Giving a Cat a Pill
Giving a cat a pill is an art as well as a science! Though many
cats tolerate pill administration, it is not unusual for kitty to
have her own strong opinion about anything apart from supper going
down the hatch! There are a few strategies you can adopt for effective
pill administration. Your veterinary health care team can demonstrate
cat pilling for you at the clinic with a resident clinic cat or
your own cat, watch you do an administration and provide tips that
will work for YOUR cat.
Tablets can be hidden in soft food if the medication tastes okay
and if your veterinarian has confirmed that it can be administered
with food. Bitter pills cannot be given this way, no matter how
tasty the food it is hidden in! It is important to give a small
lump or bolus of soft food containing the pill in the dish ahead
of the main meal so that kitty is hungry. This also helps you determine
whether or not the pill was eaten. Sometimes the cat will lick the
food off the pill, and leave it for you! Once the pill and bolus
is ingested, dinner can be fed.
If placing the pill directly in the mouth, putting a bit of butter
on it will make it both tasty and slippery, thus harder to spit
back out. Some people also put a bit of soft cat food on the pill,
though this may cause an aversion to the food if the cat develops
a negative association with pilling and the flavour associated with
it. Peanut butter and cheese are not good choices for coating pills
since they are too sticky. Do not crush a pill into food unless
advised to do so by your veterinary health care team. Some pills
should be swallowed intact.
In a cooperative cat, gently grasping the upper jaw with one hand
and raising the head will open the mouth allowing you to place the
tablet at the back of the mouth where the tongue meets the roof.
Place the pill back as far back as possible. As you put the tablet
in place, hold the lower jaw open with a finger of the hand you
are pilling with. Watch your fingers! When the pill has been administered,
gently hold the mouth closed and stroke the throat under the chin
to encourage swallowing. Once the pill has been swallowed, feed
about a teaspoon of cold water to help rinse the tablet down into
the stomach from the esophagus. Studies have shown that it is important
to do this in cats to prevent tablets from becoming stuck partway
down, causing choke or damaging the esophagus.
If the cat is not cooperative, you may need to gently wrap kitty
in a bulky soft towel to restrain her. Make sure all the claws are
included inside the bundle!
Cats are famous for looking like they swallowed their pill, when
in reality they've stashed it in their mouth, and as soon as they
are released, they sneak under the nearest couch to spit it out,
so make sure the pill is really swallowed!
If kitty fails to take her pill, hope has not been lost. Certain
medications can be made into a suspension with a flavored liquid
and given as a liquid rather than a tablet. Your veterinarian can
advise you whether or not a medication can be safely and effectively
compounded as a liquid.
Reprinted with permission from www.animalhealthcare.ca
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