What is the best way to give a pill ( Tapazol ) to a cat?

Question

The cat needs Tapazol 2 X per day for the remainder of his life. What is the best way to do this? What diet helps with overactive thyroid?

Answer 1

I had a lot of trouble getting the thyroid medication down my cat being treated with tapazole. I had always been successful with the "pill popper" in the past so give that a try. My vet finally gave me some pill pockets (essentially soft treats which you wrap around the pill) and they worked beautifully for me and Kinsey.

Answer 2

wrap the cat in a towel, making sure all the feet and claws are wrapped in it. Wrap firmly but not too tight. Generally, cats are OK with that.
Overlap the towel so that it stays put when you place the cat in your lap and you have both hands free.
Take the pill in one hand.
With the other hand, grab a bit of skin and fur on the junction of the cat's head and neck and pull back. This causes the mouth to open.
Drop the pill in, close your hand around the cat's mouth and release the hold on her head/neck.
While holding the mouth closed, gently rub the cat's throat in front with your other hand until you feel it swallowing.
Pet and reassure the cat.
This will soon become a routine which is easy and gentle for you and the cat.
P.S. Adding the pill to food or disguising it with food is not reliable enough. The cat can easily eat the food and spit out the pill, plus you'll have to spend a lot of time watching the cat eat. The towel method is immediate and effective.

Answer 3

Try if she eats it when it is mixed with a piece of food, canned food or a bit of boiled chicken. Don't put it in the entire quantity of her food, so that you can check that she ate it. Give her a small piece with the pill in it before her meal, when she is a bit hungry. If she separates it and she doesn't eat it, you can open her mouth, put the pill deep in the mouth but in the centre, so that she doesn't put it aside under her tongue, and keep her mouth closed until she swallows, perhaps you can help her swallow with a little water with a syringe without a needle. If this doesn't work, there are some special things like dry food nibble with a hollow inside, where you can put the pill and it closes and the cat can't tell the pill is there. Good luck. All of the above methods have worked with me, it also depends how bad the pill tastes and how big it is.

Answer 4

Cheap canned tuna works great.(spring water not vegetable oil). Try crushing the pill into a fine powder, dissolve it in some water from the can of tuna, add some of the meat, mix it all up and the cat will be begging for it.
It's only @ $4 a month at @ 50 cents a can and @ 2 cans a week.

Answer 5

Here's a trick my cat's vet taught me.
Sit behind your cat and CONFIDENTLY tilt its head back, applying light pressure on either side of its jaws. When it opens its mouth, pop the pill in then, while holding its muzzle lightly with one hand, rub a little butter on its nose with the other. This will make your cat swallow! Neat, huh?
But if at first you don't succeed, don't give up...cats HATE taking pills, but unfortunately the only way you're going to get good at it is to practice! I used to be hopeless, and an emotional wreck to book (lol), but now I'm very matter-of-fact, which helps...your cat can read your emotions so well.
Good luck to you and your kitty!

Answer 6

do not put it in food or treats!!!! they will spit it out!!! that trick only works for dogs!!!! i agree with the pillow case/towel trick cause they can try to get away. pulling on the skin of the neck does not open the mouth, it only helps hold the head still. you have to open the jaw with your fingers and then quickly put the pill as close to the back of the throat as possible, gently hold the mouth closed and then rub the throat in a downward direction to aid in swallowing, then don't let the cat go until you know that it is swallowed.














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Answer 7

You can get something from your vet that looks like a long skinny syringe without the needle. You put the pill in the end and put it in your cat's mouth and it will pop the pill right down her throat. I have big cats and it's the only way I can get a pill down them.

Answer 8

You should wrap the pill in the cat's favourite food. Then, you open it's mouth and pop the pill in. And you massage it's throat until the pill goes down.

Answer 9

I've always put the pills as far back on their tongue as I can hold their mouth shut and blow on their nose so they swallow. You have to watch them though because they'll hold the pill in their mouth and spit it out later. If the cat likes treats offer her a treat as soon as you get the pill down.

Answer 10

crush the pill up and mix it in with the cats food or what ever liquid you give to the cat. don't wrap it in anything the best way to give a cat medicine is to crush it up!!!