Help! Cat needs to swallow pill!

[Erin]

Originally Posted by Elaine

That r3eminds me, I must book a flight to B'ham to worm Erins cats

lol yep they are due again in 10 days!

[Sparco]

Thanks everybody, so far all great advice!

It seems to work best when I approach him in a calm and confident manner! The link helped alot too, thank you!

He's taking this pill as well as a liquid to help his blood cell count increase.

Unfortuneately, he has lost his appetite and isn't eating very much at all. I don't suppose giving him food the same way I give him a pill is a good idea!?!? I just want him to feel better, and I know eating would help alot!

-Sparco

[angieh]

It's such a worry when they won't eat I do sympathise Sparco. What are you feeding him (or trying to feed him) at the moment?

[dinahsmum]

It's god that the pills are (mostly) going down easy! If there is a steroid element to them you may find that they perk up his appetite anyway.
In the meantime, try tempting him with little treats. Ham, fed from your fingers, bits of fish, chicken - anything to get him back into the way of eating and enjoying food.

[Elaine]

http://www.felinecrf.org/persuading_cat_to_eat.htm

There are some good tips here, I hope they help. Can I ask what exactly is wrong with your kitty?

[eden]

Has anyone else tried the wooden spoon method? Works for me almost every time.

I used to have a nightmare with pilling cats. Now I have wooden spoon - I put a small (about 1cm-ish) blob of lux cat pate on, insert pill vertically and squidge with fingers until its a ball of pate with pill inside - offer spoon to cat but the trick is - hold spoon up so they have to lift their heads to reach it - they then cant 'sort it out' and discard the pill - goes in one go.

Obviously the cat has to want the food first, but it pretty much always works for my two.

[dandysmom]

Originally Posted by eden

Has anyone else tried the wooden spoon method? Works for me almost every time.

I used to have a nightmare with pilling cats. Now I have wooden spoon - I put a small (about 1cm-ish) blob of lux cat pate on, insert pill vertically and squidge with fingers until its a ball of pate with pill inside - offer spoon to cat but the trick is - hold spoon up so they have to lift their heads to reach it - they then cant 'sort it out' and discard the pill - goes in one go.

Obviously the cat has to want the food first, but it pretty much always works for my two.

What a very clever imaginative way to pill the cat!! Thanks! I'll keep that in mind for the next time "Ms. Unpillable" needs one......

[CathyW]

i normally use the towel method. but also means they do a runner when they are soaking wet from the rain, they think im going to give them a pill.
good luck anyway.
oh and welcome to the site.

[northern lass]

Giving cata a pill is never easy, MAx is ok but Oli is as previously quoted a furry scratchy octopuss.

I put a bit of butter on the pilles to encourage then to open their mouths. But the trick is to be as calm as possible and have a nice treat to reward them for swallowing (even if it has taken several minutes !)

I hope Sparco gets better soon

[Sparco]

Hey everybody,

Thanks again for all your great advice!

The butter on the pill worked the best actually.

Oh, and I'm Sparco, the cat is Stewie!