Won't take pills in pockets - even with treats - ideas?

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Shirley and Ragnar

Shirley and Ragnar

Member Since 2010
Ragnar won't take his pills in Pill Pockets any more, even rolled in treats. He liked the last packet of treats for about 3 days after I opened them (they must lose something after a couple of days), so I bought a new packet yesterday, but he wouldn't touch them. When I gave him his Azodyl a few weeks ago by putting it in the back of his mouth, he'd hardly eat for the next week or more, and it might have hurt his esophagus, so I don't want to try THAT again. He needs to take one Denamarin (small pill) every day and should take at least 2 Azodyl (large pills) daily, too. I've been skipping his pills, but that's not good.

Any ideas? Would these pills go down without hurting him if I roll them in butter? I tried Laxatone, but it seems a little sticky rather than just slippery, though he does like the taste.

When he was off his food, I gave him canned mackerel for humans, but can't keep that up or even do it again because it has too much sodium. He ate some of my pork steak at supper tonight, but muscle meat only (any kind) is too incompete a diet, according to both Dr. Jen and Dr. Dill. Cats need cat food - but he's gotten such a case of the fussies that he will hardly eat Fancy Feast any more, let alone Friskies (which is better for him than FF because it has less phosphorus).

His numbers are pretty good, except for the lipase, which went down (for the first time ever) after he had the mast cell tumor removed, but was up again last time, hopefully because of a temporary infection that was cleared with antibiotics. Renal values just a little above normal; rest in the normal range; a little over 1/2 unit of Lantus lasts him 24 hours. Very good for almost 17!! But he needs his pills to keep him that way, and he's gotten too fussy to take them. He has developed a VERy discriminating palate. :cool:

I have to stop typing since it's test time and the patient just appeared! Ideas greatly appreciated!!

Blessings,

Shirley and Mr. Beautiful
 
Have you tried breaking the pills into smaller pieces? You can coat/roll the smaller pieces in some LC and offer it on a spoon.

I would advise against laxatone, one of the main ingredients is corn syrup and it also has malt syrup in it, too. Maybe small amounts are okay, but Kismet would bounce super high whenever he had any.

Good luck!
 
Have you tries giving him the pill pockets empty? He may have realized the crunchy filling in the centre doesn't taste so good. With my boys I break the pocket into three and give them two bits empty and one with the pill inside... In a different order each time, so they don't always taste bad.

You could try shoving it inside a piece of cooked chicken too..
 
It gets hard to fool a cat.

can the pills be split or broken up or are they time release and have to stay whole?

You can break or crush them and put them in small gelatin capsules which go down easier than pills esp with a dab of butter.

For cats you want the smallest sizes, 5 (smallest) or 4. 3 would be the largest a cat could be safe swallowing. Maybe your pharmacist or vet has a few he can give you to try. They can be bought online at vitamin stores or amazon very cheaply.

One of mine had to be on tylosin, which is very bitter, for a few weeks. We had it put into capsules because the liquid made him foam at the mouth and it was just a battle to get him to take it.
 
J.D. gets Denamarin and Azodyl, too, but I don't use pill pockets for those. I just put them to the back of his throat, and give him some food or a treat after. Or I catch him when he's drinking at the water fountain, and interupt him to give him his pill. I am currently using the smaller cat sized Azodyl capsules that come 90 in a bottle instead of the larger capsules that come 60 in a bottle. I use a piece of a pill pocket for the 1/4 pills of Pepcid, Ondansetron, and occasionally Cyproheptadine (sometimes all three in one piece of pill pocket wrap). I just put it to the back of his throat, and he swallows it, and then I give him a treat or some food.
 
are you able to pill him directly, rather than have him eat it?

If you are, then you could try coating the pill in butter and putting it towards the the back of the throat, be sure to rub the neck to make sure he swallows and follow with syringes of water and/or some food.
 
When my cat Jupiter stopped eating the pill pockets, I bought a different flavor of the pill pockets and alternated between the two. This really seemed to help. I think what Wendy is saying might work for you - as I have also tried that and it worked for me before too (giving him a plain treat first to see if he will eat it).
 
If the pill alone doesn't cause sliming/drooling/foam, you may put it in an oral syringe, add a bit of water to dissolve (shake well), then suck up a bit of all meat baby food to mask the flavor.

If it tastes really bad, avoid this as it may generate food aversion.

I've heard processed cheese and string cheese make good pill wraps too.
 
Well I have to say butter is my saving grace. Zoe wont eat ANY chicken, lunchmeats, even cheese. But she LOVES butter. She will even lick at creancheese but she devours butter...go figure. :roll:
 
BJM said:
If the pill alone doesn't cause sliming/drooling/foam, you may put it in an oral syringe, add a bit of water to dissolve (shake well), then suck up a bit of all meat baby food to mask the flavor.

If it tastes really bad, avoid this as it may generate food aversion.

I've heard processed cheese and string cheese make good pill wraps too.
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The cheese sounds like a good idea! Denamarin is too sensitive to moisture to dissolve and the pills have no taste at all... maybe I could put the pill in his mouth and follow with a little water,,,

He just showed up, so I must go off the 'puter. :smile: Back tomorrow...
 
SierraNevadan said:
It gets hard to fool a cat.

can the pills be split or broken up or are they time release and have to stay whole?

You can break or crush them and put them in small gelatin capsules which go down easier than pills esp with a dab of butter.

For cats you want the smallest sizes, 5 (smallest) or 4. 3 would be the largest a cat could be safe swallowing. Maybe your pharmacist or vet has a few he can give you to try. They can be bought online at vitamin stores or amazon very cheaply.

One of mine had to be on tylosin, which is very bitter, for a few weeks. We had it put into capsules because the liquid made him foam at the mouth and it was just a battle to get him to take it.
Click to expand...
The instructions say to keep both whole - Denamarin especially, but the pills are small. Azodyl (bigger capsules) is destroyed by stomach acid, so the pills have to dissolve in the intestine and they have to be whole, too. Maybe the pills themselves will go down with a dab of butter, though - although I tried giving him JUST some butter tonight and he wasn't interested. He's become very hard to impress, as well as to fool!

He ate some little pieces of my pork steak at supper. I could cut a slit in a piece tomorrow night and try to hide a Denamarin in it.

He's never liked the taste of Pill Pockets, but used to take them willingly, even with Azodyl inside, if I rolled them in powdered Whisker Lickin's soft treat. Then the treats had to be freshly opened. NOW he won't eat freshly opened treats, at least not the soft ones. Definitely a bad case of The Feline Fussies!

Blessings!
 
Laughing Cow cheese. It's a soft sticky buttery cheese that all my cats love; none of them liked pill pockets.

The Denamarin will be ok whole in the cheese, and maybe the others you can cut in half and put in some cheese.

I like the cheese because once it's in the mouth, it's very hard to eat the cheese and also spit the pill out!
 
Dyana said:
J.D. gets Denamarin and Azodyl, too, but I don't use pill pockets for those. I just put them to the back of his throat, and give him some food or a treat after. Or I catch him when he's drinking at the water fountain, and interupt him to give him his pill. I am currently using the smaller cat sized Azodyl capsules that come 90 in a bottle instead of the larger capsules that come 60 in a bottle. I use a piece of a pill pocket for the 1/4 pills of Pepcid, Ondansetron, and occasionally Cyproheptadine (sometimes all three in one piece of pill pocket wrap). I just put it to the back of his throat, and he swallows it, and then I give him a treat or some food.
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I was putting them in the back of his throat if he wouldn't take the PP, and he would swallow them too, but I'm afraid I might have hurt his throat or esophagus one time by doing this. That was when he went off his food and would only eat mackerel-for-people, which got him so spoiled! Now I'm afraid his throat might still be sore or he might even be getting erosive esophagus, and am afraid to do it again. Maybe if I follow with a squirt of water, as the Denamarin instructions say?? Or use some butter to make the pills slippery?

He used to take Pepcid too, but now is off it. That apparently tasted bad, and I always put it in a little piece of PP. This was back when he'd take PPs rolled in powdered treat - he only quit doing that this spring, after that period when he was off his food.

This is the first I've heard about the smaller, cat-sized Azodyl!! They must be new! Could you tell me where to find them online? That would indeed be a blessing! :smile:

Shirley and Fussy Mr. Beautiful
 
Blue said:
Laughing Cow cheese. It's a soft sticky buttery cheese that all my cats love; none of them liked pill pockets.

The Denamarin will be ok whole in the cheese, and maybe the others you can cut in half and put in some cheese.

I like the cheese because once it's in the mouth, it's very hard to eat the cheese and also spit the pill out!
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THAT sounds good! He's so adept at eating the coatings and spitting out the pills!! :lol: I could try putting Denamarin in the cheese (if we can get it here) and maybe get the smaller Azodyl - that's a capsule that's supposed to be given whole.
 
jt and trouble (GA) said:
Well I have to say butter is my saving grace. Zoe wont eat ANY chicken, lunchmeats, even cheese. But she LOVES butter. She will even lick at creancheese but she devours butter...go figure. :roll:
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Hey - Ragnar likes cream cheese! In fact, the greatest thing about eating bagels and cream cheese has always been giving him little finger-licks of the cheese. And I don't think he's become blase about that!!

If cream cheese doesn't do it, I will buy some real butter. What I tried lately was margarine, and he wouldn't touch it - but the real thing - maybe! He'd drink milk willingly, but it makes his sugar go WAY up (although he can take Laxatone without a problem).

Blessings!

Shirley and Mr. Fussy
 
Here's one place to buy Azodyl Small Caps online. I'm sure there are more. It's just the shipping that is going to cost you a lot. They have to be kept refrigerated, and are usually sent with 1 day shipping. I just had my vet order them for me.
 
Have you tried Lactaid milk or Catsip? Both are supposed to have the lactose reduced/removed (may still have carbs, though)
 
Hillary & Maui said:
are you able to pill him directly, rather than have him eat it?

If you are, then you could try coating the pill in butter and putting it towards the the back of the throat, be sure to rub the neck to make sure he swallows and follow with syringes of water and/or some food.
Click to expand...
That's what I was doing, after he got tired of the Pill Pockets with treats - but alas, I seem to have hurt his throat or esophagus by doing it, and that's probably why he quit eating for a while and I had to give him mackerel. He still isn't back to eating normally, 2 cans of Friskies a day; he licks the food or eats very tiny bites and I'm lucky to get one can into him.

I wish I'd known to use butter or syringes of water before, so this might not have happened! I found that suggestion (water) in the insert in the Denamarin package, but by then it was too late.

I wonder, if I don't give him pills for a while, if his throat will heal. He seemed to be eating a little better; then I resumed pilling, and now he's eating very little again. Maybe I need to let it heal longer, and eating is more important for now than the pills!

Blessings!
 
BJM said:
Have you tried Lactaid milk or Catsip? Both are supposed to have the lactose reduced/removed (may still have carbs, though)
Click to expand...
OH, that sounds good for him! And most of the carbs would be in the lactose! (He's not terribly sensitive to a little extra carb now - his diabetes is better though I don't think he'll ever go OTJ again.) Do you have any idea where to get it? I could ask the vet if she knows, google it, etc...

I wish someone would invent a complete LIQUID cat food if there isn't one now. Swallowing seems to hurt, but he's fine with liquids - and oddly, also fine, or at least much better, with dry treats than canned food.
 
Dyana said:
Here's one place to buy Azodyl Small Caps online. I'm sure there are more. It's just the shipping that is going to cost you a lot. They have to be kept refrigerated, and are usually sent with 1 day shipping. I just had my vet order them for me.
Click to expand...
The link you gave - Entirely Pets - is also the best source I've found for Azodyl 90s, though they charge less on Amazon than on their website ($40 + about $4.50 shipping). However, in their FAQ, they say they will match their Amazon price on their website! I am going to call them tomorrow and find out how they ship it for $4.50. If they use USPS Priority, it should be OK in this cool spring weather.

I still haven't found a better source of Probiocin than ProbioticSmart - but through Amazon.com, not their website! It's $95 on the website for a box of 12 (I always buy 12 in cooler weather - Ragnar loves this stuff) but only $72.99 (+ about $11 shipping but it's still better) on Amazon from the same company. (You can find this deal easily in Amazon's Search - it's the only box of 12.) I emailed and asked if they would also match their Amazon price on their website and will report here if they do.

Blessings!
 
Shirley and Ragnar said:
...I wish someone would invent a complete LIQUID cat food if there isn't one now. Swallowing seems to hurt, but he's fine with liquids - and oddly, also fine, or at least much better, with dry treats than canned food.
Click to expand...

Is Liquivite available in the US? It's sometimes used here in the UK for convalescing cats, and, if available to you, might be suitable for an occasional liquid meal if swallowing is hard for your kitty..? Some folks freeze it in ice cube trays and thaw a portion as and when needed.
 
We are making some progress. :smile: Today he took a small Azodyl and a Denamarin with cream cheese! It was the first time in ages that he'd taken two pills in one day, but the little (90-ct.) Azodyl went down so well that I gave him his Denamarin too.

I think it helped that the cream cheese (which I'd melted on a bagel) had been frozen. If you have never frozen cream cheese: it gets a crumbly texture which doesn't make a difference in recipes but requires a little different technique when you spread it. You have to pile the "crumbles" on something warm, like a freshly toasted bagel, let the warmth melt it, then spread. The result is as smooth as never-frozen cream cheese but a little softer - less likely to make a pill stick in your cat's throat and more likely to help it slide down! (You can also take advantage of sales this way if you're a fellow bagel and cream cheese addict - but the best part is giving finger-licks of cream cheese to your cat! cat_pet_icon) By giving Ragnar some finger-licks before and after his pills, I think I kept them from sticking in and hurting his throat or esophagus - whatever his problem has been lately.

I've also switched his varieties of Friskies from Liver & Chicken and Mixed Grill to Country Style and perhaps Salmon Dinner and/or Turkey and Giblets, and he is eating better. The phosphorus content of his older kinds is now about 1.45%, and the newer kinds 1.32%, and he eats Country Syle very readily - he likes it even better than Fancy Feast, which has too much phosporus (all pate varieties) to use every day. (Haven't tried the Salmon and Turkey yet, so I don't know how he will like them.)

The best source of small Azodyl I found was Entirely Pets on Amazon. They will match the Amazon price on their website, but I think the postage is much more. The postage is only $4.95 on Amazon (and about $40 for the Azodyl - this is for 90 of them!), and includes a large ice pack wrapped around the Azodyl and three small ice packs in the box - the best packaging I have ever seen.

I also ordered a box of 12 Probiocin from ProbioticSmart through Amazon. The price for 12 is over $95 on their website, and through Amazon it's $72.99 and a few dollars postage. This keeps a long time, and if you use Probiocin, this is certainly the way to buy it.

Blessings!

Shirley and Mr. Beautiful
 
I've found Lactaid in the pharmacy section in the "digestive issues" section (ex things for gas, like Beano). It is also on Amazon

Lactaid milk would be in a grocery dairy section as it is refrigerated.

Cat Sip may be found at Amazon
 
Shirley and Ragnar said:
Dyana said:
Here's one place to buy Azodyl Small Caps online. I'm sure there are more. It's just the shipping that is going to cost you a lot. They have to be kept refrigerated, and are usually sent with 1 day shipping. I just had my vet order them for me.
Click to expand...
The link you gave - Entirely Pets - is also the best source I've found for Azodyl 90s, though they charge less on Amazon than on their website ($40 + about $4.50 shipping). However, in their FAQ, they say they will match their Amazon price on their website! I am going to call them tomorrow and find out how they ship it for $4.50. If they use USPS Priority, it should be OK in this cool spring weather.

I still haven't found a better source of Probiocin than ProbioticSmart - but through Amazon.com, not their website! It's $95 on the website for a box of 12 (I always buy 12 in cooler weather - Ragnar loves this stuff) but only $72.99 (+ about $11 shipping but it's still better) on Amazon from the same company. (You can find this deal easily in Amazon's Search - it's the only box of 12.) I emailed and asked if they would also match their Amazon price on their website and will report here if they do.

Blessings!
Click to expand...
Update: They won't.
 
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