Following are selected posts to the Holisticat (TM) Mailing List on the subject of force-feeding and pilling cats. There's a lot of information here, and the posts are arranged in ascending chronological order. If there is a particular word you're looking for, it's probably best to utilize the "Find in Page" function in your edit menu!

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<24 July 98 From Sandy A. Re: Force Feeding>

Hi Randall, and everyone,

Our kitty, Boo Boo, has always had a very poor appetite and  w/ the CRF, his appetite is practically zero:(  So, my husband and I decided it was best to force feed this kid since he is such a gentlecat (no way we could do this w/ our feisty girls so I understand this won't work for everyone)

We used to use a large plastic food syringe we got from the  vet but 2 problems w/ it:

1.  It gets stuck more easily for some reason so that when  u push on it, u never know if tons of food will come  spurting out or nothing at all.

2.  We found that even when it isn't acting up, it deposits  too much food w/ each squirt so a lot of it ended up on us,  Booey chest, and on the walls etc. even tho he is extremely well-behaved.

So, what we are using now is very small (5ml = 1  tsp) plastic syringes from the baby section and it is  working out really well.

Our procedure is as follows:

1. Blend some cooked or raw homemade food (or Hills AD) in a blender, then add some supplements (optional) - enzymes,
acidophilus, apple cider vinegar and liquid amino acids.

2. we use 4 syringes each time so I fill up the syringes before I take 'em up for Booey

3. Extricate Booey from under the bed (poor baby!), and put a bib around his handsome furry black neck.  Don't tell his macho cat buddies but this is a girlie (has a pink kitten w/ a pink mama cat on it) bib his dad got for him

4. Gently press down on both sides of his mouth to open. Press down on syringe gently.  W/ Booey we found it works better to not squirt it from the side; instead we lift his chin a bit and squirt down his throat even tho most everyone says not to do this.  Could be it works b/c Booey is so good about it, and just swallows the food happily as if he likes the taste.

5. Each tiny syringe is squirted 3 times with breaks in between to give Boo time to swallow.  Also, if there is any food on his lips or mouth, I dip a washcloth in water, and wipe his face.

6. After we are done, Booey shakes off the excess from his fur and then he gives me adoring looks when I groom him using the Zoom Groom, followed by his wide-toothed comb.

If Tails will get upset, perhaps u can give some Rescue Remedy first or even mix it w/ the food if need be.  Also, 1.5 cans of AD is a lot of food, I feel.  Booey gets maybe 1 can of AD over 3 days.  He gets 4 syringes twice a day, and eats a teeny bit of dry Nature's Recipe during the day. If I notice he hasn't eaten as much (like when we had a heat wave here last week), I feed him 5 syringes that nite.

We found that giving him much more than that caused him to throw up.  I assume like humans, if they don't eat, their tummies shrink and so maybe u can gradually increase the amount u feed over time.  BTW, Booey weighs around 7ish lbs (and getting smaller every day *sniff*)

Good luck w/ Tails:)  I bet feeding him will help a lot b/c
it sometimes jump starts their appetite.  Speak soothingly
to Tails throughout and tell him u love him a lot and want
him to get better.  Call me nuts, but I talk to my cats all
the time, always have, and they respond.

Randall,

You sound like a very kind purrson and Tails is lucky to have you:)

I bet u the small syringes will work really well for you and Tails.  I find that ever since we switched to the small ones, we don't even need a bib (lucky Boo <g>) and there's absolutely no food on his face or on the walls. It's working really well and I highly recommend it.  We usually let Booey tell us when he is ready to stop.  He fidgets a bit after his 4th syringe so I ask if he wants to quit and he invariably gives me a signal..smart kid that one.

In fact, it was so cute last nite.  John didn't even have to straddle Boo.  Booey just stood on his hind legs and put both his front paws on John's leg so he was basically just standing up and taking his food down like he was enjoying it.  We weren't restraining him in any way.

It is so sad that he and Tails are hungry and want to eat but can't:(  In Booey's case, I think the polyp in his mouth hurts him even tho his vet told me it doesn't.  She is a nice lady and maybe she wanted me to feel better so she told me that; my gut tells me otherwise tho.

I find the Hills AD very easy to suck up into a syringe..don't even need to add much water usually.  The reason I add Apple Cider Vinegar is b/c it is hi in potassium (which is depleted in cats w/ CRF) and a heart tonic.  Plus if one believes even 10% of what the Braggs say about ACV, it should be good stuff.

The liquid aminos I put in there a lil bit to disguise the strong taste of the ACV (I don't put that much but..) and it does have all the aminos in there.  The fish oil I pierce a capsule and put in maybe 1/3 of the contents into the AD/cooked meat mix since it is good for his heart and kidneys.  It seems like a lot but I put very lil of each thing.  In fact, I even taste a teeny bit every day to
make sure it is palatable (ugh sez this vegetarian)

I have given Booey Pitcairn's kidney recipe in the past but I find that w/ raw food, it is too fibrous so I can't suck it up into a syringe so I now cook the food.  I had to cook it quite a bit last time, and I can't stand the smell of meat cooking..the things I do for my son <g>  John was impressed; in 10 yrs, he sez I have never cooked meat for him..LOL!

Oh, I also use one of those hand-held blenders, u know the Braun one w/ an attachment.  It is easier to clean; the regular blender can be a real pain to clean up.

Hope I covered everything.  If anything comes up, be sure to ask me ok in case I have tried it w/ Booey.  Tails sounds so cute, just like Boo.  Tasha, my Himmie who died Jan 97, was so feisty that it seemed to make matters worse when we tried to force-feed her.  It saddens me b/c if we could have, who knows, she might still be w/ us *sniif*. I have so much guilt over her death and illness but I'll save that for one day when I'm on an analyst's couch.

Purrs and headbutts from Booey to Tails:)

On Mon, 17 Aug 1998 13:41:21 -0700 <jane@> writes:
<<I need some instructions on how to pill a cat.  >>

Jane, get a pill popper from the d*g section of PetsMart. The one I use has wide plastic  teeth, for lack of a better word.  It holds about 4-5 pills easily, and is rather long so even a naughty cat like Bunny can't bite our hands while pilling.  And it also goes way back in the throat so my rascals can't spit it back out.

I know what u mean about hiding the pills in food.  Mine won't fall for it either:(  Nothing works - butter, deli turkey, cheese - u name it I've tried it - but the girls are just too smart for the likes of a dumb human like me.

The only cat that is pillable in this house is my purrfect son, Booey.  In his case, one of us straddles him from behind so he can't escape.  Some cats will try and sort of back out but u gotta squat a bit so there's no room to escape.  Then put gentle yet firm pressure on either side of the mouth so that the jaw opens by reflex.  At that point, point and shoot w/ pill gun.  Next step for my girls is to pretend like they have swallowed the pill, and the minute I let 'em go, out the pills comes shooting out of their mouth!  Sometimes cats are just too darned smart for their own good.

BTW, the cat sack/pillow case/towel approach is good.  I use it to trim Missy and Bunny's claws tho it's hard to extricate just one paw at a time; good for pilling tho.

In a message dated 8/17/98 1:42:39 PM Pacific Daylight Time, jane@writes:
<< but I think I should at least try to pill them.  So how do you do  it?   >>

The cat sack is a good idea, but I don't use it.  I have a HOLY TERROR by the name of Cleo, since she's had so many problems she's had lots of pills.  Her current trick is to salivate until she throws up the pill!

Here's what I do:  I don't give tiny pills, I always put them in a gelcap (buy for cheap at local health food store) sometimes I have to crush them or cut them in half.  The gelcap (size "0") is big enough I can hold on to once I've got her mouth open.  I sit down with her upright on my left leg.  I rest my right foot on something to raise my right knee, just for leverage I guess (I'm short).  With my left thumb and forefinger I get the scruff of Cleo's neck, then put the other fingers on the left hand next to and under her jaw.  I use one of those fingers to pry her mouth open (her head tilts back), and a right hand finger on the other side of her mouth.  I have the pill in my right thumb-forefinger, and I SHOVE it straight down her throat.  I then let her mouth close but keep her head tilted back.  This way I can feel her swallow it better, plus if she salivates she ends up swallowing it instead of upchucking the pill.  All the while she is kicking and screaming, of course.

Hope this helps.  I've never used a pill gun, but found the towel business too much trouble - she was h*ll bent on getting out of the towel and I didn't have a chance to do anything else.
 

I, too, have developed a technique for pilling cats.

First, I put the pill into a syringe. Then I draw enough hot water in the syringe to disolve the pill. I shake the syringe until the pill has dissolved. (By this time the water has cooled down and is no longer a threat to the cat.)

Then I fill the rest of the syringe with Science Diet a/d. Once the cat realizes that it is being fed, it is amazingly easy to administer the pill.

Unfortunately, this can be a little more difficult when the pill is is really large. Then I just fill up two or three syringes and carry on.

Works every time.