4 Easy Ways to Give Your Cat Medicine Without the Struggle

Got a finicky feline who refuses their meds? Veterinarian Dr. Yvette Huizar shares vet-approved strategies to help you give your cat medication without the stress. From pill pockets to flavor tricks, here’s how to make medicine time feel like no big deal. Disclaimer alert: This information is just for educational purposes! Every pet is different, so always talk with your vet or trainer for specific advice on your pet's situation. We don’t accept any liability for any loss or injury that occurs as a result of watching videos on Kinship's channel. (Fyi: We also don’t accept any liability for extra training treats given…but we doubt your pet will mind.) (C) Kinship Partners, Inc. All rights reserved.

TRANSCRIPT

need some help convincing your cat to actually swallow their medication? it's no easy feat but we can help with that i'm Dr. Yvette Huizar and this is River who's going to be helping me let's get right into it if you don't need to give your cat a pill immediately the best way to get them to take medication is to slowly train them to do it over time start by giving them what you'll be giving their medication with this can be a pill pocket gel capsule tasty puree or liquid in a syringe you can do this a few times a week so it seems like a normal pleasant part of their routine then when they need to take the pill add the pill and they'll already be used to the motions if they have a pill you need to administer right now let's talk about a few things you can try the first tactic is to try mixing the pill into their wet food the better the food the more likely the cat will be to scarf the pill down with it pill pockets are another option these are tasty treats with a hollow area that can hold a pill they are similar inconsistency to Play-Doh so you can put a pill in and shape the treat around it and cover the pill completely some cats will happily take these make sure to first give the treat without medication to see if your cat likes it by itself you can also give the pill pockets from time to time so they don't associate them with medicine if your cat is a little too smart for pill pockets you can try the three treat method get three identical treats and stuff the medicine into one of them give your cat the first treat so they know what it tastes like then give them the second treat with the pill in it followed by quickly giving a third treat they'll be so excited to eat all the treats that they'll hopefully quickly swallow the one with the pill you can also try putting medication into gel capsules which are gelatin capsules for cats and dogs some are already flavored or you can flavor them yourself find the smallest capsule that fits your cat's medicine and put it into the gel capsule then feed this to your cat if it is not already flavored you can coat it in liquid such as tuna liquid chicken broth or baby chicken food you'll be more successful if you first teach your cat to eat empty gel capsules and offer them without medication from time to time if none of these methods work for your cat you can try asking your vetinarian if the medicine comes in a palatable form some medicines can be compounded into a yummy liquid often with fish flavor many cats will happily take medicine in the form of a syringe giving oral medication to cats can be challenging however when dealing with serious diseases getting their medication is a top priority good luck and thanks for watching see you next time