Cats poorly and I can’t get pills into him

[Lovemusic82]

My poor ginger boy has been poorly for a while, he’s 14, went off his food 2 weeks ago, started losing weight then one morning I noticed a lump on his face (abscess), vet conformed it’s an abscess probably from fighting/hunting, they gave him a antibiotic injection and a pain killer and I started giving him anti biopics the next day. Getting them into him has been a nightmare, occasionally I have managed to get him to take it in food and when I can get a extra pair of hands (I live on my own) we have forced them down him. He’s been taking them for 5 days now and the lump has not gone down, this morning he projectile vomited his food and tablet out so he hasn’t had his morning dose, the evening dose is the hardest as he’s just not eating much.

He seemed to be picking up the last few days and eating a little more but now today he’s being sick. We are back at the vets Monday and I’m worried they will want to drain the abscess or/and run more tests to see if anything else is going on. He’s a old boy so I know his time is probably limited.

Any tips on getting tablets into him? Or do I except that the antibiotic probably aren’t working as the abscess has not gone?

Can you crush them into his favourite treat?

Is your vet open today , if so get him back today and see if they can give him an antibiotic injection that lasts a few days

I'd go back to the vet.

My only two suggestions (after the vet) is to try:

• containing the cat to give meds. Either in the cat basket and you access thru the top opening, or wrap him in a towel/duvet with just his head poking out
• crush pills to powder and mix with lick-e-lix.

I can’t get him seen until Monday. He seems well in himself other than the vom this morning but that could be due to trying different food (he is sensitive to some foods but I was just trying to get the pills into him). The vet said antibiotic injections don’t work as well as the pills.
I have tried getting them into him by myself by trapping him and wrapping in a towel but I just can’t do it. I got last nights into him as I had a friend over but it still took ages and he spat it out several times despite me putting it right at the back of his throat and rubbing under his chin for ages.

This morning I crushed them into some felix in gravy but sometimes gravy seems to make him sick. He’s not eating his normal Sheba food, I have tried sardines, tuna and several different cat foods.

Can you try mackerel or sardines in tomato sauce.

I found crush tablets into a bit of that worked well. Even if they just lick the sauce off that has the crushed tablets in it.

Definitely get Lick E Lix or similar and crush tablets into it, I use two teaspoons to squash the tablet and then mix with the treat. I just put the spoon down in front of the cat and they normally eat it.

I have tried sardines, he ate them the first time then refused after.

He’s now gone out and hasn’t come back (unlike him).

Greenies feline pill pockets from amazon (they make dog ones too so check right sort) were game changers for getting my girl to accept tablets. Unlike crushing and putting in food etc these completely hide the pill. My girl now just eats the pill in the pill pocket and looks forward to it first thing every morning.

Try crushing the tablets into marmite or into crushed dreamies.
Marmite works well for us because it's got such a strong taste.

Thank you, hadn’t thought of marmite. I will give it a try when he returns.

Just sardines or sardines into tomato.

I wouldn't let him out when he is clearly so unwell tbh

Chicken livers poached, my cat goes nuts for them. You can mash them with the cooking liquid.

It’s too late, he has gone out 😭. It’s hard to keep him in. He usually only goes out for an hour and doesn’t go far but I can’t find him. I’m not very worried. He seemed fine before he at breakfast, was in bed with me and having lots of cuddles, ate his breakfast fine and seemed much better in himself until he was sick.

Are you confident in handling him? I find the putting it in his mouth the easiest option. My cat turns his nose up to anything I try to add to his food. Sometimes I find it easier to sit down on my legs and hold the cat inbetween so he can't back out and is pretty much stuck. Him wiggling a bit doesn't bother me where as the first sign of movement my partner let's go. My cat is very good though and pretty much puts up with what ever I have to do

I’ve got some syringe things that shoot the pill to the back of the throat and reflex is to swallow. Just from Amazon but think I’ve had one previously from the vet. Or pets at home maybe? Think they’re called a pill plunger.

Crush and mix with Lick E Lix or pop in a pill pocket.

Definitely lickelix, they have lots of different flavours,
Crush up the pill, I used the bottom of a big spoon.

I have ordered some lick e lix.
He has just returned home and doesn’t look well 😞. I’m going to try and get pain killers into him before I even attempt the anti biotic. He seems as poorly as he was when I took him to the vets last week so the antibiotic are obviously not working or he just isn’t taking enough of them. If he was sick a hour after taking this morning dose he wouldn’t have got the benefit from them? I don’t know if I should be trying to get another dose onto him?

Yes if I was you I'd give him another dose of the antibiotic as well as the painkillers, if you can. Try tempting him with some food in a small amount, if he eats it then add the crushed pills in and give him more. Crush up pills as fine as possible to a powder - if you have a mortar & pestle use that.

I hope your boy gets better soon. Can we have a photo for cat tax?

My cat needing pills is my worst nightmare as fusspot doesn't like a lot of cat foods, is uninterested in human food even cheese and doesn't like Lik e Lik or other treats, only Dreamies. And he's a big strong cat, fairly sure forcing pills in would leave me shredded & bleeding and the pill still outside the cat!.

I've never come across a cat who won't take pills if they're wrapped in a bit of easypill. My current cat was on antibiotics very recently after being bitten by a fox and he was standing on his back legs with his front paws on the worktop trying to get to his pills each time I got them out because he was so excited by the easypill. Sorry your puss is so poorly and I hope he picks up quickly.

Here’s a photo of my boy taken last week, he’s lost a bit of weight since, lucky he was a big boy to start with.

Hi , I work with cats . As a previous poster suggested, we use the pill poppers . Put the pill in at the top , open the cats mouth and it fires to the back of the throat and 9/10 they swallow it . If it's a spicy cat we'll do a cat burrito to avoid being scratched . Our first port of call is always mashed in food or a treat yogurt . Cats are stubborn

He just let me syringe metacam into his mouth (a little bit of a struggle), hopefully he will perk up a little and start eating again. At the moment he’s turning his nose up at all food other than the occasional dreamie.

I’ve had some luck with crushing a tablet in a small amount of cream or butter and smearing it on a paw. Said cat did lick it off.