Easy techniques for medicating your cat

Unless you have a very placid (calm and peaceful) or co-operative cat, you will know just how difficult it is to give it tablets. Opening the mouth with one hand and putting the tablet down with the other sounds simple in theory and looks simple in photos and diagrams, but the average cat is not going to take medication without a struggle.

Administering pills to a cat is often a two-person job (which is a problem if you are on your own) and cats are better armed (teeth, claws) than humans.

Many cat-care books provide photos, diagrams and systematic instructions for giving tablets. Many cats can detect even the tiniest amount of medication in their food and refuse to eat what they view as 'unhygienic' food. In nature, this helps guard them against poisoning, but in the home, it makes medication a problem. Let us see how to give them pills.

Giving a pill

The traditional position for administering pills to your cat is to place it on an elevated surface. However, because it can be a struggle to keep the animal there, here is an alternative method.

Kneel on the floor, sitting back on your heels. Keep your legs in a V position and place the cat in the centre of the V, facing away from you at an angle. If it tries to back away, it will have nowhere to go. Wear jeans or long pants to prevent scratches.

Put your palm over its head and apply gentle pressure to either side of its mouth, behind its canine teeth, with your thumb on one side and your index finger on the other.

Hold the pill in your other hand between thumb and index finger. Use another finger of the hand holding the pill to pry open the cat's mouth by putting pressure on the lower jaw. Place the pill on the back of the tongue.

Do not toss the pill down its throat, or you will risk suffocation. Coating the pill with butter may also help it go down more easily.

When you are done, do not clamp the mouth closed; the animal will be unable to swallow. Offer a drink of water afterwards. Humans do not take pills dry, and animals should not either.

If it does not want any water though, do not force it. Try offering a treat before and after the pill. Sometimes this distracts it enough and you will be able to give the pills quickly. You can also crush the pill, dissolve it in water or milk and give it using a dropper.

Giving liquid medication

Use the same position described above. Liquid medication can be dispensed into the pouch between the cat's cheek and molars. Slide the dropper into the pouch and release the medication.

Do not administer all of it at once, or it will dribble out of the cat's mouth. Instead, give a little at a time, allowing it to swallow. Try out these techniques and let us also know whether you were successful with them; let us also know if you found any other techniques which work better.

Janani Amarasekara