Don’t let the sweet face and the sweet nature fool you. Gracie is the smartest damned cat in the world.
This morning, we tapered down to half a Prednisone per day. I gave her the pill, which of course, she did not want. I thought she swallowed it and turned to leave, walked out of the bedroom, then, because I mistrust Miss Gracie, looked back. She was spitting out the pill. She’s really good at pretending to swallow it. So, I grabbed her, gave it to her again, and left. Went downstairs to get her some wet food, because she seems a bit unwell this morning (and was the same last night) and was staying huddled in my bed. A minute later, I heard Gracie throwing up. She threw up the pill. And the thing is, it seemed totally deliberate. I wasn’t sure, but I’m telling you, smartest cat in the world.
So now I go downstairs to get another pill AND the food, and I decide to try to put the pill in the food and see if that works. Nope. Of course, Miss Gracie decides to eat around the pill, and then when she gets too close to it, stops eating. Now, thoroughly annoyed, I take the pill and shove it down her throat and this time, make sure the swallow reflex kicks in automatically. Gracie sulks to the window and pretends she’s done with me. But she doesn’t throw up. So I offer her the can of food, and she eats a fair amount before she stops.
And I’m now utterly certain she did it deliberately, because it’s been about five minutes since I fed her the wet stuff, and she didn’t throw it up. She’s sitting on the chair next to me, which is one of her favorite places, and seems perfectly fine, and not about to throw anything up.
I am still in utter disbelief. She threw up the pill. Deliberately.
Smartest damned cat in the world. But today, I’m getting a piller. Maybe that will be easier on her.
I cannot believe she threw up the pill.
One of our cats used to go and spit the pill out behind the sofa…
Try this, it worked for my katz Chico.
Smash the pill inside a baggie until its a powder consistency and then mix it with the Fancy Feast. That was the only way I could get him to take his medication, and keep it down.
Good luck!
I think that Herschel has a good suggestion. BTW, how did the birthday blast go?
chsw
My vet says that prednisone can be compounded as a salmon-flavored chew treat for cats. There are also pharmacies that will compound it as a liquid, too, which is easier to give some cats. What worked for me with one of my kitties was a version of Herschel’s tactic– I crushed the tablet between two spoons and mixed it with tuna fish. When Princess got hungry enough, she ate the tuna with no complaints.
When my cat Sulla was in his final days, his kidneys were giving out but the rest of him was still going strong, and getting pills into him was a fight.
I used to use what I, being something of a odd historical buff, called the “Marquise de Brinvilliers method”. This involved grinding up the pills, mixing them with water, putting a funnel into the cat’s mouth, and pouring the water down it.
Afterwards, he would sulk and crawl away.
Cath: Wow. Your cat is even smarter than Gracie.
CY: Gracie won’t eat the pill mixed with anything. She’s an extremely finicky eater.
I’m buying a piller tomorrow. Should make the job a bit easier.
With my guys, I’ve always found the only way is to stick it so far down their throats they have no option but to swallow. It sounds mean, but it works. Even pulverizing it and mixing it in their favourite food won’t work with my cats — and it sounds like Gracie would figure that one out, too! Little bums!
I’m with Yankee on that liquid concept. Had to do that for one cat as she was irascible on the pill problem… finally wrapping her in a towel and using a tiny syringe did the job. Which she hated and tried to drool it out, but she did swallow the stuff so that is what counts.
Will look up the compounding into treats!
Luckily one of our cats *loves* the bubblegum flavor of one medicine he had as a kitten and begs for *anything* that smells like it or even close to it that comes from a bottle. He also liked the banana flavored med he got as a kitten. It is hard to explain to him that not *everything* that comes as a liquid medicine is for HIM. He refuses to believe it… *sigh* cats!