Giving a Cat a Pill with a Pill Popper
As you can see in the video above, a basic pill “popper” or “gun” makes giving solid medications to your sick cat both painless and stress-free. Which is good for you both.
A pill popper is usually a device with a long plastic barrel with a split or rubber tip on one end to grip and hold the med and a plunger on the other.
These devices can administer tablets and capsules to cats more quickly, safely, and easily than you can with bare fingers.
Here are the steps to pill a cat again…
1.) Place the pill or capsule into pill popper’s rubber or grip tip (before you pick up your pet!)
2.) Open your pet’s mouth and tilt the head slightly upward. A 45 degree angle is ideal.
3.) Insert the popper and place the rubber tip on back part of tongue.
4.) Quickly push the plunger to eject the medication.
5.) Withdraw the piller immediately and close your pet’s mouth. Watch for swallowing, usually indicated by your cat licking it’s nose.
You can aid the cat’s swallowing process by giving them a sip of cool water from an eyedropper.
In an emergency, if a pill seems to get stuck in the cat’s month, you can also use your own saliva to help get a pill down.
Yes I know UGH, but if you have to you can quickly tilt their head back and release some of your saliva into their mouth! Better this than have your pet choke on an undissolved pill.
Now an alternative to a pill popper is a pill wrap or pocket. These pockets eliminates the need to force a pill down a pet’s throat or wrap it in some kind of fatty table food like cheese or hot dogs.
The pockets are hollow so almost size pill can be hidden inside. Plus they are made from easy to digest foods that taste good to even the most picky eater.