The trick with cats and pills is to keep them from tasting what you are putting in their mouths. That’s why I have always thought liquid medicines for animals are so stupid. I’ve never known a cat to enjoy the taste of a strawberry sundae.
You’ve probably cleaned up a cat that looked like this.
You will find all sorts of ways to get the pill down them on the web, including these:
Greenies
Put the pill inside one of these and get the cat to eat it. Unfortunately my cats have never liked greenies.
Bury it in food
Put the pill in the middle of cream cheese or some other treat and get the cat to wolf it. Unfortunately only one of my cats likes people food and if I put it into the wet food, then it’s entirely possible one of the other cats will eat it.
Just Poop
So my solution is to get the pill way back in their throat. There are all sorts of ways to do that, but all require your fingers. So if you’ve got the wildebeest, see that sack I recommended above.
AT SOME POINT WHEN I DO NOT LOOK LIKE A BAG LADY I WILL ADD A VIDEO
Method 1
Insert with your pointing finger. You put the pill on the tip of your finger (butter to hold it in place) and open the cat’s mouth by pressing at the sides of its cheeks. Once the mouth is open, press the pill way back in the throat and get your hand out of there. Wash. Ugh.
Method 2
I am happier when I do not touch cat saliva. So what I do is pull the cat’s head back so their mouth is facing the ceiling. Then I press their cheeks near the jaw to get them to open wide. When they have, I drop the pill to the back of the throat and press the mouth closed.
In both cases, you want to hold onto the cat until you see it swallow.
Now neither of these methods is foolproof. If you don’t get it way in the back, the cat will work it forward and spit it out. Hold onto the cat and grab the pill. Don’t puke yet. Put the wet pill back on your pointing finger and this time shove it way back in the throat.
On mornings when the pill goes right in, I don’t even have to wash my hands because I’ve touched nothing but fur. Other days, I’m not as lucky and have to spring up afterward and wash to the elbow.