How to Give Your Cat Medicine – Tricks and Tips

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Wondering how to give your cat medicine? Well, if you have already tried to give medicine to your cat, you might be sporting a few scratches and bites. Cats (perhaps more than dogs) hate the entire idea of taking medicine, and if you try to simply force a pill down your kitty’s throat, you will most likely be rewarded with scratch marks and aggressive behavior.

So what is the best way to administer medicine to a cat? Here are some instructions on how to give your cat medicine.

If the medicine happens to be a pill, you can mix it as part of the food and fool your pet into taking it. First crush the pill to a fine powder using a spoon or pill crusher and then cleverly mix it in the food. If the medicine is in capsule form, you need to open the capsule and mix the medicine powder into the cat food.

You could also use a products such as Greenies Pill Pockets for cats, which come ready-made for folding in the medicine. It’s a no-mess, salmon- or chicken-flavored pill delivery system for your pet!

What do you do when your cat is sick and refuses to eat food? Your vet could recommend a pet piller, which is a plastic rod that holds the pill. Gently put the pet piller inside your cat’s throat; and using the plunger, administer the medicines. Be careful that you don’t plunge the piller down the throat, as you will end up hurting the cat.

Use a towel to wrap up your cat before you start giving it medicines using the pet piller. This way you can avoid injuries to yourself and your cat. If you are scared to put the pet piller down the cat’s throat for fear of hurting it, use your fingers to gently open the mouth of the cat and give medicine.

Take care not to injure your fingers while opening the mouth; the cat might bite your finger. Push the pill as far as possible inside the mouth so that the cat swallows the pill easily. You will need a bit of practice in learning exactly how to give your cat medicine.

Photo: praecepitum/Flickr

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Tags aggressive behavior pet meds pet piller