Help!!!! Struggling to get tablets down my cat.

[ALongHardWinter]

My cat was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection 2 days ago. I've been given a 7 day course of antibiotics for her,half a tablet,twice a day,plus pain relief medicine. The pain relief is fairly easy as it's in liquid form,by syringe. But the tablets,OMG. I spent nearly 2 hours this morning trying to administer the damn thing. Caught her 4 times,and she escaped every time,then hid from me. When I finally caught her,it took me 4 attempts to get the tablet down her,and even then,she spat a bit of back out again. I live alone,so have no one to help me. I am wrapping her firmly in a towel and holding her on my lap,but it is so difficult. Any hints or tips from other cat owners who've gone through this?!

Do you stroke her throat as you give it to her. (encourages them to swallow?
Have you tried putting it in her food?
Have you tried hiding it in a titbit like a piece of chicken?

There's some really good tutorials online.

But just to make you smile (I hope)

READ THIS

Hope you puss is better soon.

Have you tried easypill? It's like a putty stuff that you hid the tablet in. Most vets sell them. I'm not sure how well they work on fussy eating cats but my food monster takes tablets no problem with this stuff.

If you try it, the trick is to wrap the tablet in as little as possible of the putty stuff so that your cat swallows the whole bundle without chewing. If it's too big, they chew it and spit the tablet out.

I used to roll the tablet in a little piece of cheese to make a small cheese ball with the tablet inside, then popped it into the cat's mouth and hoped that she would swallow it! It worked most of the time.

Yes,have stroked her throat once the tablet is in. Haven't tried putting it in her food. The vet advised me not to,and I wouldn't have anyway,as she is very crafty,and I can guarantee that she would either avoid the bit of food with it in,or spit it out if she DID happen to get it in her mouth.

A technique that works for us is once you have put the pill in the cat's mouth, suddenly blow on the cat's nose. The cat usually swallows the pill put of surprise. (Given this tip by a vet years ago and it works well).

My vet doesn't even suggest tablets,he has always given injections.

Have you tried Lick e lix?

Thanks, iklboo,will have a look at the tutorials. She is better than she was,after just 4 doses of antibiotics she has really improved. Last week,she was in and out of her litter tray umpteen times a day,but rarely doing anything. And when she DID,it smelt vile.

The easy pill sounds like a good idea. I've got to take puss back to the vet tomorrow morning for a check up,so will ask her about it.

Is it those pink Synulox tablets? If so they can be crushed and put in food. Just a small amount of wet food is best to ensure the tablet goes.

I have used bits of webbox stick with the tablet stuck in it

Have also crushed them between 2 tea spoons and mixed with lik-e-lix which worked well

Mine would sometimes eat it if I put a few dreamies down with it, so like 4 dreamies + 1 pill shook in my hand for a moment and put on the floor in front of her. About half the time she would just eat it.

If that didn't work I would hide it in a blob of cream cheese and she licked it off my hand.
A few times I just crushed it and mixed it in some tuna.
I hope she's feeling better soon, when our cat had it, it looked so sore and exhausting

Wet cats nose as soon as you have the pill in the mouth, similar to the blowing on the nose advice. They can't help but lick their nose and they swallow it as soon as they do.

When I had to give antibiotics to my cat I crushed them and mixed with a small amount of water, then squirted it into his mouth with a syringe just like when giving liquid medication.

Hope your cat feels better soon.

Cannot recommend Webbox cat sticks enough in this situation. Or even better, the Lidl ripoff version.

They are a soft, mouldable cat treat you can put the tablet in and 9 out of 10 times the treat is gone before the cat has noticed there was a tablet in it.

Lidl ones are better as they are squishier.

Our tabby cat on long term tablets used to come and beg for her tablets, we could just chuck the treat on the floor and she would hoover it up. Occasionally a tablet escaped but then we just did it again - she loved those sticks soooo much.

I post it in the side of the mouth and hold jaw shut and stroke throat.

Although what works now, won’t next time, she will be wise to it.

Just read the 'How to give a cat a pill....and a dog too'. Very accurate description! At one point today,the pill ended up on the other side of the room. And the cat was hiding in the wardrobe.

Yes,it is the pink Synulox tablets. Think I may try crushing it and hiding it in a bit of tuna,for this evenings dose.

You can get a synulox liquid from the vet. In theory it's great, reality it doesn't taste nice so you fight to get the liquid in instead

Catch her, wrap her securely in a towel with arm down her side, wrap risk round and round and wedge in the corner of the sofa. Open her mouth with one hand, thumb and index finger in each side cheek, squeeze in tablet in open mouth, hold shut and up, stroke throat until she swallows, if tablet is stuck in cheek massage cheek until dissolved. I did this and it worked even better when tablet was soaked in wet food gravy, or gave her a gravy food chuck as a chaser afterwards. Good luck xx

That's should be her arms down her sides

Sorry about all the typos, hopefully you can work out what I meant!

Easypill here too, or one of those tablet "syringes"

In future request meds that can be given in food. My old cat was a uti veteran but I always got given crushable meds.