I wanted to share a pill trick that I use with the cats - if they need several small pills I tuck them all into a plain gel capsule. Lubricate with a little canned food or churu and I can get them all in one go instead of multiple pillings. 1/2
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They’ll eat the capsules! Mine eats the churu so fast he just swallows it down 😂 It might take a few attempts the first few times but they get used to the lump being in there. This only works if they love churu.
I've got a cat (14 yrs) taking a supplement for achy joints (I can't afford the monthly shot - he's 17lbs); I can sprinkle it on his food, but he's getting tired of it. I was hoping I could use a tasty capsule...
Would sprinkling it into a little bit of churu work? One of my cats gets gabapentin that way and gabapentin is really bitter. She doesn’t seem to mind at all.
Obviously this will not work with every cat and every med, and you should check with your vet before trying anything new. But using gel caps has helped us with multiple pills and hiding foul tasting ones (pill pockets don’t work for our cats). 2/2
Guys, I know you can hide pils in treats/food. But it’s not always possible (for instance when a cat is nauseated or med needs to be given on an empty stomach) so this tip is for when a cat needs to be pilled.
Great idea... I have to give my Toulouse a tablet every 2nd day. I crush it and mix it in a little jelly from his food, but some days he just will not eat it..
Old cat wouldn't eat (yes, I should have seen that as a sign) so hiding the pill wouldn't have worked. Unfortunately, the congestive heart failure pill was the size of a small car so there was nothing big enough to hide it in. Even with a piller, my thumbs were cut for the 2 months she got medicine.
I've also made a slurry with the pills crushed and dosed with a syringe. My orange girl Emma is a fighter when it comes to meds. The slurry trick has worked the best so far - but next time she has a flare - I'm gonna give this a shot. =) Thanks!
Also my dog acts like her food taster is on leave and is INCREDIBLY suspicious of anything that might have a pill in it, so ... pilling may be needed for some animals, yeah.
That's a great idea. Initially I was thinking they would find it in the food and wouldn't eat it, but your clarification makes perfect sense. It might also hide the taste and smell of even one pill which would help.
Yeah, you cannot 'hide' things in my cat's food - you will find them later, moist but unswallowed, in some corner of the floor. She is good at eating around things.
Handy for cats who aren't particularly food motivated as well - mine has been known to lick crunchy treats and spit them back out, so you can imagine how well hiding medicine works
Honestly we only had one cat out of 14 that fell for meds in food after the first time it was given to them. His name was Baldrick, which tells you everything about him.
It's also great for nasty tasting pills! The kind that would be a disaster if they found them in the pill pocket. I had a cat that took Plavix which is famously gross tasting, and this worked like a charm!
Agreed! It was the only way I could get foul-tasting anti-nausea med cerenia into my kitties. My sister introduced me to this trick, and also the fact that the gel caps come in different sizes. Thanks so much for amplifying this information, @catsofyore.bsky.social !!
This is fantastic, thank you. I discovered recently that my demon cat - with whom absolutely nothing is easy - actually likes the capsules so I was able to just... give it to her. It was like an out of body experience.
Thanks for this, my cat won't take tablets, and now her worming tablet has tripled in size and they don't coat it anymore, it's got to be broken in half. Which means TWO attempts to get the tablet into her! I'm going to ask the vet if they can do this.
Hey thanks! One of our cats is extremely good at finding hidden pills and if we just shove them in his mouth he drools for 10 minutes straight... We'll definitely try these gel capsules!
Pills are actually a lot easier for me to give my cats than liquids, because they'll snorf them down in a Churu Bite. Liquids are completely impossible for one of my dudes- I have to ask for all his meds in pill form because he can't stand being held and having a syringe put in his mouth.
This is such a great tip! Would have been so helpful when I had to give my former cat benadryl that time and administered poorly and ended up with SO much pink drool all over the house
One of mine is on tylosin powder, she was supposed to get it on her food but she flat-out refused to eat. I can pill her but not syringe anything, so mixed with water was out. But we're doing gel caps--once a week I fill enough for 3x a day, and she's been so good with it!
Oh good! One issue we have is that two of the meds I need to give Fergus (they're in the picture plus a thyroid tablet) are for nausea. Most of the pill-giving advice online is food or treat-based but if your cat is nauseated that advice is useless.
My one little problem cat has extreme allergies, she's on a whole cocktail of things to keep her system settled, so all of the food-based stuff is out--they don't even make a canned food she can tolerate and zero treats. But the veg capsules are small and tasteless. It's such a good trick!
I also recommend a long pill pusher. One boy gets multiple daily meds and would spit out meds that were hidden in food/treats (pill pocket didn't work for me either), but doesn't have an issue if the meds are deposited on the back of his tongue.
We're "lucky". Our Maine Coon with the dysfunctional pancreas cannot digest food without her medicine, so she always gets a pill before meals and treats, every single time, and she's *learned* this. Now when I pick her up and give her a pill, she cooperates and *purrs*.
Ah, I don't quite go *that* far. I pick her up and hold her like a baby and ask her if she's pretty. Then after the pill I look at her and ask her if the pill went *all the way* into the kitty (until I'm sure she's swallowed).
They are good at hiding the bad taste of medication.
My cat is ‘uncooperative’. But she will generally eat tablets if I coat them in malt paste/ hairball paste, which she loves. She hasn’t yet questioned why the paste sometimes has crunchy bits.
Quite messy but worth it.
My previous cat was an EXPERT at shelling a pill embedded in a Pill Pocket. He'd extract the pill, then eat the pocket and leave the pill somewhere I'd find it!
Hello, thank you so very much. Luke needs several meds for his heart trouble that can only be slowed not stopped.
With this post you insured that he will live a little longer and do that living with way less medicine trauma. You just helped our little family immensely. Thank you.
This was another unexpected downside of being single (as well as extra tax and duvet covers). Vet gave me a pill applicator... but not even they work on 14lb of wriggly ginger if you only have one hand to hold him! Three hand minimum requirement.
I don’t know how well it works with cats, but for dogs if you show them two treats, one that has the pill in it, they will gobble the first treat down fast so they can get to the second treat.
For pets that thoroughly investigate food, before pills are ever needed, identify acceptable treats, add empty gel cap (gets them use to texture change) & use as treats so it’s nothing new when meds due.
Remember to wash your hands between touching pills & touching the treat. Their noses know all!
my vet has a saying: "If you can pill a cat, you're halfway to being a vet." while in Vet School, he had cat that required daily meds. so proud of himself for successfully pilling that cat. Then he moved and when the stereo was carried off, he found dozens of pills behind it.
I break open pills and blend them into wet foot for elder cat who gets angry when she realizes she's been drugged (vet visit). Our 18 pound big boy comes to the couch to beg for his "special cookie" every night (allergies). Cats are all so different.
Anything that works. I was lucky to mostly only have one pill for our old girl, and she liked the putty most of the time. Had to switch brands eventually and the American one, Greenies, was much-loved.
Very smart. It's tough enough to even get one pill down sometimes. I'm fortunate Snowball only needs a one-pill chemo every two weeks which I coat with Churu to help slide down like you do then give him the rest to cleanse his palate.
They can sometimes still taste medicines compounded into flavored liquids which was the case for my cat with Prilosec. I found a tiny scoop that fits 5mg of the coated micro-pills (poured out of 20mg capsules) and since cats don't really care much about texture he licks them up with a Churu treat.
We had a cat that would just take the pill right out of your hand.... It was like Christmas. Not so much for the rest of our cats. Some were easier than others, but none like Simba.
I've had good luck with lickable treats, plus a mortar and pestle: grind the pills up, then put a layer of lickable treat on a plate, followed by the pill dust, and then another layer of lickable treat. Depending on how bitter the medicine is, it may require a LOT of lickable treat.
I do this for myself! I got the idea from my flatmate pulling her cat, actually. There's a lot of uncoated pills I hate taking bc they stick in my mouth, and often I can fit multiples in one capsule!
I did this when my old lady had to take pills that tasted so bad she’d drool all over herself if they touched her tongue. I also used one of those pill shooters with a little bit of water to make swallowing even easier. It made med time a breeze. ❤️
I do the same thing for my girls, I just coat the gel cap in a little butter instead since it doesn't melt the gel cap and my cats are a little dairy obsessed. I can't use the pill pocket treats since they all use wheat products and I have a cat that's allergic to wheat.
However, some pills are meant to be dissolved in the stomach, whereas capsules like that will usually make it to the intestines before dissolving; you should ask your vet about the specific meds.
The caveman method of forcing their mouth open and tossing the pill down their throat works best for me. Although my cat only takes one pill and I can't imagine he would allow me to do this multiple times in a row.
Yup. It also helps with if your cat accidentally bites into the pill when hidden in a treat. They don’t immediately taste the yucky pill and avoid it in the future since it’s covered in the gel capsule.
Our tuxie boy is on four meds for heart failure and we came to this conclusion as well! We still need to use a pill shooter, but it's waaay easier to be a druggist and combine everything in one cap.
I have found I can hide almost any medicine in a churu and my elderly cat will inhale it. And he'll come running to take his pills as soon as he sees them
For pills that I can't get the boys to snarf in a snack I just grab their scruff, drop it into their mouths and rub their throats. Repeat until fully pilled up.
Re-establish diplomatic relations again afterwards with copious applications of snacks and pets.
Of course, if you haven't been able to condition your cats because they weren't deathly ill the first month you had them, this is definitely a good option!
That makes total sense. Didn't know that it was a service dog. Mine is a sixteen year old garbage disposal.
Loves the taste of my airpods. FYI they are not resistant to traveling though a dog.
they are great, even make chicken flavored ones and different sizes! Amz (blah) carries them. Also you can get human versions too for people that would rather swallow one pill than mult!
I have a cat I have to do this with as his pills are bitter and he doesn’t get excited about pill pockets. I put the gel caps directly in the churu tube and squeeze it out like it’s just part of the treat. Took a few attempts the first couple of times but now, it’s no problem!
love this idea. my girl takes 2 in the morning and 1 at night. sometimes 3 in the morning. luckily, they all fit in the silicone cap of the pill shooter and she understands the ordeal. never met a cat that liked a pill pocket. lubricating with churro / wet food will be a takeaway for future if need
I find just dunking the capsule in water does the trick to help it slide right down. Our house has multiple meds thru the day and wet capsules are our go to😃
My cat won't swallow pills or gel caps. I have to crush or empty them out into some pro plan hydracare and feed it to him by spoon. PS he loves hydracare and he definitely loves being spoon-fed 😂
Wish this worked for me and I bet a lot of others when I exasperat a little having a cat who licks wet food items to death, and they only eat baby pea sized kibble.
You're a much better pet guy than we we're. I remember having to hold down Koshka so she could take her medicine, and it was such a pain, but I miss her so 🥹
What a great idea! Also notable: you can now get many cat meds in transdermal form from a compounding pharmacy. Some cats hate pills but don't mind having a little goo rubbed on their ear each day.
I did this for my yorkie mix with his seizure meds - 3/4 of one pill, 1/2 of another, 1/4 of a third one. Push them all into a gel capsule, coat with cream cheese and I knew he got all the bits and pieces.
This is how we kept our old man alive to the ripe age of 18. He didn't go for wet foods, but we'd get his saliva up with a pile of freeze dried chicken flakes, then sneak the pill in, he didn't even notice.
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Though maybe don't get the chicken flavoured capsules someone linked :P
Thank you
My cat is ‘uncooperative’. But she will generally eat tablets if I coat them in malt paste/ hairball paste, which she loves. She hasn’t yet questioned why the paste sometimes has crunchy bits.
Quite messy but worth it.
With this post you insured that he will live a little longer and do that living with way less medicine trauma. You just helped our little family immensely. Thank you.
See also: 12 eye drops a day!!!
Remember to wash your hands between touching pills & touching the treat. Their noses know all!
Some meds are so awful, making kitty slobber and foam at the mouth.
Poor baby.
Thanks for the tip.
Re-establish diplomatic relations again afterwards with copious applications of snacks and pets.
Jaw open, pills down - with an apology to kitty 🐱
Them on their back in the crease on my lap, and they were just like, “kk, what's happening is gonna happen.”
I have a bunch of tiny dry pills so putting them in the capsule helps get it all down in one go! I also stuff it with powder CBG for an extra help.
anyway, he LOVES Riley’s pill wrap
and it turns out you can DIY it with PB and flour
Loves the taste of my airpods. FYI they are not resistant to traveling though a dog.
airpods :( :( :(
CAPSULE: Nanny Nanny phew phew you can't eat me!
CAT: That's right bitch I like things petite.
The emoji itself works to bookmark things for you
And you can add that pin to your feeds so it stays..
Has to be at least a size 4 capsule or it’s too big for her to swallow, though.