Comments on: How To Give Your Pets A Pill http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566 Essential news for cats, dogs and pet owners. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:14:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: Sky Eyes Woman http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13450 Sky Eyes Woman Thu, 03 May 2007 02:33:49 +0000 http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13450 My cat Dude loves Pill Pockets so much it's (sort of) easy to pill him. I say "sort of" because he can be a real pain when it's time for his meds, he wants those treats so badly. They have to be kept locked up so he can't chew up the whole bag all at once! He's done that twice already. A few months ago I wrote my own instructions for medicating Dude: How to give Dude a pill- 1. Open cupboard containing cat medications and grab the bottles and the bag of Pill Pocket treats in your left hand. 2. Remove Dude's claws from your pants leg and stop him from climbing up your leg with your right hand. You'll never make it to the safety of the bathroom with him riding along. 3. Push Dude away from your path toward the bathroom so you don't trip over him. Ignore his pitiful cries, he really has eaten in the past two weeks despite how he makes it sound. 4. Quickly open the bathroom door and scoot in there while keeping Dude back with one foot. Close the door and sit down. 5. Place Dude's meds into the Pill Pocket treats while inside the bathroom. Concentrate on this, and not on the loud meows, scratching on the door or the paws swiping at your feet from under the door. 6. Once both pills are inside the treats, carefully open the bathroom door. Hold the loaded treats in one hand and keep Dude out of the way with one foot so you can close the door again. 7. Hold one treat carefully with your thumb and index finger and take it out from behind your back. Be very careful here, Dude will snatch the treat from your fingers with lightning speed and you might get bitten accidentally. 8. Repeat with second treat. 9. Wipe the Dude-spit off your fingers and retreat into the bathroom to gather the meds and Pill Pockets to be placed back into the locked cupboard. Do not make any noise with the treat bag or you will have to repeat steps 1-4. My cat Dude loves Pill Pockets so much it’s (sort of) easy to pill him. I say “sort of” because he can be a real pain when it’s time for his meds, he wants those treats so badly. They have to be kept locked up so he can’t chew up the whole bag all at once! He’s done that twice already. A few months ago I wrote my own instructions for medicating Dude:

How to give Dude a pill-

1. Open cupboard containing cat medications and grab the bottles and the bag of Pill Pocket treats in your left hand.

2. Remove Dude’s claws from your pants leg and stop him from climbing up your leg with your right hand. You’ll never make it to the safety of the bathroom with him riding along.

3. Push Dude away from your path toward the bathroom so you don’t trip over him. Ignore his pitiful cries, he really has eaten in the past two weeks despite how he makes it sound.

4. Quickly open the bathroom door and scoot in there while keeping Dude back with one foot. Close the door and sit down.

5. Place Dude’s meds into the Pill Pocket treats while inside the bathroom. Concentrate on this, and not on the loud meows, scratching on the door or the paws swiping at your feet from under the door.

6. Once both pills are inside the treats, carefully open the bathroom door. Hold the loaded treats in one hand and keep Dude out of the way with one foot so you can close the door again.

7. Hold one treat carefully with your thumb and index finger and take it out from behind your back. Be very careful here, Dude will snatch the treat from your fingers with lightning speed and you might get bitten accidentally.

8. Repeat with second treat.

9. Wipe the Dude-spit off your fingers and retreat into the bathroom to gather the meds and Pill Pockets to be placed back into the locked cupboard. Do not make any noise with the treat bag or you will have to repeat steps 1-4.

]]> By: Adele http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13381 Adele Thu, 03 May 2007 01:22:35 +0000 http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13381 Our vet recommended this tip for getting cats in the carrier and it works in our house. Leave a carrier open, at all times, in ''the family'' part of the house. We have an open floor plan so we leave it under a small table that we pile magazines on. We put a flat cushion on the inside to make it comfy and a soft, also a small fleece blanket folded on top. We have 5 cats; sometimes there's 1 cat inside and 1 cat laying on top. When it's time to go to the vet, I often have to get 1 cat out of it to put the other cat into it. If 2 cats have to go to the vet, no one runs or hides when the 2nd carrier comes upstairs. I guess it's like a desensitizing or something like that. Anyway, if you have the space, I recommend it. It makes life a lot easier for us and the cats. :) Our vet recommended this tip for getting cats in the carrier and it works in our house. Leave a carrier open, at all times, in ”the family” part of the house. We have an open floor plan so we leave it under a small table that we pile magazines on. We put a flat cushion on the inside to make it comfy and a soft, also a small fleece blanket folded on top. We have 5 cats; sometimes there’s 1 cat inside and 1 cat laying on top. When it’s time to go to the vet, I often have to get 1 cat out of it to put the other cat into it. If 2 cats have to go to the vet, no one runs or hides when the 2nd carrier comes upstairs. I guess it’s like a desensitizing or something like that. Anyway, if you have the space, I recommend it. It makes life a lot easier for us and the cats. :)

]]> By: Eric http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13220 Eric Wed, 02 May 2007 17:30:36 +0000 http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13220 Molly, That's how we do it also. Works nearly everytime! Molly,
That’s how we do it also. Works nearly everytime!

]]> By: Linda P. http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13200 Linda P. Wed, 02 May 2007 16:45:36 +0000 http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13200 Thank you for the best laugh I have had in a long time! Anyone who has ever tried to "pill a cat" will appreciate the humor. I laughed 'til I cried!! Thank you for the best laugh I have had in a long time! Anyone who has ever tried to “pill a cat” will appreciate the humor. I laughed ’til I cried!!

]]> By: Donna http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13196 Donna Wed, 02 May 2007 16:39:11 +0000 http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13196 Molly, thank you for that tip. I will try to remember that. My little Angel needed to go in for surgery last month, she absolutely hates the cat carrier, gets very panicky when she sees it's been brought upstairs, I'm afraid she's gonna have a little kitty coronary one of these days. The vet recommended that I give her half a tranquilizer an hour before, he said it would make her "pliable". If I could have shoved the pill in one of her favorite treats it wouldn't have been an issue - I almost pulled back a nub last time I gave her a treat, she guzzled it down and almost took my finger with it. But her pre-op instructions called for no food or water past midnight the previous night. I tried the shove and stroke method: basically shove the pill in her mouth and stroke her throat to get her to swallow. It took a good 15 minutes but I got the job done. And since I had a good grip on her I shoved her in the cat carrier right then. When we arrived at the vet I triumphantly announced that I had gotten the tranquilizer into her...it had been a struggle but I did it. Two days later I found the half a pill under the computer desk. Cats are tricky. :) Molly, thank you for that tip. I will try to remember that.

My little Angel needed to go in for surgery last month, she absolutely hates the cat carrier, gets very panicky when she sees it’s been brought upstairs, I’m afraid she’s gonna have a little kitty coronary one of these days. The vet recommended that I give her half a tranquilizer an hour before, he said it would make her “pliable”. If I could have shoved the pill in one of her favorite treats it wouldn’t have been an issue - I almost pulled back a nub last time I gave her a treat, she guzzled it down and almost took my finger with it. But her pre-op instructions called for no food or water past midnight the previous night.

I tried the shove and stroke method: basically shove the pill in her mouth and stroke her throat to get her to swallow. It took a good 15 minutes but I got the job done. And since I had a good grip on her I shoved her in the cat carrier right then.

When we arrived at the vet I triumphantly announced that I had gotten the tranquilizer into her…it had been a struggle but I did it.

Two days later I found the half a pill under the computer desk. Cats are tricky. :)

]]> By: Elaine Vigneault http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13177 Elaine Vigneault Wed, 02 May 2007 15:42:07 +0000 http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13177 I've read this before. It's pretty funny. We have a cat with heart disease and here's how we pill her: We stick her pills inside pill pocket treats. She eats them whole and loves it. In fact, she's now "trained" to remind us when she needs her pill :) I’ve read this before. It’s pretty funny.
We have a cat with heart disease and here’s how we pill her:
We stick her pills inside pill pocket treats. She eats them whole and loves it. In fact, she’s now “trained” to remind us when she needs her pill :)

]]> By: Molly http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13145 Molly Wed, 02 May 2007 14:02:34 +0000 http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13145 If you can get the pill in the cat's mouth and get the mouth shut, provided you can get a free hand (good luck), dip your finger in water and touch it to the cat's nose. The cat can't stand having water on her nose and has to lick it off. When she licks it off she has to swallow the pill. This almost always works for me. If you can get the pill in the cat’s mouth and get the mouth shut, provided you can get a free hand (good luck), dip your finger in water and touch it to the cat’s nose. The cat can’t stand having water on her nose and has to lick it off. When she licks it off she has to swallow the pill. This almost always works for me.

]]> By: Carol http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13108 Carol Wed, 02 May 2007 11:30:33 +0000 http://www.itchmo.com/how-to-give-your-pets-a-pill-566#comment-13108 In all this madness it sure was nice for a tear-running-down-cheek laugh this morning...It's like someone has been watching us! In all this madness it sure was nice for a tear-running-down-cheek laugh this morning…It’s like someone has been watching us!

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