Question:
Today was drontal day. I have only been able to worm one of the 4 cats who can have drontal. It was a nightmare getting them to take the pill. My husband held the cats in place, while I tried to put the pill in (I did read up on the net about the best way to give pills..but that was no use!), but cats struggled so much that it was getting too injury-risky for me or my husband to continue.
I went out and bought a pill syringe type device from the pet shop . But again, the cats have learned and they struggle too much!
I just dont understand how the vets do it so easy.
Is there any safe, humane way of getting these cats to ingest these pills?
Ive tried crushing it and mixing it in their food (even tuna!!!!!), they wont go near it. Ive tried wrapping the tablet in pork...they wont go near it. Ive wasted so many doses of drontal..I only have enough left to actually get it right.
Any recommendations?
My husband suggested wrapping the cat in a towel so it cant move so much and trying to give the tablet then. Is that safe?
ps - After submitting this I noticed a similar thread with suggestions. Off to study that now. But just wondering if the towel method is ok?
Answer:
Towel wrapping is one of the best methods, and very safe.
Answer:
Great - thanks for that Arlyn. Will try it tomorrow morning!
Answer:
Yes, I second Arlyn's comment. The towel wrap method is safe, and can be very effective.
We found the best way to get a kitty to swallow pills is to have one person gently hold him/her by the scruff of the neck with one hand, and tilt their head gently backwards (the other hand keeps the cat's body/legs still. You still need to do this if the cat is in the towel).
Then the person administering the pill (easiest with a pill gun/shooter), gently pushes the tip of the gun into the back corner of the kitty's mouth. This seems to naturally force the cat's jaw open. When their jaw does open, shoot the pill in there. If the cats head is tilted backwards, they don't have much choice but to swallow.
Also, you might try administering the medicine on a table, or on top of a shelf. We found that if our cat was not on the floor, she was slightly less likely to struggle.
We found that we had to approach pilling our cat extremely confidently, like we'd done it all our lives (it was all acting, because we were very nervous ). If we failed to administer the pill after a couple of tries, we'd give the kitty a break for at least 10 minutes, then try again.
Good luck!
Answer:
thanks hyacinthbucket. Good point about the table - i can see how that would help.
Answer:
Besides the suggestions here and that other thread you found...I will add 2 things about Drontal specifically.
One, it tastes REALLY bad. Keep that in mind...this is likely not one that will be "hide-able" in cat food.
Pill Pockets are a great product, and I don't have a cat that won't take an occasional pill with these. You can get them at Petco, Petsmart, and other pet stores. You put the pill inside the squishy specially designed treat, seal it up in a ball...and watch with delight while kitty eats his pill.
HOWEVER, Drontal is a big pill in terms of cat size. For pill pockets, I prefer to cut Drontal into 4 pieces and hide it in 4 individual pill pockets. My 13 lb cat needed SIX of these delicious treats to get wormed, but he did it and he enjoyed it.
I hope it works that well for you. Good luck
Answer:
Oh, you have my sympathies, Drontal is a terrible pill to give. It has an awful (I think) bitterness that just doesn't go away. We did end up using the wrapping technique. It actually seems to calm Bella down. When she's in the "Bella Burrito" she doesn't flail as much (we don't wrap her that tightly) and it gives us enough time to open her mouth and insert the pill shooter.
Also, I have a shooter that lets you hold the pill on the end and put some water in the syringe part. That little bit of water makes it more likely that they'll swallow.
Even if you get the pill in, watch them closely for a few minutes after. I've had some cats that were masters at spitting out pills. I try to keep everyone confined to the kitchen until I'm sure they've swallowed. That way I don't find pills under the bed.
Answer:
After putting it off a few days, I have got round to worming the cats tonight using the towel method.
The result....the cats won't come an inch of me and my finger and leg are bleeding.
But atleast all 5 were wormed.
I'm going to the vet next time!
Answer:
Glad to hear you got them all Drontal'd. I completely understand - I do 13 at a time and it ain't easy!!
Answer:
Have you thought about zipping the cat up in a sports bag, leaving her head out? Years ago I had a cat who was a terror to tablet (even the vet couldn't do it and proclaimed her 'the second most evil cat I ever met!') and this really helped as razor sharp paws always slipped out of the towel. It also helped us judge her fake gulp as she used to spit the tablet out!
Lol, karma has now sent me a softy docile cat who purrs whilst being pilled! Even so I still worm with the drops from the vet - so easy.
Ps. she was a very confident cat. Being zipped up in bag wouldn't suit all cats!
Answer:
The last time we wormed our cats it was awful too. We tried the pill popper and the pill pockets, without any luck. We just ended up with a really angry cat that was running around the house with foam dripping from their mouth and shaking their head so it was slinging the foam everywhere. I scoured the CatSite and tried something that was suggested- cover the pill in butter before it goes in their mouth, it makes it slide down easier. So I covered my pills in butter and put them in the pill popper and they went right down. I also am a fan of the kitty burrito too.
Answer:
Our vets have it in an injection, so that the way to go for me now ! I just find pill giving a nightmare and the cats do too