Sharing my cat pilling pain LOL!

oh dang @Pippigirl that’s the pits! Sardines? Canned dog food? Any all-meat baby food?

Try another “Churro” brand, just to see.

I feel your pain. Mine has now given in and understands that the pill will go down the hatch before meals, but she’s becoming more adept at spitting them out if I don’t practically make her gag while giving them.

Fwiw, I didn’t think she thought much of Fortiflora so I didn’t bother rolling tonight’s Pill Pocket in special crack sprinkles. That was a mistake. She might not like like the sprinkles but apparently they do make the PP a bit less intolerable. Cats. LoL

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I would love to bring you to my kitty to give 'er a go :sweat_smile: I think I’ve watched every video out there for pilling. My father’s cat was so easy to pill. I found out by accident, if you blow lightly on his nose his little mouth pops open and down the pill goes! I tried that on little Tina kitty and that didn’t over very well :sweat_smile: She was highly offended.

She’s kinda weird! She’s not keen on fish oil or strong smelling fish. I can’t find any baby food that’s all meat either. They all have extra stuff in them (veggies). I’ve tried a couple of other brands of ‘Churro’ things. One of them was the Tiki version. My other kitty (who doesn’t need them) of course loves them all :sweat_smile: Figures.

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My cat would take your face off for these: https://www.vitalessentials.com/products/freeze-dried-raw-chicken-hearts-cat-treats

Could you get these to work? I know food is not a big motivator, but sometimes you have to find the right one.

Can you lessen the amount of food you offer your cat to make her more intrested in treats?

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Could I get a sizable and slightly crumbly pill into them or are they quite dry? Unfortunately, the pills are human and have to be quartered and are an absolute bitch to cut. I count myself lucky that this time I only smashed 3 to absolute bits quartering a bottle of 30. The pharmacist was all, "Do you have a pill cutter because … " “Because they are a bitch to cut! Yes, I do, and have lots of practice with these beastly things.” They are so dreadful, that an acquaintance with a cat with the same issue had to have a knock down drag out fight to even get her pharmacist to dispense for her cat because “They cannot be cut.”

I can’t lessen the amount of food, unfortunately. I have one that has to have free choice to keep his weight up. However, I do have it timed/portioned that they are looking for wet food morning and night so that helps a bit.

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Have you tried blowing on her nose and rubbing her throat as soon as the pill is in her mouth? This usually (but not always) works with my cats.

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I would like to live to see the next day and not my life flash before my eyes :rofl: :joy: :rofl: She has definite ideas of what is and is not acceptable. She has to be scruffed to pill her and that’s tolerable :neutral_face: but blowing on her? Absolutey unacceptable.

She’s similar to my mare in her expressiveness. Her eyes can change in a heartbeat and any idiot that’s never even seen an animal before could tell she’d just gone from sweet to maximum rage.

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My vet wets her finger and touches their nose to make them lick (and therefore swallow) after a pill

Also, if there’s a way to quickly squirt a little water into her that will also encourage swallowing

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Amusing update. The barn rescue cat I have that was in an absolutely horrible state when I got him years ago and lived on pill pockets and sprinkles (Fortiflora) for months due to all his weird conditions, has discovere his “sister” is getting PP rolled in sprinkles twice a day.

I am now breaking off a piece of PP and rolling it in the sprinkles with the medicated one so he gets a little medicated treat when his sis get the medicated “torture.”

Why, oh, why could it not be the guy who wants to take meds that needs to take meds? There is no winning with cats lol

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I have Pearl who needs her Plavix every day at the same time. Which, of course, her being the way she is, is not even happening. When I give her the pill in the morning, the next day she hides under my bed where I cannot get at her. (I have an old waterbed frame with storage drawers underneath and the under is a 2 wide, 6 foot long “tunnel” which I do not fit into.) If I give the pill at night - ditto. She’s ridiculous. And a biter. So busy snatching her head around and gnashing her teeth that she has bitten me on multiple occasions and not little bites, either. So much fun. Oh and the shrieking. Both of us. Her because “Ack ack ack a pill i’m going to die!” and me because “Stop biting me! Stop biting me! Ow you bit me!”
I miss my Duncan and my Arabella - they sat up and took their meds like angels.

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How are you able to scruff and stuff at the same time? I was going to try scruffing and syringe Pepcid (in a 0.5mL slurry but couldn’t do it. She was still moving her head away. I think she might’ve gotten half a dose in…

I sit her across my lap, scruff with my right hand, and wedge open jaw and stuff pill in with my left.

My other technique is to “sit” on the cat (form a wedge as I kneel with cat butt up to my crotch) then grab head with my right hand and pry back to open jaw, and stuff pill in with left hand.

2nd method is an absolute no for her although it’s worked for me for many other cats.

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My method is to scruff cat onto kitchen table where I can work comfortably without turning into a pretzel. Then I grab cat by the sides of the jaw, using my arm to hold cat close to my body, then use fingers to push mouth open, then use forefinger of free hand to pull lower jaw down and keep tilting head back til the head is almost vertical (which keeps the mouth open) and then - provided someone is cooperative and not flinging a tooth-gnashing hissy - I can drop the pill right down their throats. Or if using a syringe I can get it very near the throat opening and down the hatch which means avoiding getting nasty tasting meds in the mouth to be spat or drooled all over.

Or with the truly uncooperative (Bonnie all <8 lbs of pure unadulterated no effing way) there was the purrito or just getting injectables. Somehow being given a shot was less awful than a pilling. Go figure.

When my old girls needed daily drugs, it was ground up in the food or they didn’t get it at all. They were never big on being held, so grabbing them and shoving something down their throats was a non-starter.