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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Giving my cat her thyroid tablet is not going so well......

27 replies

midnightmoomoo · 20/01/2016 00:01

Our oldest cat is very nearly 17 and has been diagnosed with an overactive thyroid. She has to have a tablet every night and it's become a real battle, even with a pill popper. I hate forcing her and she spits and scratches, and I hate the thought that we're making her so stressed and I don't want her to hate us.

I keep hoping she'll just go in her sleep like her sister did, is that really bad of me? She weed on my bed tonight during the tablet taking which isn't great for either of us. She fights DH too although he generally gets the tablet down her first go but she's an absolute bugger for me. I don't want to do this for months on end. I don't know what anyone can do to help, but I needed to 'say' out loud that I just wish it was all over. She's had a wonderful life, I feel awful putting her through this, ridiculous really, it's only one tablet. She's deaf too which doesn't help, and she hates being picked up or cuddled. I'm worried we're going to turn her into a spiteful madam who distrusts us when I just want for her to be her normal deaf as a post self.

Has anyone else experienced this? I'll be so upset when she does die, but I just hope this doesn't go on for too long.

OP posts:
RoastChickenDinner · 20/01/2016 07:42

Oh dear Coco, no experience or advice really but didn't want you to go unanswered. Maybe ask the vet if there is another method of treatment?

IHeartKingThistle · 20/01/2016 07:44

Mine will eat it if it's hidden in a Dreamie! There's no way she'd let me force her.

fieldfare · 20/01/2016 07:52

That sounds a bit too traumatic, for you both!
Have you tried hiding it in a dreamie, wrapped in a bit of ham, smeared in pâté etc?

fieldfare · 20/01/2016 07:53

Or you ask your vet if it's OK for the tablet to be crushed and then mixed with her dinner? Some medication you're not meant to crush up though, so you must check.

Pleasemrstweedie · 20/01/2016 08:00

If it's Felimazole, it can't be crushed.

Sorry, no other ideas other than food bribery. My boy always took his like a man

thefamilyvonstrop · 20/01/2016 08:00

We had a similar issue with our elderly cat. In the end she went to a specialist veterinary hospital for radiotherapy treatment. She had to go for 2 weeks and we couldn't see her till her radiation levels dropped to safe levels but it sorted the thyroid issue. Without that, I think we would have chosen to put her to sleep as, like you, it was stressing her out and impacting quality of life.

GRW · 20/01/2016 08:06

Mine eats hers squashed into a small piece of cheddar cheese, just enough to coat the tablet, and it goes down with no problem. There is a prescription diet for hyperthyroidism, which means the cat doesn't need to take tablets. My vet suggested it when my cat was diagnosed but as the cat can't eat any other food it would have been difficult with other cats in the house.

SevenOfNineTrue · 20/01/2016 08:07

I went the tough love route and would not feed my cat unless he ate the tablet. It worked surprisingly well.

Original poster
midnightmoomoo · 20/01/2016 08:17

Are Dreamies snacks? I'll have a look. Thank you both. I know we're having to be cruel to be kind but you'd think by now someone would have come up with a better way of medicating cats other than tablets!

We are going to the vet this afternoon for a blood test so I can ask if there is another option then, although I think it's this or nothing which is even meaner as it leads to complications with other organs.

OP posts:
LittleCandle · 20/01/2016 09:00

Just be aware that Dreamies are crack for cats. Highly addictive. Our lovely neighbours gave us some for the cats' Christmas a year ago and once the packets were finished, they stalked me, demanding them. It took months before they finally realised I wasn't going to give them anymore! (CandleCat1 has a tendency to be porky and Dreamies weren't helping!)

GoneAndDone · 20/01/2016 09:34

Mine takes hers in her wet food - I put a vinyl glove on, pick up some wet food into my hand, put the tablet in and the cat eats it from my hand like that.

You can also try it hidden in soft cheese, Laughing Cow and other slightly "sticky" types work best.

My cat hates anything forced down her but loves food and treats so this works very well. Have been doing this for well over a year now. She doesn't seem to smell the tablet in the food or cheese.

Original poster
midnightmoomoo · 20/01/2016 09:46

Thank you for your suggestions! Gives me some ideas to try. To start with she took it fine, but she's got wise to it now and I swear that even though she's stone deaf, she can lip read the word 'tablet'!!!

OP posts:
Catzpyjamas · 20/01/2016 09:49

CoCo, ask your vet about prescription food instead of a pill. There's one from Hills called y/d diet which comes as wet or dry food.

GoneAndDone · 20/01/2016 09:52

Don't call it a tablet then. Wink I ask mine if she's ready for her 'treat', and shake the pill bottle, and she comes running! I might just be lucky, though!

FannyFifer · 20/01/2016 12:21

Awww your poor cat, I've no advice, with my lad I just get him in a headlock & shove tablet down his throat. He doesn't really care though so it must be difficult when cat so stressed.
I like the idea of a lip reading cat though.

slev · 20/01/2016 12:26

We have to give both our cats pills (one thyroid, one liver supplement - the liver one is massive!). We wrap it in a bit of wafer thin ham - sometimes takes a couple of attempts as they manage to filter the pill out from the ham, but usually gets there in the end. We spoke to the vet about it and he couldn't see an issue with it - it's not like they're getting a whole slice or anything.

Works well enough that as one of us goes to the fridge at about 10pm, both cats come running in to the kitchen!

Wolfiefan · 20/01/2016 12:27

There are other treatments you can try if you can't get the pill down.
Wrap cat in towel. Prevents scratches.
Put a tiny bit of water in the pill giver. Put pill in then shoot both down the back of cat throat.
Mind you I've got to deworm my two torrid terrors tomorrow. NOT looking forward to that!

fuzzywuzzy · 20/01/2016 12:35

Our cat needs heart pills three times a day, I hide tem in aldi stick treats, break off a piece of the chewy stick and put a pill in it, sometimes he manages to spit out the pill (in which case I try again), but mostly he eats the entire treat pill an all.

I don't give him an entire stick each time, just break off a small amount.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 20/01/2016 12:55

Harry is on medication at the moment and it either had to be syringed into his mouth or put in his food. Last time we tried syringing anything we ended up with a stressed cat and medicine all over me and we didn't want to risk this with a broken jaw so the vet recommended Hills a/d and we put the meds in that and he inhales it!

Flossyfloof · 24/01/2016 12:13

When our brilliant old cat had thyroid I put the tabs in a prawn. Yum yum!

Original poster
midnightmoomoo · 28/01/2016 22:49

Just thought I'd post an update. I think I've cracked it...,,she loves the Dreamies snacks so I break a few in half onto a little saucer and put the tablet in with them and she just gobbles it up! Easy peasy!

Have also learnt not to leave said treat bag out overnight or the Tiger will literally rip it to shreds to get inside! He has the added bonus of Molly being so deaf she didn't hear him do it, so he got to eat the lot by himself!!! pig

Thank you again for your ideas, I have a few stored away in case she gets wise!

OP posts:
shouldwestayorshouldwego · 28/01/2016 23:01

If it stops working then we have discovered a pressure point by the corner of their mouth which opens their mouth.

borisgudanov · 28/02/2016 01:11

I'm giving a hyperthyroid cat Methimazole twice daily as a transdemal gel - you rub in on the inside of the ear, no fuss and it's keeping thyroxine levels within acceptable parameters. Giving this cat pills would be no picnic :-)

misty75 · 29/02/2016 09:20

Felimazole still works for your cat if you crush it. It's not recommended because it's toxic to humans, and the danger is that we might absorb a small amount through our skin or by inhalation, which could affect us over time. You can reduce this risk by using a pestle and mortar, gloves etc.

lavenderdoilly · 29/02/2016 14:27

I used greenies pill pockets off Amazon. Can't say they worked all the time but about 95 per cent.

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