How do you force-feed a cat?

[Lilaena De'Ville]

If you answer "very carefully!" I'll come through the modem and throttle you!

I already wasted one worming pill by smashing it up and mixing it with a little bit of wet cat food. None of them will touch it.

Supposedly I can just shove one into their mouth and they'll eat it - but how do you get past the claws and teeth?? :uhoh

[Itala Marzullo]

Just use the Nine Lives stuff, it's junk food but few cats resist it.

[Wyl Staedtler]

It's easier if you have someone to help you.

Have someone scruff your kitty.

With one hand, reaching from behind the ears, grab the space behind the top canines and gently pry the mouth open (you may have to use your other hand to pull down on the bottom half of the jaw, easiest to do if you hook a finger onto the bottom incisors). Shove the pill quickly as far down the back of the throat as you can, then hold the mouth shut tightly; massage the throat until you see a swallow, but continue to hold the mouth shut because kitties are sneaky!

Also, you may be able to shove the pill into the mouth through the little gap between the canines, where your one hand should be holding.

If your cat is super angry and fighting you, have someone "stretch" him/her. With one hand firmly scruffing the cat and the other holding the hind legs, gently stretch the kitty on it's side until it's back is slightly arched and is completely immobile.

If you don't have help, do the above with the cat tucked in between your thighs and held firmly against your chest.

A

Good luck!

[Jaime Tomahawk]

Our vet uses a pen and the basic technique outlined above, especially on the big black bastard. He gets the jaw open, uses a pen to depress the tougue real quick and then flicks the tablet down the gob. And then steps back really, really quick from the now highly enraged feline.

[Park Kraken]

Use the force! Force feed right? 8)

smoke a little catnip, and when your kittie is in high heaven, gently slip the pill into it's mouth.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

This is how I did it:

Wrap your cat up in a towel so that you can avoid any scratches (I learned this the hard way, and now it looks like I went 'down the road' on my right wrist).

Sit over the cat with your legs crossed under you, locking your ankles together and preventing any escape. You have to make sure you're not sitting ON them, but applying enough pressure so that they're immobile.

Take your pinky and gently push it into the corner of the side of the cat's mouth so that he/she is forced to open their mouth (kinda like how you do with a horse when worming them, or sliding on the headstall so they'll take the bit).

Then you have to be quick and get the pill as far back as you can. Remove your pinky and keep their mouth shut, like Wyl said :)

That's the solo version, if you're the only one there to do it. And don't forget the towel or you'll be sorry :p

[Ilias Nytrau]

How to give a cat a pill:

1. Pick cat up 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.

2. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

3. Retrieve cat from bedroom and throw soggy pill away.

4. 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 count of ten.

5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.

6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and
rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously.

7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from the hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

8. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

9. Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink 1 beer to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.

10. Retrieve cat from neighbor'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.

11. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of scotch. Pour shot, drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus jab. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw T-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.

12. Call fire brigade to retrieve the friggin' cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid. Take last pill from foil wrap.

13. Tie the little bastard's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of fillet steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour 2 pints of water down throat to wash pill down.

14. Consume remainder of scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the ER, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnant from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.

15. Arrange for SPCA to collect mutant cat from hell and call local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.


How to give a dog a pill:

1. Wrap it in bacon and toss it to him.

[Mu Satach]

Warning! completely useless suggestion follows -

give said kitties a shot of whiskey before wrapping them in the towels.

Nothing like a high ball to help the medicine go down. ;)

[Karl Valten]

Very Carefully

[Crystal]

I pretty much do what's already been said. Sit the cat on the floor, and then kneel with my legs on either side of it and open it's mouth and stick the pill in, then clasp it's mouth shut so it can't spit the pill back out. I don't wrap my cats in a towel, but they don't really try to scratch me. Except during a bath.

Be careful though, one of my cats always tries to stick her tongue out before I can get her mouth closed and I don't want to make her bite off her own tongue. :(

Also, my other cat would actually pretend to swallow the pill and then walk off and spit it out somewhere else in the house.. so I would have to check her mouth out and follow her around for a few minutes to be sure she'd actually taken it. I now give all my cats treats right afterwards so they can't spit it out later.. if they don't eat the treat I'd know something was up! :)

[Wyl Staedtler]

So how'd it go? (and just out of curiosity was it Cestex that they gave you?)

[Itala Marzullo]

It's unbelievable how you guys make it so complicated, use canned food and mix it with the pill dust, cats never notice it, and remove all the other food from their reach, they will have no choice.

[Jaime Tomahawk]

It's unbelievable how you guys make it so complicated, use canned food and mix it with the pill dust, cats never notice it, and remove all the other food from their reach, they will have no choice.

Cats have a much more attuned sense of taste than we humans realise. They DO know. The only way to do that is to use fresh real raw meat, in which case the bloodlust cats have in them override their taste sensors. Cats also can deliberatly starve themselves, fatally so in short time - they have no ability to taste or digest sugars and thence must have extremely high protein diet and that is burnt off very fast.

The other proper way to mix medicines or pills is with non lactose milk. That masks the pill's taste very well.

I would also point out that if you had more outdoors set of cats, the whole complicated process of pill stuffing in gobs is the minimum. With at least two of mine, trying that process would elad to human injury. At least one animal worker has had an arm ripped open requiring a hospital visit from a cat of mine, a vet has worn another cat's teeth on his hand hard enough to go to bone.

No, pill popping a cat is not somethign to be done lightly.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I didn't try it yet. :(

Spunky turns into a wild bobcat if you try to restrain him and I'm a chicken. ^_^;

[Itala Marzullo]

I've had cays my whole life and this always works. Just mix the meat/canned food with the dust well, unless you have the world's most stubborn cat and I haven't come accross one yet.

[Mu Satach]

The only way to do that is to use fresh real raw meat, in which case the bloodlust cats have in them override their taste sensors.

...

The other proper way to mix medicines or pills is with non lactose milk. That masks the pill's taste very well.



I'd try both of these, I know that we had a siamese cat that was extremely picky, but we got her to take her medicine one time by using a nice chunk of fish instead of cat food.

Skip a meal, so they are hungry then add the pill powder to either raw meat, tuna or the milk. If that doesn't work, bring on the whiskey and towels. At the very least you can take the shot and work up the courage to restrain the kitties. Plus it makes a handy antiseptic for afterwards. ;)

[Tam Jeneel]

Get a new pet.

[Lady Vader]

Supposedly I can just shove one into their mouth and they'll eat it - but how do you get past the claws and teeth?? :uhoh

Easily. You just do. :)

I have yet to get bitten, scratched, snarled at, or kicked for giving cats any sort of medication. And I've pretty much done it all with all the cats I've had (including injections).

They fear me and know their place when I'm around. :cat

[Tam Jeneel]

Your cats are hambeasts and will eat anything including medication with no fuss :)

[Lady Vader]

:lol Well, when they were young and strong, watching my other family members try to give them medication was a blast. They fussed and fussed. They would usually call upon me to do it, and when I did, the cats pretty much went limp (with fear?).

In either case, they are now old and feeble and don't really fuss much. And I don't need to (thankfully) deal with their medications as they live with my parents.

I do have two young and strong kitties, but they don't really need anything right now. But when the time comes, they will learn...

In either case, giving cat's any type of medication is simple enough, so long as you don't stop to think about it. Once you stop to think about it, you're doomed.