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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

Can anyone please help me getting medication into my old girl?

39 replies

Incrediblehulky · 04/01/2018 22:32

I wonder if any of you wise lot might be able to give me any advice on how to go about getting my old girl cat to take her very essential medication to lower her blood pressure. I have tried what feels like EVERYTHING and it's very very stressful. We've tried pill form which she won't take either whole or crushed with food, treats, wrapped in ham ect and now the vet has given me a liquid form which she is refusing also 😕. I've tried mixing it with every treat imaginable, also tried putting it onto a bit of ham and in her dish on top of her normal food (she loves ham, its her normal treat) She won't go anywhere near anything that has it in, she'll just walk away from it and I've even left it out all day and she won't touch it. She's an extremely anxious girl and holding her and administering it into her mouth is really not an option...I've tried and it did not go well 😲. If anyone has any ideas I'd be so grateful because she really needs this medication and it's really not an option for her to be missing doses and I'm very stressed about it and feel like I'm letting her down 😢

OP posts:
tootiredtobeinspired · 04/01/2018 22:40

We found lik-e-lix was a good treat to hide crushed tablets or liquid in, have you tried that? It's quite strongly flavoured so I think it hides the drugs quite well?
Failing that you might have to be firm. Come from behind, get her by the scruff (mum cat hold) and tip her head back and to the side and squirt the liquid into the corner of her mouth. She won't like it but it's over with quickly and for her own good ultimately Smile. I sympathise, my old cat is an absolute nightmare!

Original poster
Incrediblehulky · 04/01/2018 22:59

Thanks for replying Tootiredtobeinspired! I have indeed tried Lik-e-lix and she is not impressed at all! She's very fussy, hates anything dairy and the only treats she likes are Dreamies and a little bit of ham at times. The scruff of the neck idea scares me to be honest, I know it's in her best interest but I don't at all have the confidence to know what I'm doing with that and would be scared of hurting her 🤔😕

OP posts:
tootiredtobeinspired · 04/01/2018 23:16

The mother cat hold doesn't hurt them apparently, I found it online so it might be worth a Google as there will probably be better instructions on how to do it. Another option you could try is to wipe it on her fur somewhere? If she hates to be dirty she might lick it off? Depends on the consistency. We've mixed crushed tablet with butter and wiped it on my cats paw and she licked it off. Was not massively accurate and a bit messy but if you are desperate? Good luck!

YesItsMeIDontCare · 04/01/2018 23:20

I've done a Lick-e-Lix mix wiped on paws with relative success before. Smeared on top of paws, avoid a thick spread which can be shaken off. Good luck.

MountainDweller · 04/01/2018 23:39

In my experience you need two people. One to hold the cat and the other to administer the meds in the side of the mouth. We crushed the pill to powder and mixed with a small amount of cat milk in a syringe.

When DH was away I managed to get liquid meds into my younger boy, who is pretty chunky, by kneeling on the floor and holding him between my knees, then scruffing him and syringing into side of mouth. I couldn't manage it with my old boy though - he was quite weak but very resistant to his meds!

Original poster
Incrediblehulky · 04/01/2018 23:44

Thank you everyone. I will try mixing her medication with something and smearing it onto her paws if she'll keep still long enough! Perhaps then she might have some of it even if it's not the full dose - at the moment getting her to take any of it is better than nothing at all. What a source of worry and frustration! This is enough to have me needing blood pressure medication as well as her!

OP posts:
RustySaladSpoon · 04/01/2018 23:53

Pill or liquid administered directly into the mouth is the easiest but only if you feel comfortable doing it and it can be tough seeing them squirm. Our little cat is currently on a powdered medication so we let her eat a little bit of her food so she gets the taste for it, then quickly sprinkle the powder on.

Good luck!

brogueish · 05/01/2018 11:10

If the tablet isn't too big or can be crushed, cover it in or mix it with fish paste, might work?

My old girl (also anxious and impossible to pill) used to happily take her daily meds in a blob of this stuff: www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_treats_catnip/miamor/347090?rrec=true

TodaysFishIsTroutALaCreme · 05/01/2018 11:20

We had a very feisty cat and medicating her was a nightmare. Any form of contact was likely to get your face taken off so stuffing and shooting into the mouth was just not going to work for us.

It was the lovely lady at the cattery who suggested making a pyramid of food. She said this was how she got medication into the cats she looked after. Apparently, if it's a pyramid, they just take a big gulp from the top so bury the pill just under the last bit to go on top iyswim.

It was like a miracle for us and I would say it worked 9/10 and if it didn't, we would just rebuild the pyramid again and she would have another go. It kept her alive for a few more years doing it this way.

TodaysFishIsTroutALaCreme · 05/01/2018 11:21

Scruffing Not stuffing ffs

FluffyWuffy100 · 05/01/2018 11:45

Have you tried wrapping up in a towel, kneeling over her and gripping with knees and then tilting head back and open with one hand?

This is easier with 2 people but possible with 1 if cat not too fistey.

TheWelshDragon · 05/01/2018 11:48

If I have to give mine tablets I hide it in a little ball of pate .

Weedsnseeds1 · 05/01/2018 11:59

I used the cat burrito with old girl, who was a medication refuser. Wrap in towel, insert pill as far back as possible. Clamp jaws shut and hold for as long as possible. You get to recognise the fake swallowing after a few goes.
Current cat is pretty much compliant with anything I ask him to do, so no problems with him at all

Toddlerteaplease · 05/01/2018 17:35

My cat is on 3 lots of tablets twice a day. I have a pill giver thing as she's as good as gold with them. But she's very placid anyway.

Jeffers3 · 05/01/2018 17:39

Have you tried covering it salted butter?! My mum recommended it to me and I tired it and he ate it straight away, apparently her vet recommended it.

Original poster
Incrediblehulky · 10/01/2018 15:02

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful replies. It's still an ongoing process with my old girl here...I have tried many of your suggestions with no luck yet! Today I tried crushing it into a fine power - mixing it with a finely crushed Dreamie and then mixing it with a spot of oil from a tuna can and adding it to her food. This has sat rejected all day so far 😣😣😣.

OP posts:
mollypopsal · 10/01/2018 18:32

Have you tried keeping the pills in the fridge? A vet once told me that they have no smell or taste when stored this way, but check the box first to make sure you can refrigerate them. I have found this useful for my cats.

ToadOfSadness · 11/01/2018 19:03

I had no problem medicating my boy as long as he didn't know there was anything hidden. I crushed the tablets to a powder and rolled very small balls of fish around the powder or cut them into small bits and hid them in the centre. I gave them to him one at a time like treats, before his meals, he came to expect them. When he was on more meds I had success with Lick e Lix as well.

My girl refused anything, I tried hiding it in food, she refused it. If I managed to get it in her mouth she would spit it out and I could never hold her long enough to make her swallow.

In the end I resorted to scruffing her and using a syringe with some gravy or Gourmet soup liquid diluted with water and the meds mixed in, either crushed or in liquid form, the latter I just syringed in without the gravy. When she was on pain meds I only needed to put it on my fingers and rub it on her lips.

Bitclueless211 · 12/01/2018 11:00

Would giving it to her via a nebulizer be an option? That's what we do with our cat (though the medication is a steroid so this probably wouldn't work with everything).

YetAnotherSpartacus · 12/01/2018 12:02

Would giving it to her via a nebulizer be an option

How on Earth do you nebulise a cat?

shhhfastasleep · 12/01/2018 12:12

Greenies pill pockets. Worked with my cat for ages until it didn't iyswim.

freshstart24 · 13/01/2018 07:46

You have my sympathies. It's horrible struggling with your dear cat to force meds down when they are striking with every ounce of their being to resist you. It's doubly hard when they are already ill or frail and you feel you are causing stress to an steady stressed cat.

I had a cat with kidney failure who was on his last legs for several months. He somehow found super cat strength to resist his daily tablet and it broke my heart to have to fight with him.

We tried everything, and I think if you have a cat who still has an appetite, many of the above suggestions will work. For a cat without appetite I'd suggest a cat pill popper- it's a specially designed syringe which crops the pill on one end and can be filled with water to help wash the pill down. I think sits a two person job though.

Good luck.

Bitclueless211 · 13/01/2018 13:34

YetAnotherSpartacus - he goes into a large plastic box - it looks a bit like an incubator - once a day and the we attach the nebulizer to the top of it. He sits in the box for about 5 minutes breathing his medication in. He is pretty good with it now and quite happy as long as he has some treats.
We were desperate when we got it for him as we could not get him to take his medication any other way. The kit was expensive but luckily the insurance covered it.

YetAnotherSpartacus · 13/01/2018 13:41

Oh, that's amazing! I honestly thought you were fitting a mask to a cat! Does he wash himself afterwards? I'm also surprised it does not irritate his eyes.

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