Giving a cat a pill is often a Herculean feat … and while we don’t want to make light of the task we would always advise putting clothes on first 
Learning how to give medicine to a cat is an important skill to master. Though it may not be simple, it is absolutely possible, especially when you’re armed with the right tools and tricks.
We’d love it is you’d share your feline pill giving skills
Happy #Caturday
Perfect, thank you for this post! We also recently learned about “Pill Assist” treats, but we haven’t used them ourselves yet. Some pills (not all) can actually also be opened and given with the food.
Yes. On my last sit, I only need to open the capsule, mixed with the wet food and serve. It was also easy using a syringe for liquid meds. But pilling, I have tried on my own cats and the struggle was real. 
Been there done that. Eventually we wrapped him in a towel, one of us held him down (while whispering sweet nothings to him) the other opened his mouth and dropped it down his throat.
A crushed pill mixed into Lick-e-Lix is the future of pill giving in our house.
I found Greenies ‘Pill Assist’ the best option because it is putty-like, so it can be moulded around the pill. I bought it online but some vets sell it too. The other preferred method was to hide the pill inside a chunk of cooked prawn, my cat’s favourite treat.
My old cat didn’t like any pill pockets and refused food if the pill was crushed into the food (all food, even her favorite).
The easiest solution was to put the pill into an empty gelcap, dip in baby food, and manually put it in her mouth. Surprisingly, she didn’t fight this, probably because she couldn’t taste the pill because of the gelcap.
But aren’t pills bigger than gellcaps?
I realise now how very lucky we were with one cat we sat for who needed a daily pill. All we had to do was put the pill on the floor, say “Buffy, eat your sweetie” (candy) - and she did!
Not the pill I gave. You can get different sizes of gelaps, or cut the pill in 2 halves to fit in a small gelcap.
In the days when I had cats myself, I sometimes mixed a crushed pill into a tiny dollop of butter and smeared it on the cat’s front paws and, cats being the obsessively clean beings that they are…
I had to do this looking after a big furry ginger monster.
He had to have antibiotics for a week starting the day we got to his house due to an infection he picked up.
He hated his pills! Refused them in his food, spat them out of his nice pilchards (from waitrose!!!)
In the end 2 of us, made him into a furry burrito, and used a syringe (a plastic one for squirting water!) to open his mouth and hold it open, push the tablet down. Then we basically water boarded him until he swallowed. He then proceeded to try and cough it back up for a few minutes before eventually agreeing defeat and coming for a couch cuddle…
It worked. No cats were harmed. 2 humans we’re mentally destroyed.
Cats are definitely a challenge to pill because their too smart and know something is up. I had to give one kitty eardrops ( private client) i had to wait until he was napping and be very sneaky and quick. My own cat once tore up my arm while pilling him, it definitely requires a lot of patience. For one kitty I’d mash up the pills well, and hide them in Tuna which they happily ate.
