe the med in?
If you can get her on your lap, or between your knees on the floor, or even burritoed in a towel, you could get the dose in & less chance of it being spit out.

[JB]

I’m laughing with you because I’d cry too! And I’ve been there with some of this. The worst, to start, was the cat who needed an eye drop not only twice a day, but then 2 drops, 1 of them twice a day and one of them once a day but at least 5 minutes apart from the other

Churros (the kitty kind) for the win. I actually used Temptations Purrrr-ee which was a lot cheaper. She’d stand up against my leg to lick while I just dropped the drop in

Another trick, I know you said she’s not food-motivated but worth a try - is putting the pill into a little piece of pill pocket (or chicken, or hot dog, etc) and rolling that in some Forti-Flora. That FF stuff is kitty crack around here, fingers WILL come off if you’re not careful LOL

Is there ANY alternative for this med other than pill form?

What sort of food does she like, and is there a “omg lemme eat ALL OF IT” food you don’t normally give her?

[BrownDerby]

You might try a pill plunger, (similar to a syringe) and top it with a dab of Churro before dosing. At least it gives your hand a few inches start from the cobra fangs. And I don’t know, perhaps occasionally fill the plunger with Churro and no meds to try to bridge her er hesitancy.

I know you said not treat oriented but Churro is another dimension. Good luck.

[JB]

@BrownDerby

I know you said not treat oriented but Churro is another dimension.

It (and FortiFlora) really are a whole new ballgame! It might take a bit to find THE crack “churro”. Mine loves the Purrrree in salmon, but wouldn’t touch another brand’s salmon. She’d start climbing my leg the instant she saw the packet

[BrownDerby]

@JB

She’d start climbing my leg the instant she saw the packet

Hahaha, many years ago my dear departed Mustang Sally would climb my jeans for BROCCOLI and OLIVES. Can’t beat a good farm cat.

Forti Flori is magic. OP, if nothing else it is a valid nutritional supplement.

[sascha]

@2DogsFarm

If you can get her on your lap, or between your knees on the floor, or even burritoed in a towel, you could get the dose in & less chance of it being spit out.

Dosing her is not the actual problem - I’ve got a crap ton of experience pilling my medical weirdos over the years lol It’s catching her to dose her that’s the problem.

@JB

rolling that in some Forti-Flora

This is a brilliant idea and will be used on this evening’s dose! In fact, I may roll a couple of pieces of pockets and paste in it now so she gets the flavour without the pill and might start just taking the treat … I am delusional because she’s probably way smarter than that, but it’s worth a try.

Churros are a hard no. She’s a freak.

@JB

Is there ANY alternative for this med other than pill form?

I could get liquid but 5 days (or 7?? can’t remember) but it costs as much as 2 months of pills :o so, no, and it’s not the actual dosing part that’s hard it’s that she is just a hard no, “I’m on to you and you are not coming anywhere near me whether or not it’s pilling time. Yes, I will miss all our cuddles, but that’s on YOU!!!” LOL!

@BrownDerby

Mustang Sally would climb my jeans for BROCCOLI and OLIVES.

This is the kind of cat I’m used to. I’ve had ones that I could pill by having them sit up in begging position and GRAB the pill from me without even being in a pill pocket or pill paste. My current crew is substandard in this department.

[JB]

@BrownDerby

Mustang Sally would climb my jeans for BROCCOLI and OLIVES

I had one who would kill you for cucumbers. A growly hissy spitting kitty with a mouth full of cucumber was the funniest thing ever!

@sascha

I may roll a couple of pieces of pockets and paste in it now so she gets the flavour without the pill and might start just taking the treat

Yep! I’ve started doing that with our kittens, here and there, to get them used to the idea. Girl kitten had some meds after her spay, and she’s still in that “all the food please, all of it, don’t care what it is” stage, so she got pill pockets rolled in FF

I forget what the term is called, but practice this without pills, and then when it comes to the pill part, just add it in. Put a “clean” treat on the floor, that’s usually the slowest one to get eaten. Then it’s super yummy, so put another one down as soon as she eats the previous one. When it’s yummy enough, they start going for the next piece before they’ve barely swallowed the last one. So you toss in the pill piece in that moment, they’re really not chewing (much) at that point, and have 2-3 extras to lay down behind the pill treat

[sascha]

@JB

but practice this without pills, and then when it comes to the pill part, just add it in.

I should totally know this from getting horses eager to take dewormer by using dummy syringes of apple sauce. I can’t remember the term either.

@MunchingonHay

You may have to sequester her to one room for both of your sanity.

Forgot to reply to this the first time - she’s also a wake-the-entire-neighbourhood screamer/yowler when sequestered. The months I had her sequestered for her paralyzed hind leg (she recovered perfectly) were a living hell.

[BrownDerby]

One term for the dummy training is systematic desensitization.

[MunchingonHay]

@sascha

@MunchingonHay

You may have to sequester her to one room for both of your sanity.

Forgot to reply to this the first time - she’s also a wake-the-entire-neighbourhood screamer/yowler when sequestered. The months I had her sequestered for her paralyzed hind leg (she recovered perfectly) were a living hell.

Oh No! well, that is not going to work.

[JB]

@BrownDerby

One term for the dummy training is systematic desensitization.

What I’m thinking of is less about the dummy training, and more about how rapid-fire you lay down the treats once they’re in the groove, which makes it much less likely they’ll notice that THE treat has the pill in it

[reefy]

2 months??? Holy moly, that sounds, um, unpleasant, lol. I had a cat that had to have 1 tooth extraction about a month ago and they gave me 3 pain pills to give him, one a day for 3 days. Great! I can do it, no problem. Got cat in the bathroom with some yummy food (small pill thankfully) and got him on the counter. Cat was still all freaked out from the surgery the day prior so wanted no part of this. I manage to shove it in (getting smelly food everywhere including all over the cat). Hold his mouth, see a swallow, let him go. I was feeling all proud of myself until the next morning when I saw something round on the floor. It was the &$^%ing pill, lol. And then I felt horrible because I’m sure he needed the pain meds but I never got one in him despite trying.

You have my sympathies!

[sascha]

@reefy

2 months??? Holy moly, that sounds, um, unpleasant, lol.

And possibly longer if we see positive results We are treating a sinus infection with the same abx that she was on to shrink her bovine sarcoid which would be good as it’s poofed up again over the years. Although we can’t do the original drug combo since one drug is no longer available, the vet figures a long term trial of just the one may be worth a try since we’re having to give it to her anyway. With luck, I’ll have her in a routine in a week or two and it will all get easier and less stressful and bonus if the sarcoid shrinks down again too.

If anyone has a secret stash of Tagamet (cimetidine) they’d be willing to send across the border, let me know - I mean I’m already going to be dealing with one pill 2x day so if I’m giving her one and could get the other drug, I’m sure that sucker would shrink down

[Bluey]

Nothing to add to all the nice kind suggestions but to post this someone else posted not long ago, reflecting on her own cat pilling:

[WNT]

We’re having to do ear drops as one of our 100% indoor kitties managed to get a bacterial ear infection. Thankfully, we recently discovered Delectables toob treats, and while he hates the dropping portion, he will still come for the box of toobs. Only 3.5 days until his follow up…

[sascha]

[Equibrit]

@JB

@BrownDerby

One term for the dummy training is systematic desensitization.

What I’m thinking of is less about the dummy training, and more about how rapid-fire you lay down the treats once they’re in the groove, which makes it much less likely they’ll notice that THE treat has the pill in it

And you’ll have a cat that can count !

[Pippigirl]

I am so jealous of you! Princess kitty who will probably need meds in the near future is not thrilled with Churro, and wants nothing to do with Fortif Flori!! She hates pill pockets, not thrilled with fish oil or tuna juice… She thinks I’m trying to poison her. You can pill her with a pill gun for a day (one time only…) and then it’s “on”… sigh
Edited for spelling