The new defintion of difficult is...

[Project-D]

...Getting a pill into a cat who does not want said pill in him.

At least he doesn't flail around, but he does this tongue flicking thing that causes the pill to immediately pop out. To combat this you have to stick the pill waaaay back in his throat which necessitates putting your finger in there, which I don't want to do for obvious reasons. One morning he succeeded in biting through the pill which caused him to drool like an idiot. I'll be glad when my wife gets back out of town, so she can pill her own damn cat. I never signed up for this. The ironic thing is, the pills are depressants, they're supposed to mellow him out so he doesn't piss all over. The medicine used to be liquid, we had to squirt it in his mouth. That was a two person operation for sure.

Feel free to define difficult, cat related or otherwise.

[roymond]

I'll leave your medicating to you but we used to grind pills into their favorite food that you know they'll eat entirely.

[Bjam]

Ask your vet for a pill popper. It's like a syringe type thing, but with a rubber thing on the end to put the pill on. You put the cat in your lap, open their mouth with one hand, put the pill popper way in the back of their throat, press the little button to pop the pill out, close their mouth, wait. This is what we did with my cat. Also, wrapping the cat in a blanket(as you would a baby) is good for holding down crazy limbs. Cats are awful for giving medicine.

[anti-m]

...Getting a pill into a cat who does not want said pill in him.

My kitty Fedora needs to be pilled every other day for her asthma. (Asthmatic kitty! Will wonders never cease??) She was TERRIBLE at taking her medicine, but I discovered this little wonder:

Pill Pockets!

A caveat-- my cat HAS been known to eat the pocket around the pill... but generally she'll just scarf down the whole thing. It is soooooooo much easier than anything else I've tried!

[HeuristicsInc]

I hold the cat, uh, between my legs such that she's facing the same way I am so her back is against my crotch (this is totally not as dirty as it sounds - it's just a good way to keep her from backing away, which they will do instinctively). Then with one hand you can open the cat's mouth and pop the pill in. Then - the important part - hold her mouth closed and stroke her throat downwards and she'll usually swallow it reflexively. This generally works for me. This pill-pocket is an interesting idea. I have also tried the syringe thing but it wasn't terribly successful for me.
-bill

[Project-D]

Heuristics, that's basically what I do, the cat doesn't really mind so much when my wife does it, she can just stick it righ in. but he has nothing to do with me unless he's hungry.

B-Jam, My grandfather used to have a farm and they medicated cows with a pill popper, actually just a long tube, rounded over on one end, they would shove it down a couple of feet (really!) and drop the pill down.

I would suspect the pill has a horrible taste from the way he was drooling when one broke, and he only eats dry food (you know cats...), so I doubt I could mix it in moist food with any success. Anyway my wife is back tonight so it'll be her job again. To add to the general pain-in-the-assedness, we can't buy the pills from the vet, they have to be compounded at a pharmacy, and there aren't too many compounding pharmicies left in this world.

The dog takes hers so much better. Anyway, here's a picture of the little bastard if you care to look. http://tinyurl.com/23nr6d

[fodroy]

You can give anything to a dog. You could cover a shoe-sized pill in HCl and a dog would swallow it. This is why cats are not ideal pets.

[drë]

This is why cats are not ideal pets.

But yet your avatar is a cat?

Psychological question: were you molested by a cat as a child?

[fodroy]

A puma is a different sort of cat. It is a cat that humans know not to fuck with. Because of this, the puma is allowed to act like the natural badass that it is.

And yes. A cat scratched me here (points to crotch) and here (points to mouth).

[Billy's Little Trip]

Ask your vet for a pill popper. It's like a syringe type thing, but with a rubber thing on the end to put the pill on. You put the cat in your lap, open their mouth with one hand, put the pill popper way in the back of their throat, press the little button to pop the pill out, close their mouth, wait. This is what we did with my cat. Also, wrapping the cat in a blanket(as you would a baby) is good for holding down crazy limbs. Cats are awful for giving medicine.

I'd gag just watching that, let alone doing it.

Seems like grinding it up in food is the most humane.............for me, lol.

[Caravan Ray]

I hold the cat between my legs such that she's facing the same way I am so her back is against my crotch... Then with one hand you can open the cat's mouth ... and stroke her throat downwards and she'll usually swallow it reflexively. This generally works for me. -bill

I'm calling the police.

[Caravan Ray]

This is why cats are not ideal pets.

Psychological question: were you molested by a cat as a child?

Were you molested by a cat that had been molested by Heuristics Inc?

[Billy's Little Trip]

This is why cats are not ideal pets.

Psychological question: were you molested by a cat as a child?

Were you molested by a cat that had been molested by Heuristics Inc?

LMAO!!
fodroy>> << Heuristics' cat just before it molests him.

[fodroy]

I don't smile when a cat licks my face. I sneeze.

[HeuristicsInc]

yeah, one of my cats is very licky. she likes to lick feet. my wife is not into cats licking feet.
-bill

[Billy's Little Trip]

I don't smile when a cat licks my face. I sneeze.

no wonder they molest you.

[signboy]

Seems like grinding it up in food is the most humane.............for me, lol.

Naw, the best way is to claim the pills are suppository, and get em in quick when the little bugger isn't looking.