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

[Incrediblehulky]

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 😢

Hold her with her back against your chest. Open her mouth drop the tablet in close mouth, gently rub her throat to encourage swallowing. Then drop her to her feet from chest height. Apparently the slight drop and land makes them swallow.

YetAnotherSpartacus - no it doesn't seem to bother him or irritate his eyes etc. He will sit on there quite happily with some treats while the box mists up and he breathes the medication in. Sometimes he will have a wash while he is in there. He will often sit right underneath the nebulizer. When he does that he will get a slight mist on the top of his head when he gets out but it doesn't bother him and soon disappears.
He is asthmatic. Some people manage to treat their asthmatic cats with an inhaler and a baby mask but there was no way that was ever going to happen with him. We were desperate to find a treatment that worked for him and that he'd tolerate. We had months of him rejecting the inhaler and refusing to take tablets. It was heart breaking because I could see his condition getting worse but we couldn't get it under control. This is the only thing that works for us. If we hadn't come across it a couple of years ago I really don't think he'd still be with us. If anyone is really struggling to medicate their cat I'd definitely recommend looking into this.

I used to wrap ours in a towel and if on my own I used to somehow squidge them between me and the side of the sofa. It was a bit of a technique getting them in the towel and held securely but it did work. Trying to get the medicine in and swallowed again was a nightmare but speed, medicine right to the back and stroking the throat seemed to help, although one was an expert it storing then spitting!

Our cat needed to take several pills a day and she wasn’t hugely enamoured with the cat burrito method or a pill popper device. We eventually found something aimed at dogs called vivi treats. It’s a strong smelling paste that you can break up and mould around pills. The trick we were told is to give it to them as a treat “empty” - we’d line up all our animals and do a treat circus at set times (I.e. when we would medicate her) and after a few days we started popping her pills into them and she gobbled them down. We just had to be watchful that the greedy cat and dog didn’t get her doctored one. By the end, she was reminding me she hasn’t had her “treat”. We still give it occasionally undoctored to the other ones so they think it’s a real treat. (So when we need to slip them pills they already are familiar with it). Only one of our 5 cats turned their nose up at it. Dogs also love it!

Sorry, should also say that the vivitreats are huge (designed for dog-sized meds) so one treat lasted us 4 or 5 doses for Samcat.

Our cat could spot pills in anything and spit them out - even her favourite, a piece of cheese. But we've been successful with Webbox which is a softish meat stick. You can break off a tiny piece and reform it around the pill. Because it's meat, she bolts it, without really chewing, and doesn't seem to notice the pill. It is high calorie though, something to watch if your cat has to take a lot of different pills every day.

Ive tried different methods over time but this is the best that works for me over the past few years and with this cat i have.

If its worming powder, i mix it with a little water in a syringe and have it ready out of sight, giving it a good shake to mix it, if she sees it the game is up for that day, i need not go any further as she knows my plan

Flea tablet - salted butter - a tablespoon on side of a saucer for me to work from

Syringes - just water x 3 to help wash down the nasty tastes

Treats - on the saucer to help make things better

a towel if needed just in case (to burrorito),

I lie down flat on the bed and get cat up for some treats (meaty stick), the towel is lying loose acroos my chest so it is a layer but enough that i could wray it up if needed at any second, i cuddle her into my armpit firmly (usually my left) so i have a good grip,

I gently open her jaw with a finger from my right hand and squirt towards back of mouth, i am using my left hand to keep her in place and leaning forward on her belly for her medication,

Wormer tastes nasty, she gets a treat and i wipe her with a tissue any that has gone around her mouth while im talking all the time how good she is and how proud i am of her,

Then comes the blob of butter, it goes in between teeth at the side followed by tablet which she immediately tries to spit, i cover her eyes with my left hand and hold her mouth shut with my thumb and first finger, i stroke her throat with right hand, i blow on her nose several times as well and i repeat these 2 actions until i know she has swallowed and isnt going to spit out,

Then staight in other side of mouth between teeth when she is lying on her belly again but secured by my right hand this time is a 5ml syringe to flush and make sure the tablet hasnt got stuck in her throat and isnt burning her,

After all this violation, treats are produced and she is usually put outside on those days due to the fleas if they are any jumping off and effects of the wormer and then taken back in, later in the day for a hot bath, good teeth brush and a manicure oh and treats...... lots of treats.

Before someone points out cats clean themselves, the bath helps after she has been scratching all day, gets extra food that night as usually starving as prob having squits too and after her bath, i put her into her crate for about 1-2 hours to relax and wind down and place the crate beside the radiator with heating on full blast so she gets the full benefit

What works with our DCat is to find a really large chnk of meat from his sachet, pierce a hole in it with a fork, push the pill inside then close the lump and put a bit of the jelly or gravy on top s there's no sign of the medicine. That usually works unless the chunk of meat falls apart, in which case he manages to push the pill to one side.

Thank you everyone for all of your suggestions, much appreciated 😊 I have found a solution hooray!
Any variations of putting the tablets straight into her mouth would not have worked at all, she's not a lap cat and really hates being picked up so trying to get any tablet into her mouth is really not an option and would completely traumatise her 😔. She's an incredibly sensitive old girl, even a trip to the vets can cause her to have days of diarrhea (ignore the spelling 😲!) and/ or cystitis because of the stress. She doesn't like any treats either apart from Dreamies, and I tried putting the tablet inside these (which is impossible really!) but she knew and wouldn't touch them! I tried sardines, marmite, bovril, squeeze cheese, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, cream, liver, chicken, white fish, pilchards, weebox sticks, lick e-lix, Deli Dreamies.. ...all rejected!!
Finally the packet of Greenies Pill Pockets I had ordered arrived from the US...I thought there is no way she'll eat these but success! Its a miracle! She refuses them as a treat but when one is mixed in with her normal food she eats it no problem! I'm so so relieved! Just hoping now this works to bring her blood pressure down. I would definitely recommend these to anyone else who might be struggling to medicate their girl or boy! Best wishes everyone 😁

Good luck, great to hear.
Don't be discouraged if sometimes it doesn't work. Your cat is showing it still has the power to mess with you!
Best wishes.

Smurfy that is quite an extensive routine! V impressive. Have you considered using a spot on flea and worm treatment? No pill or powders to eat, no need to shut cat outside or bath her. Just a small spot on the scruff of the neck-voila....

Thanks whooptifeckindo, she's been taking them this way for over a week now so I'm hopeful but as you say, this could change! freshstart24 - thank you but the problem I was having was trying to get her to take an essential daily tablet to lower her blood pressure - but thank you, yes the spot on flea/ worm treatments are great and what I use, I just about manage to get the liquid onto the back of her neck before she legs it!

freshstart24 - apologies! I just realised your post wasn't even intended for me, I'll shut up now, whoops!

I have to pill my old lady and never thought I'd master it (she's nervous), but I just about have. She hates it, but if I want to keep her alive I have to try. I've found putting my knees either side of her so I'm facing her head and literally forcing my fingers in her mouth and placing the pill right at the back of her throat helps. Then gently holding her mouth closed in the hope she's swallowing it.

If none of the options suggested work, do speak to your vet as there may be other options available.