How to Give a Pill to a Cat or Kitten (5 Different Ways!)

[AlexaDonne]

For those with a more reluctant cat who outsmarts the "pill in food" method (like mine) and won't sit still for the opening the mouth methods, I found that "burrito"-ing my cat in a towel, then holding him like a baby I'm better able to then do the thing. Was an essential hack for me!

[keekthegeek]

Definitely watch them like a hawk! I had a cat who would legitimately hide a pill in his mouth for 15 minutes before sneakily spitting it out somewhere. They're very sly 😹

[ankita]

Ferguson seems so well, it's so lovely to see him so happy and thriving with his mama and siblings 💖❤

[ieva_film]

For about 2 years now I have been giving thyroid meds to my cat by crushing up the pill, adding a little water and giving it in liquid form, at first it was horrible and my cat would trash around, but once I worked up a routine she doesn't care at all, and all her bloodwork is great, good luck and patience to cat owners! :)

[heidibee]

A few years ago our cat Max (who sadly has passed away at this point), was almost impossible to pill. We tried several methods without success. Finally we got it on the back of his tongue and he started to froth at the mouth. After frothing up the carpet he spit the pill out. We finally took him back to the vet's office who managed to get him pilled. It was funny because my daughter had to take medication too. Her pills were fish flavored which made her gag, and the cat's medication was banana flavored which made him gag.

[wavescapes]

These are good methods. There's one more. If not already a powder you can crush the pill finely, mix it with a little water and put it in a syringe to squirt into their mouth. Pretty quick, and you can even use cat food broth to make it taste better. This way would ensure the medication is taken and digested with no fingers accidentally bitten.

[rockercaterrorencountered]

I agree that just giving them the pill is usually the best move. I kneel with my knees on either side of the cat (don't sit on the cat! Just hover over them), tilt the head back, pop the pill in, and rub the throat for a second to make sure it all goes down. The key is to be quick but gentle.

[InkyM]

I'll never forget discovering pill pockets for my cat Shea (a terror, whom I loved deeply.) They worked for exactly one day, and then she figured out that she could chew the treat around the pill and spit out the medication.

[RandomAssaultPodcast]

Our Mini is impossible when it comes to medication, she can taste the difference in the smallest amount in her food - the thing that finally worked was buying empty gel caps and putting the pill inside, and then putting that in wet food - the gel cap absorbs the flavor of the food and the hides the taste of the pill inside

[vincychan]

Thanks so much for the Butter Ball Hack 4:49. We were literally medicating a running chainsaw. You are our saviour 🙏

[SephtisSizent]

Just had to give my old man (16 year old black cat) Gus 2 different pills, he got diagnosed with pancreatitis so it was a steroid and nausea pill and this really helped so thank you so much

[marleenhoncoop]

In most these examples you are able to handle your cat. Mine is very afraid to be touched when he doesn’t initiate it. Also a tablet that a different consistency then his food is not eaten. My solution is to crush the tablet (with the back of a teaspoon) and then mix it through a little bit of wet food (like pate) in his food bowl. And so the pil goes in without him even noticing and no stress of being handled when he doesn’t want to.

[carrieseymour]

When Ruby needed daily pills last year, I had to rotate around all of the possible methods because whatever worked one day she would have got wise to by the next.
We did it the old fashioned way, old fashioned way plus a towel burrito, in a small amount of her wet food, crushed and mixed in same, with a creamy treat, crushed and mixed in same, squished into a prawn (US: shrimp; her favourite treat of all), crushed and mixed with minced up prawns, crushed in cat milk, and with a small blob of petroleum jelly (which I started giving her for hairball issues she was having at the time, but she turned out to adore it. And not even the flavoured version, just plain old vaseline.)
By the time I'd exhausted every possibility, I could usually get the first one to work again for a day.

[blobaloo]

My cat had heart failure (she passed away), when we first found out we were struggling so hard giving her pills. At some point she was taking 6 pills per day, all at different times. Most of them were pretty small so we just cut them up and hid them inside a few temptation treats. For the big ones the first method worked with one important difference. The pills she was taking were cut so the dry bits would stick to her tongue and she couldn't swallow them so she would start foaming. So we started coating the pill with whatever wet food she was eating that day and then put it in the back of her mouth. She looked so confused 'why are you shoving food down my throat' and then returned to eating. After seeing that look on her face I knew we finally found a method that works for her!

[Penguin-h]

What PERFECT timing! I just brought home a foster that needs a pill 4x per day! Thank you!!

[Myslexia]

The butter pill method is GENIUS! My cat Stanley needs daily Apoquel pills, which smell awful and quite large. Poor guy hates it. The butter hides the awful smell, protects his tongue and my fingers (it causes skin irritation), and allows it to slide down his throat more easily. Thank you! <3

[kgage]

This is really useful, thanks Hannah!
Also - another big thank you needed as you have inadvertently helped me get over my needle phobia. I went into therapy for it last year and I was finding it really difficult to do any exposure work until I found your videos on giving injections/IVs to cats. As a cat lover myself, I found it so much easier to accept that the needles were necessary for the cats health and survival, and that really helped me begin the process of unwinding my phobia by continued exposure therapy. A year on, I've made huge progress and no longer flinch at the sight of needles in videos nor in person and have been able to get 3 Covid vaccines with gradually less fear. I recommended your videos to my therapist so hopefully more people can get over their needle phobias with you and your foster kittens by their side!
❤️😻💃

[mikaelarogermickey]

These videos came in real handy, we have a 6 month old foster kitten that has been in and out of the vet about 9 times now. This is because he has congestion issues sinces he was a 2 week old, also he was a premiee singleton kitten. With the info in your videos we were able to nurse him back to health and now he is best friends with our Great dane/bull mastiff dog.

[Cindy-nfqv]

wow you make it look so easy. my cats always fight me, liquid injection, pills, anything. and i have had a ton of cats. well tonight, i have to give a capsule. never did this . but i thank you so much for the great video. it sure is helpful

[rubyhal]

When I helped take care of my neighbor’s elderly cat who needed pills, she took it best on the couch while being gently held to my side like a football! No idea why, but that’s the only way she would tolerate it. We always followed up with a soft-ish treat and wet food too. Once she knew the routine and she knew food was coming she was pretty chill about it