Anyone have tips for giving feral cats pills?

Question

We have two cats who were feral and adopted us. Gradually they have become more and more friendly, one in particular even letting you hold him occasionally. The other has come to the point that he likes to be petted, but still doesn't like to be picked up. They both come in and out of the house now via the cat door and are quite friendly around those they know, although still occasionally skittish. The problem now is that I saw a tapeworm segment on one and so I've had to give them all pills (to keep them from passing it around). The few other domesticated cats we have were fine (as much as cats and pills can be anyway) but I can't keep the one little guy in my arms. I usually wrap them in a towel to protect me from their claws, but I couldn't keep him in it. He's strong and more so, panicked when he's picked up. Any tips?

I've never heard of pill pockets. I will google them, but a link might be helpful too.

As for the canned food, I have tried all of that with my kitties. They outsmart me at every turn. They eat around whatever food I wrap it in and if I crush it into wet food, they just won't eat it.

Thanks everyone for the help! I assure you I will be trying many of these before I find the right one. Each cat is an individual and you know something different works for each. There are a couple very good answers and I just can't pick, so I'm going to put it to a vote! Thanks again!

Answer 1

Try Pill Pockets. Put the pill in it and make sure you know when they have eaten it and which one has eaten the pill.

Answer 2

Pill Pockets suck. I very rarely can get a cat to eat one without a pill let alone with one.

I use SOFT Pounce HAIRBALL Treats they have are a little pocket with gel inside that open very easily and then split the pill in 1/2 or 1/4 and put one piece at a time inside the treats.

BUT first make sure he likes and eats the treats with out pills otherwise you will waste the pills.

Also some Feral Cat Coalition folks recommend Canned Sardines they put small pieces of the pills inside the mouth of the canned fish.... I have never used the technique so can not vouch for it working.

I also use canned Science Diet AD after it is refrigerated it becomes firm and you can make a perfect ball out of it and hide a quarter pill at a time in a SMALL ball of it.
BUT again try the food first no pill and gain his confidence I find these techniques work better if there is other cats around making him more greedy.

Answer 3

I have adopted two fereal's. They are actually great. I had the typical upper resp. infections that they both had to have medication for. The male, who is quite shy, I found the best way to give them medication is to go to the vet or the drug store and get yourself what is called a "pill gun." Once you pick the cat up by the nape of the neck, their automatic reflexes go in to gear and they will totally relax. This is an instinct that is instilled into them at birth. You may have to manipulate the kitty a little, but this is what I have found to work best. Maybe even when they are eating, letting you pet them, just go ahead and pick it up. If you take it by the nape, it will likely not scratch you either. That is the best way that I have found to "tame" the feral.

Answer 4

Why use pills? Worm med also comes in liquid form which is much easier to give. The easy way is to mix with sour cream or a combo of sour cream and the juice from wet food and see if cat will eat it Probably will if you get one of the good flavored kinds and offer a few licks of sour cream first, then the loaded one, then quickly some regular sour cream again. If that does not work use a small med syrange, restrain cat as described below, insert syrange in side of cat's mouth as far back as possible and squirt. Do not squirt directly down cat's throat because you could get it into windpipe.

Years ago our vet shared with us one of his trade secrets for handling difficult cats. Old levies. Buy old heavy weight jeans in thrift store. Cut off legs. Put one leg inside the other for extra [protectiove thickness and stitch a place for a drawstring at each end. Pull one end tight and fasten in a firm bow, Using gloves if necessary plop cat into levi leg. Pull other drawstring. Cat can breathe through the fabric,. Will fight but the dark restricted place will calm it. Then open the end nearest the part of the cat you need...in this case the head and quickly readjust drawstring so the cat doesn't get a foot out and claw you. Squirt the med. Set the "package down and pull the bow string at the other end to loosen and cat will get out at it's own pace. This really does work. Since cat is going to be unhappy with anyone who does this see if you can get someone the cat does not particularly know or trust to do the deed so that it does not lessen cat's trust in you.

A suggestion that doesn't apply to this but does apply to ferel cats in general. Try putting their food in a cat carrier so they get used to going in there to eat. That will make it mich moch easier to catch and/or transport them if you ever need to do that

Answer 5

Have you tried 9 Lives brand tuna to mix the finely crushed medication in? That brand is very, very strongly tuna-tasting. Another option would be to ask your vet for a "pill gun" , a simple plastic pilling device which can be very helpful. A second person to assist might be good. By the way, tapeworms are not passed from cat to cat. They go through an intermediate host, either fleas or rodents. So, your cats will keep getting tapeworms as long as they eat critters or have fleas. But most healthy cats are not clinically affected by them.

Answer 6

i've got continually got here upon that the least puzzling way is to %. them up and stick my finger between their genuine and backside enamel from the realm. often i'm able to get my finger each and each of how around the different set of enamel and in basic terms drop the pill in. Its like a bridle, yet their throat opens nicely and the pills go down without incident. My cats do no longer take sufficiently great bites to swallow a pill, so as that may not possibly an option.

Answer 7

Do the feral cats eat when they come to your house? If they do, try to hide a pill in a small amount of food that they will be sure to eat. Maybe a tiny amount of raw hamburger or cheese. These can be molded to fit over the pill. Just make sure the cat that is supposed to get the pills gets them. This
will usually work at least once. I hope the pills are small. Good luck.

Answer 8

Pill Pockets

Answer 9

The one thing I found that works 99% of the time is to sprinkle the contents of a capsule or a crushed up tablet on raw chicken liver.

Since you have two cats to deal with try doing this with each one separately.

It also helps to delay a meal for a little while so that when you offer them the chicken liver they are hungry and more likely to eat it.

Good luck
E.

Answer 10

The other day I noticed in Big W they were selling worming chews for cats so I bought that to try on my cats and it worked well I don't think they even really noticed and yes I bought the chews because I had the same problem with my cats with the worming tablets they just seem to know where they are and even if you crush the tablets into powder they can still smell it on the meat and won't touch it!

Answer 11

If it is an actual pill that you are giving, try crushing it and then mixing it with wet cat food for him. If you mix it well, he will most likely eat the food and not notice the medicine. I have worked with elderly residents in facilities, and often they will refuse or be unable to take their medicine; the nurses then will pulverize the pills or empty the capsules and use apple sauce as a medium to deceive them into swallowing their pills! If the method works with the elderly, it should also be feasible for your cat!