Your blog is a delight! I was wondering if you might be able to offer some suggestions for me. My cat (precious 13 year old baby) was diagnosed with an over-active thyroid a month or so ago now. He’s on pills and has been taking them daily with wet food well until the last couple weeks. I monitor him as he eats. He’s slowly learning to separate the pill from the food. I can’t give them to him by hand, it’s a rough experience. Would crushing the pills and mixing them with food be a good idea?

drferox:

No, probably not a good idea to crush those particular types of pills. The commonly used drugs to treat hyperthyroidism taste very bitter, and some tablets are sugar coated to disguise that. Crushing them destroys the coating, exposes the bitter taste, and helps nobody.

You could instead ask your vet clinic about getting his medication compounded as a transdermal gel, which you rub onto his ears. Lots of my clients go that route, so ask what’s available. 

You can get “pocket treats”, which are exactly what they sound like, small treats with pockets in the center that you hide the tablets in. Cheese or chunks of meat with the pills stuffed inside can also work. 

You may also be able to train him to allow you to pill him. One of our cats had to be given daily medication for awhile, and the way my mom handled it was by doing the whole towel-wrap-and-stuff-the-pill routine at first, and then immediately giving him tons of treats. Eventually, he’d tolerate being fed the pill, and wouldn’t bother running away because he knew there would be food. That doesn’t work for all cats, though, and can be pretty freaky for them, so it’s probably a last-resort thing.