Getting kitten to take tablets

[muddleup]

He was on steroid tablets that I could crush and mix in with his liquid treats.
Now he's on amitriptyline twice a day. We crushed them and mixed them in with the liquid treat but he refused it. We tried mixing it with a small amount of wet food but hes refused that too.
Is there any other tricks we can try?
He is on them for ay least a month so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Have you tried pill pockets? You can buy them online, or Pets At Home.

Or, hide in a piece of cheese or wrap in ham.

There's always the cat crepe method, you know, wrapping them in a towel. Probably a last resort though.

There was a list written by Lone, of the best morsels to hide pills in, which I tried to find for you. Hopefully she'll see this and post it for you.

Greenies Pill Pockets kinda worked for us. Not 100 per cent. I think it's a novelty thing and you might need more imagination longer term.

The secret to giving pills to a cat is to be decisive (no fannying around) and to make the most of your strength advantage; you won't break the dear thing.

Hold the cats head and bring it up and back; this will automatically open the mouth. Pop the pill into mouth and poke it to the back. Close the mouth and hold shut; then massage the throat to induce the swallow reflex.

By training your kitten you will save yourself a lot of problems in later years.

The list
Cheesy word its
Small bits of cheddar
Pate
Primula ( previously I only used cheese I have now discovered the prawn one is very popular).
Prawns
Small bits of premium sausages ( cheap have too little texture)

Damn spell check that should be cheesy wotsits.

Jumpy I can tablet any cat in the clinic I have war wounds from home hence my alternative methods.

I quite like the phrase "Cheesy Word, it's small bits of Cheddar!" Lone.

Litter Tray rap.

If it's a kitten Id do the force method to save trouble in later life and the need to compile a list like Lone's. It's quicker and easier - unless you have a dedicated refuser of course.

Thank you everyone.
We tried the hold him down and put it in his mouth, it went okish but I never put it far enough back in his mouth so he ended up crunching it.
Now I know not what to do hopefully this mornings tablet will be easier.

It's all gone wrong.
I'm covered in claw marks, he's refusing to eat anything, not even treats. He won't drink his milk or water.
The tablets are supposed to help his anxiety but it feels like I've just made it worse.
He won't come near me at all now :(

Oh no!

Don't worry, they always forgive in the end.

Sounds as though you need to take a skim over Lone's list of tablet hiding options. But maybe for now take the pressure off. It sounds as though the tablets aren't a question of life and death? If it's ok, then maybe give up for the day and be very casual about food generally - just leave something nice in his bowl and ignore the whole situation, and he's bound to get hungry eventually.

How long have you had him and what are the anxiety issues?

We've had him 8 months and he's 10 months old.
He doesn't do well with change. My oldest son moved out and he started over grooming, leaving bald spots, not eating well, ripping the wallpaper and crying constantly.
The vet gave him a steroid tablet and that seemed to help, he came off them a couple of months ago.
Then he managed to get out and it started again. Steroids didn't help this time so the vet decided on these, but it feels like I've made his anxiety worse
The food we hid his tablets in before he won't even come near now, even with one of my children offering him it with no tablet in.

This is not how I imagined having a cat would be, it's stressing me out.

Hmmmm.

I really don't know because I'm not a vet nor an animal behaviourist but I wonder what his stressors are. I'm not entirely sure that someone moving out of a house a cat has occupied for only 8 months convinces me as a cause of big stress reactions - could be totally wrong though. Had they bonded very closely?

Adolescent cats can be very strange little blighters though - phases of weirdness are not at all uncommon, so I'm wondering if that's part of it. Has he always been like this?

With distress, I go by the rule of doing the thing that makes them least upset. For example my fretful one won't be brushed. If I force brushing then she doesn't get matted fur, which then in turn doesn't make her itchy and irritable. But it's less stressful for her to have it shaved off once every few months rather than being held down and groomed daily, so that's what we do. I wonder if for now the tablets need to go the same way - work on building up his trust with food again and then give it another shot in a couple of weeks.

Hopefully others can advise more though as I really don't know that much about it.

Muddleup. It's quite natural to be afraid that your cat will bite when you put your finger in its mouth.

Try this for me. Lean your head back as far as it will go and try to bite upwards. It is very difficult; your cat will have exactly the same problem.

So when you put the tablet in his mouth make sure that you poke it right to the back with your finger. Trust me: the pill will not come back and there will be no crunching.

Try hiding it in Shiphams sandwich paste. Sardine flavour in particular.

Although having read this properly now, I'd agree with the wise posters suggesting that you just leave it for a while. It sounds as though it's getting counterproductive.

Does he go out at all?.

No he doesn't go out.
We stopped the tablets and he finally started eating on Wednesday but he doesn't seem to trust me where food is concerned.
We tried him today with it wrapped in some cold meat but it was still a no go.
I will phone the vet again on Monday and see if she can suggest anything else, I dont want to stress him out more.
The vet did mention walnut oil, but I'm not sure what I would do with that.

We need to try something though as hes crying constantly from when I go up to bed until the morning, he only stops if i manage to catch him and snuggle him in the covers but even then that only lasts 1/2 hr or so.