Tricks Give Cat Medicine

If you’re a cat owner, you know that giving your cat oral medicines is one of the most challenging things you’ll ever have to do. You and your cat may experience severe emotional distress during the process. Cats are tough, yet even they may fall ill or catch parasites and need medication to recover. Here are five tricks that help give your cat medicine without inflicting any permanent damage to your relationship.

Top Tricks Help Give Your Cat Medicine

Cats are notoriously difficult to medicate. But unless you’ve messed up many tablets in a row without getting anywhere, you have no idea what it’s like. When they decide, they don’t want to do something, cats can be adamant about it. You can’t fool most of them. So, you must act smart. Here are a few sneaky tricks to get your cat to swallow their pills.

1. Mix it in with some kitten pate

Cat eating pate can food

Cats love kitten pate so much that they usually won’t mind the tiny amount of medicine

You probably give your cat can pate. But if you’re giving them kibble and want to be sure they get their medication, try mixing in a little amount of kitten pate (just enough to cover a few licks) with the kibble. For those of you with adult cats reading this, we at Cats at Home Pet Sitting highly recommend picking up some kitten pate and using it as a delicious snack to disguise the medicine’s flavor. My adult cats still go nuts over the kitten pate I bought when they were kittens. Getting a cat to take medicine mixed in with cat food is more challenging if the cat isn’t very fond of the cat food. But kitten pates are usually enticing, so the barrier is removed.

2. Pill pockets help cats take their meds

We are referring to those delectable kibble-like goods you can open, slip a pill inside, seal, and then deliver to your pet. If you have many pills to take and would like to have them swallowed without any additional effort on your part, a pill pocket is a way to go. There is nothing more practical than this for cats that need to take medicine daily.

3. Disguise it as wet food

To give medicine to a cat, you may disguise it as wet food. Again, only put a little bit with the medicine to ensure it is quickly swallowed. If your cat prefers wet food but refuses to eat it because of the medication, you might try switching brands or switching to a wet food with a stronger aroma and flavor, such as salmon, in the hopes that your cat would eat it. Make sure you keep your cat safe and warm while on the meds.

4. Use Gelatin capsules melt-in-your-mouth strips

Cat licking Gertain getting medicine

Gelatine capsules are one of the best tricks to help give your cat medicine.

The soft texture of gelatin capsules makes them ideal for administering medication through a cat’s cheek pouch. Melt-strips are tiny strips of omega-3 fish oil, similar to the popular breath strips of recent years. Recent studies have shown that cats and their owners like using gelatin capsules and paper strips to provide medication. The early research is promising, but additional study is needed to see whether adding a taste will increase the cats’ acceptance. Likewise, studying the actual drug in the delivery capsule or strip may have the opposite effect. Instead of forcing a tablet down your cat’s throat, you may try rolling up a little thin strip and slipping it into its cheek pouch.

Some pharmacies have developed little gel pills specifically designed to dissolve in a cat’s mouth. If you aren’t sure how to medicate your cat the best way and you can’t take care of your pet properly, don’t hesitate to ask your vet for advice.

5. Use another well-loved treat

After cat medicine licking paw

If your cat seems very upset, give them some more of their favourite tricks.

You may try giving your cat a tiny amount of the medicine combined with something you know they would eat. If it does not include dairy and you know that whatever is on the menu is acceptable for a cat to consume, such as cooked chicken. Cats may be picky eaters, so it’s best to avoid liquid treats in favor of pastes or other solid options. However, you know your cat best and can make an educated guess about what they will most like eating. Just make sure it won’t interfere with the prescription. And make sure that everything you give them can be eaten in a few licks so that you don’t have a situation of not all the medicine being taken. We recommend this trick if your cat has also experienced another traumatic event besides falling sick, like a relocation, for example. Or maybe you’ve just gotten your kitty and they need time to adapt to the new surroundings. You need to help them feel at ease. So don’t bother them too much and try a few tricks to get your kitty to eat their meds stress-free. And give them more treats than usual.

Conclusion

As you can see, it’s possible to give your cat oral medication without risk of attack safely. We hope some of these tricks that help give your cat medicine will work for you. But if your pet is in pain or fearful, you should probably have a veterinarian do it or consult them about getting an injection for your pet. We’re sure they won’t be happy about that either, but at least it lasts a second, and you won’t get scratched.

 

 

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