Giving Your Cat A Pill

Giving a cat a pill can be a nightmare.  No cat wants something shoved down his throat, and he will fight you tooth and nail to prevent it. Although most cats are small in size, you'd be quite amazed with how much power they actually have.  There are ways that you can get your cat to take his pills, which we will cover below.

The easiest way to give a cat pill is to crush into a powdery form by putting it between two spoons.  Once the pill is powder, mix it in with some wet cat food.  Cats that are used to eating dry cat food will see the wet food and think of it as a treat.  They will normally eat it up, unaware that they just took their medicine.

If the medicine happens to be in capsule form, all you have to do is pry the capsule apart then sprinkle the medicine on some wet food and serve it to your pet.

You can try giving your cat his pills by hand.  To do it this way, you'll need to hold your cat still, and open his mouth with your hand.  Once you have his mouth open, you should aim for the back of his throat and throw the pill in.  Once it is in his mouth, you should close his mouth with your hand and hold it shut for a few moments.  This way, your cat should swallow the pill if he hasn't already, try gently stroking your cat under his chin, as this often encourages a swallowing motion.  Be aware though, cats are clever and will often hide the pill in their mouth to spit out when you aren't looking.

If your pet refuses to eat the pill sprinkled food and will not swallow a pill, you might look into getting a pill gun, an easy way to administer pills to both cats and dogs.  The pill is put at one end of the syringe, which is filled with water.  When ejected into the animal's mouth, the water pushes the pill to the back of the animal's mouth. After the pill has been inserted, make sure you give your cat a treat. 

If you can't get any of the above techniques to work, seek advice from your vet.