My cat won't eat her medicine. How do I give her a large pill?

I suggest you talk to your vet about the possibility of switching to a different medication. Zyrtec works great for cats and it is dosed only once per day. The other option is switching to liquid Benadryl however, cats don't like that much either and she will learn to not interact with you if you are shoving a nasty tasting liquid down her throat twice a day. Have you tried mixing the medication with a very stinky food like canned tuna. Also, warming up the food in the microwave (before adding the medication) will make the smell stronger to help mask the medication smell. If she won't eat the medication no matter what then you may have to resort to putting the pill down her throat yourself. There are some good YouTube videos online you can watch or you can take her to your vet so they can show you how to do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRcsgpJ0GSE Hope this helps. Best wishes.

You can try either of these but Coco may be on to you now. Remember that Coco's nose is very sensitive and she may smell the medication. Not to mention it tastes bad if the capsule/pill is broken open. You may try pill pockets (give her a few normal ones at first and act excited). Give her a few small ones first, then give her one containing the pill, then have another waiting for her. Allow Coco to see that you still have treats. This may make her excited and want to eat faster so that she can get the next treat. I hope that makes sense. You can also manually give her the pill: https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-give-your-dog-a-pill/ If you cannot get her to take the medication, call your veterinarian to ask about alternatives. I hope this helps.

Hello there and thank you for your post! I am not sure what medication you are trying to hide, but you could potentially have it compounded into a liquid form if that is easier. I've had clients use pieces of canned tuna to mash around the pill and that seemed to work well. I've had other clients use pieces of liverwurst to mash around the pill as well. You could also invest in a Pill Popper, which you can find in pet stores. Basically, a Pill Popper is a syringe like device that contains a hollow rubber tip which you can insert capsules or pills and safely administer them into the back of your cat's mouth. I hope this helps. Feel free to contact me with any further questions or concerns that you may have.

A device called a pill popper or a pill gun may help. You may be able to find them at a pet store and some veterinary offices will carry them as well. Otherwise your veterinarian may be able to pill your kitty for a fee. Your veterinarian also carries injectable tapeworm medication which they will administer and then you don’t have to give any oral pills. I hope this helps.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! You can try mixing Sushi's antibiotics with a small amount of canned food or plain boiled chicken and trying to feed it to her. There is also a product known as "Pill Pockets" that you can squeeze the antibiotic into. I hope this helps and that all is well with Sushi!

I can certainly understand your frustration. Cats are very smart at not taking their nedicaiton. I would talk to your vet about getting his medicaiton compounded into a flavor that he likes. There also may be an alternative medication in capsule form that won’t taste like anything that you can hide in a soft treat or a pill pocket. Most vets carry pill pockets or you can get these from your local pet store in many situations (call first). And finally there is a “pill gun” or “pet piller” that your vet should be able to sell you to make it easier to give Diggie his medicaiton. I surely hope this helps you in giving Digger his medicaiton. And remember that cats will often feed off of our energy, so try to keep a level head and be firm with him, then cuddle him and praise him every time he takes his medication well. I also find it helpful to use a large soft blanket to help hold my cats still when I want to give them their medication. This also prevents you from getting scratched. Best of luck to you and take care.

This may cause her to drool profusely. Additionally, if she spits it out, she may not get the full dose needed for protection. Consider using a Pill Pocket or a pill popper to get the medication into her.