Neighbours ginger cat (the one good at fishing) looks rather thin, always chewing grass and coughing.
I suggested that cat probably has worms so he got 2 pills from the vet (£10 !!), but cat wont eat them.
Apparently one pill was buried in the daily diet, but puss ate and licked his way all around the chunk of 'meat' holding the pill, which he left.
I seem to remember as a kid the vet just grabbed the cat round the back of the neck with thumb and forefinger into each side of cats mouth to keep it open, then just lobbed the pill down the back of the thoat, wherupon the gagging reflexmakes it swallow.
Force feeding is the way to go, but best done with two people. The one on restraint detail should wear welding gauntlets, unless an arm covered in lacerations is acceptable!
That's certainly how you do it with dogs. Just make sure it is the cat's cheeks between the teeth, *not* your bare fingers. Mind you, cats have sharper claws than dogs, so probably best to wrap it in a blanket first.
Many years ago, before I met my wife, a girl friend had a dog which had been given some pills. They tried all kinds of tricks to get the dog to take them. I made up a paper tube and simply used it like a pea shooter to blow it down his throat. Worked a treat.
Get some plain pate and mould it around the pill to make a ball a little under a cm in diameter. Put it on a carpet and place cat in front. Pate and pill go quickly. Putting the pate ball on a carpet means the cat cant easily just lick the top as it rolls but has to eat it all at once. Placing it on a tile or other hard floor the pate sticks to the floor, the cat licks around the top and goes off with a smug grin leaving the pill behind.
The more traditional way is :-
Firstly, preparation is all. Lay in stocks of elastoplast, sterile dressings, disinfectant, leather arm lengths gloves, several assistants and make appointment to be seen at A&E.
Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.
Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.
Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.
Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm, holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.
Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Wash finger in cool water until bleeding mostly stops, dip in disinfectant and scream gently at pain.
Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore cats vocal comments on your behaviour. Get assistant to hold head of cat firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously.
Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered vases from fire place and set to one side for gluing later. Get another assistant.
Wrap cat in large towel and a roll of Duct tape. Get assistant to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil, and blow down drinking straw.
Check label on pills to make sure they are not harmful to humans, drink 1 beer to take taste away. Apply Elastoplast to assistants forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and carpet cleaner.
Retrieve cat from neighbour's shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard, and close door onto neck, to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.
Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of Scotch. Pour Scotch, drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Apply disinfectant to cheek while whimpering. Toss back another tumbler of Whisky. Throw T-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.
Call fire brigade to retrieve annoyed cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbour who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Agree to pay firemen for injuries they got. Take last pill from foil-wrap.
Tie the front paws to rear paws with duct tape and bind tightly to leg of dining table, find welding gauntlets in shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of steak filet. Hold head vertically and pour 2 pints of water down throat to wash pill down.
Find bin bag to place arms in to stop blood dripping over car seats. Consume remainder of Scotch. Get 3rd assistant to drive you to A&E, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and remove pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.
Arrange for RSPCA to collect cat and call local pet shop to see if they have any tortoises
(Found al over the interweb in different forms, original author long forgotten).
It depends very much on the cat and the pills. Pills sold as palatable are far less likely to be rejected. One of my cats, who needed daily pills for kidney problems, thought I was giving him treats and he loved eating them. They were marked as palatable and a friend who licked one said they tasted of vanilla.
Other cats can be dealt with as you suggest, although I prefer to use a pill giving device that also squirts a bit of water down the throat at the same time as releasing the pill, similar to this:
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For some cats, you need the full protective gear and two people, as others have described.
Well yes are you allowed to chop it up? My late mother seemed to be able to blow in our cats face to do it, but with cats being so unpredictable what works on one, might end in lacerated arms with another. Brian
Many of our dogs have been able to 'detect' a tablet hidden in some food and spit it out.
The 'difference' between cats and dogs is in general, dogs (-mouths) are bigger and so it's easier to 'lose' the same size tablet in a dogs dinner / treat than a cats.
Give our two current dogs a tablet in a bit of cheese and it wouldn't even touch the sides!
However, one of them will leave / spit out some dried foods, even if it's fully mixed with something tastier, if they aren't particularly hungry and / or don't like the food.
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