Just For Cats

Ways to Get Medication into Your Cat

It requires some creativity but most times it is possible to get medicine into your cat!

 

Capsule/Tablet

1. Open cap or crush tablet and mix contents into wet food or anything kitty likes (tuna, meat baby food, sardines, ice cream, yogurt, etc.)

 

2. Put in a pill pocket or pill masker and feed as a treat.

• Only use enough pill pocket to cover the capsule (usually 1/3-1/2 of a pill pocket). They are less likely to be able to eat around the treat and spit out the medicine.

• Roll the pill pocket in a delicious coating (Shake and bake [see below], crushed treats or kibble, freeze dried toppers)

3. Open cap and mix contents with butter, spray cheese, hairball gel or cream cheese and then wipe the mixture on your cat’s fur around the shoulder area.  They will have to lick it off to groom themselves.

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4. Use a pill popper/gun/shooter to give directly by mouth. Available at our office or online.

5. Coat the capsule in butter before pilling- helps it slide down easier and taste better

6. Open cap or crush tablet and mix contents with liquid (water, cat milk, tuna juice, cat food gravy) and then syringe it into your cat’s mouth*

Tablet

1. Place a bitter pill [or multiple pills] in an empty gelatin capsule to pill. This will prevent the cat from tasting the pill and then hyper salivating (drooling). Capsule size 3 and 4 work well for cats. They even make flavored gelatin capsules (Capsuline brand) available on Amazon.

 

2. Start feeding a squeeze up and directly place the pill into

the squeeze up sleeve and continue feeding.

The kitty should continue licking and ingest the pill.

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​3. Hide the tablet in a treat that is not traditionally made for pills but could work

- Temptations Tenderfulls

- Temptations Jumbo Stuff

- Churu bites

- Sheba meat sticks

 

 

Oral Suspension (liquid)

Always ask your vet team if the liquid can be mixed in food as some medications need to be placed directly in the mouth

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1.  Fill the syringe with the medication and then dip the tip of the syringe into a Churu or baby food first

2. Alternate syringing medication into the mouth with syringing a treat in another syringe

3. Mix with flavored liquid (cat milk, tuna juice, cat food gravy) and then syringe it into mouth*

4. Mix into wet food or anything kitty likes (tuna, meat baby food, sardines, ice cream, yogurt, etc.) and serve

5.  Place the liquid into empty gelatin capsules so they do not taste the liquid

 

Powder

1. Mix the powder with wet food or anything kitty likes (tuna, meat baby food, sardines, ice cream, yogurt, etc.) and serve

2. Sprinkle the dry food with the powder and add water to the food

3. Put the powder into empty gelatin capsules and follow instructions above for pilling

4. Mix powder with liquid (water, cat milk, tuna juice, cat food gravy) and syringe into cat*

5. Mix powder with butter, spray cheese, hairball gel or cream cheese and then wipe the mixture on your cat’s fur around the shoulder area.  They will have to lick it off to groom themselves.

 

 

If you cannot get medication in orally, let your vet know, some medications are available as an injection or transdermal ear cream.

 

*When Syringing Medications by Mouth- Make sure the cat is in an upright position. Always go gently and slowly, and never syringe OIL directly into the mouth

 

 

Shake N Bake instructions

 

Ingredients

1 packet of Purina Forti Flora                       

5-6 favorite dry treats

 

Directions

Crush 5-6 favorite dry treats into a powder then mix with 1 packet of Forti Flora

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To use with pills- Wrap pill in ½ pill pocket and then roll in the Shake N Bake mixture. Place pill pocket in dish with a few favorite treats and sprinkle a small amount of the Shake N Bake on top