my cat will not eat my de-worming pills. he just sorts them out? what should i do?

Question

i got pills from the vet, but my cat would not have them.

Answer 1

Hah, Stubborn cats! Maybe you could crush it up and put it in some milk.. or soft food. Good luck with that.

Answer 2

Okay, I know this might sound a bit cruel, but:

The only way I've found that works in giving my cat de-worming pills is to pretty much shove them down their throats. Here's a pretty simple way:

If you're afraid your cat will scratch you up, wrap you cat in a towel (make it look about like a cat mummy, with his head sticking out). Lay the cat on its back on your lap. Wrap your hand around th cats head, so that your thumb rests on one jaw, and your middle finger/forefinger are on the other side of the jaw. Slowly put pressure on either side of the mouth, using your thumb and middle finger/forefinger, until the cats mouth opens. You should already have the pill out of the container, so pick up the pill, and using one finger, quickly shove it in the cat's mouth, just a little bit past the cat's tongue. This will probably be hard the first time, but trust me, it gets much easier as time goes on.

If this doesn't work, or if you don't want to try it, you could try crushing up the pill, and mixing it with milk (NOTE: I've found that my cats will lick up the milk, and spit the crushed pills out).

If this doesn't work, then you will need to see about a liquid de-wormer.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Does your cat like peanut butter? Maybe if you coat the pill in peanut butter he will eat it. On the other hand, he might just lick the peanut butter off and still leave the pill.. It's worth a try. Before you try mashing the pill as some others have suggested, you should check with the vet to make sure that's ok. Some medications are time-release, and shouldn't be crushed or broken.

Answer 4

It may be because your putting the pill to the side of the cat's mouth. You have to open the mouth with your hand at the far corners of the cats mouth and then toss the pill down quicky into the cats mouth. It should go down. Call your vet back if you are still having a hard time with it.

Answer 5

Put butter on the pill, open the cats mouth and put the pill as far back on the tongue as you can and then close cats mouth, wait for him to swallow. If that doesn't work get a pet piller from your vet or take pills & cat to vet and have them give the cat the pill.Most vets will offer this service for free. Depending on the pill you may also be able to get it in liquid form.

Answer 6

There's a handy little gadget at pet stores called a Pill Dispenser. You place the pill at the end, put the tip near the back of the throat and you pop the pill right in. There is also a treat called Pill Pockets that you wrap the pill in and give to your pet. Crushing the pill, mixing it with water and using a syringe also works, but try to get the pill in its intact form to your pet first.

Answer 7

Have the vet show you how! There is a trick to giving pills to unwilling animals, that requires opening the jaw a certain way, too hard to try to explain in words. If he forces them back up, there is usually liquid wormer for most types, but this still requires opening the animal's mouth a certain way to get it in there. Your vet should be able to demonstrate the correct method, so you or your cat are not injured.

Answer 8

i crush the pills real fine. use a pill crusher or the back of a big spoon. mix with cottage cheese. or a little cream cheese. or ice cream. or feed with a spoon.. The vet has something called a pill popper. But i have foundthem difficult to use. my cats have short snouts. so giving them a pill can be a lot higher chance of getting bitten. they do not like having their mouth opened. so use caustion. that is why I mention ice cream. these are things cats really go for. plain. no flovors. unless you can find fish flavored ice cream. lol. hahahha

Answer 9

if the de-worming pills are not too large you should be able to give them to your cat with what I call a "pill popper" - it's a plastic device that you insert into your cats mouth, it has a rubber tip that the pill sits in and your push the plunger on the end of the device and it delivers the pill to the back of the cat's throat - works great with my cats

Answer 10

I had to do this with my dog. Put the pill in the mouth, with your index finger push the pill down the throat and then rub the under side of the neck to make sure the pill was swallowed

Answer 11

You can actually force it, gently, down your cat's throat. You will need to rub the outside of his throat to make sure he swallows it or else he will just spit it back out.

You hold the scruff of your cat's neck with one hand. With the other hand you open your cat's mouth and drop the pill in his throat. You may have to force it a bit but do so as gently as possible. You then rub his neck up and down while holding his mouth shut until you can tell he has swallowed the pill.

Good luck!