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My mom's cat Ollie is on Atenalol for a heart condition, and must take a small dose of it twice a day. Since my mom has a very demanding job which takes her out of town every week, I am now the pill-giver most of the time. At first, he would take it for me in a pill pocket, but now he's caught on and I was forced to put the pill down his throat, which stresses him out. He's going on 15, and I hate the idea of stressing him as he's already an anxious little guy.
His favorite treat of all-time is called "Wildside Salmon" and it's freeze-dried salmon cubes that crumble in your fingers...I tried putting his pill in those, but of course they'd crumble right away so it wasn't working. I had to get "creative", so what I did was crumble the salmon treat and then roll the pill pocket in the crumbles so the whole outside was coated in his favorite flavor...lo & behold, it worked! He eats it up without any fuss now, and it's a huge relief!
Just wanted to share this in case any of you are having a hard time with giving pills to your kitty, or just to store in the "reference file" for the future ...hope this helps someone out there!
Ooo, thanks for the tip! My feline's favorite treat in all the world is that exact same "Wildside Salmon," so it would likely work for him, too. Right now, he still snarfs up the pill pockets if I have to medicate him, but it's nice to have a fallback solution, too. As stinky as those salmon treats are, I imagine that they'd cover up the scent of darn near any medication quite effectively!
I had a cat who had to take a pill every day. He'd sit next to me and let me pop the pill into his mouth. He'd make all the swallowing noises and I'd think, "Well, that was easy."
Then later on I'd look in some corner somewhere and see..... HIS PILL!! Little booger was hiding them in his cheek. Wish I had had your idea cause he loved salmon!
How ingenious! Pill giving to a cat can and is at times a hair pulling, frustrating, sweat on the brow, event! How cool you figured this out and shared with us! Thank you!! I will most definitely file this knowledge for future reference! I have some cats with PhD's when it comes to foolery over taking a pill!
Pill Pockets have only worked a few times for me, too. Once they find out that there is a pill inside, they won't eat them. My dog has been on pills for a tick disease (anaplasmosis) and he won't eat the Pill Pockets anymore, either. He eats around them and spits the pill out. I hate buying a huge bag (they're not cheap) and then having the animal refuse them after a few times.
What I have been doing for Manny (he's gettting a urine acidifyer) is I bought a pill crusher (drug store, even Wal Mart has them), and I pulverize the pill into a powder and mix it with his canned food. This tricked worked with my late cat Bo when he needed pills for his heart. Just thought I throw another method out there for pets who spit out Pill Pockets!
Thanks for the tip, Hanna B...this is great and what I'd hoped for when I started the thread, a place where several options are there for super-finicky and tricky pill-takers!
Catman, here's a link to the website...I love their products because they're all natural, and I haven't met a cat (or dog, actually...) that doesn't like these treats!
The tips have been duly noted and will be tried in the future. Still wonder just how at pill taking time a cat can out wrestle a man 20 times its weight.
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