How to Give Your Cat a Pill

Give Your Cat a Pill Most cats love moist food so if you crush those little tablets into a fine powder and sprinkle it over their food, they should eat it right up. Hopefully, they won't even notice the bitter taste of a pill in the enormously strong smell and taste of cat food...but, there are exceptions to that rule. My cat did not go for the crushed pill method. You can try breaking a part a capsule if that's the method the vet is using for whatever particular medication but unfortunately too, those little crystallized powders can also be extremely bitter tasting and may not go over too well.

A third method might be purchasing one of those gadgets called a pet piller. Your veterinarian will probably have one to sell you for an outrageous price but if it works, I guess it would be worth it to you right? This handy device is basically a rod that will hold onto the pill with a little plunger at the end. When you push in the plunger, it shoots the pill to the back of the cat's throat causing his swallow reflex to kick in and voila, your cat has swallowed his pill. Sure, that might work for some cats but if you don't get a good grip on him, watch your hands and face for flying claws because he'll fight you on that.

Give Your Cat a Pill If the pet piller isn't an option for you, you could always try and get that pill to the back of his throat manually. How? Very carefully, that's how. Hold your cat in a towel keeping his front and back legs from getting out, hold him on his back, tilt his head back, open his mouth and drop that pill in to the very back of his throat. That swallowing reflex should take it down the rest of the way, God willing. I it was a cakewalk, people.

Give Your Cat a Pill If all else fails, you can always go to a local pharmacy and have the pharmacist make a gel out of the medication. They can sometimes flavor the gel to make it a more pleasant experience. Personally, even though this can be more money out of your pocket for a medication you've already paid through the nose with, it might be well worth it for the ease it provides you with administering the medication, especially if your cat will be on his meds for a lengthy period of time. I know, I've had to deal with that very thing and I gladly paid the extra money to ensure it was the least amount of trauma for the both of us, cat and human.