Overheard at the vet

[guythp]

She is damned good at hiding them under her tongue,
then when I finally let her go, spitting the pill at me and running off.

Have you tried crushing the pill into butter then rubbing it on her paws.. I've heard that's a good way to get them to take their medicine.

[Yak]

Back in my days of living with a cat I found the simple expedient of crumbling the necessary pill into a portion of that posh Sheba cat food they go nuts for to be most effective.

[SilverBrumby]

I've tried hiding/crushing pills in meat and fish, I've tried crushing it over her
regular food, I've tried coating it in butter. I've tried getting the expensive paste
version and putting it on her fur to lick off, or squirting that down her throat.

The only way I can be sure she's actually getting any of it is the pill down
the mouth and rub her throat method. Anything else, she manages to reject
enough of it that she's not getting a full dose. She's an ex-street cat with
a very finely tuned nose for whether her food has been tampered with.

At least the one time I've given a pill to my other cat, I put it in a bit of fish
and he swallowed it so fast he never noticed there was anything in it.

[PFVA]

I'm taking notes.