How to Help Cat Pills Go Down More Easily

When Cupcake was at the vet, she got a prescription for her runny eye.

The prescribed pills are really big. Much bigger than Cupcake will comfortably take.

So it’s up to the humans to put them into something that goes down more easily. We use gelatin capsules. Size 3 gelatin capsules are a good size for a cat to take. They manufacture special flavored gelatin capsules for pets, but we have tried them and they aren’t worth the extra cost. Cats don’t like taking them any more or less than they do the unflavored ones.

The only problem with getting the medication into a gel cap is that that big pill won’t be into that little capsule.

This means we have to cut up the pill. Before you cut up a pill, ask your vet if the medication can be cut up. Some pills have time release coatings, and the medication doesn’t perform the same way if you cut it up.

We started by cutting the pill into quarters. There are lots of pill cutters meant specifically for cutting pills, but at our house, the pill cutting tool of choice is a miniature cleaver originally meant for cheese.

Even cut into quarters, the pill won’t fit into the gelatin capsule.

So the pill must be cut into smaller and smaller pieces, until they fit inside the capsule.

Once the capsule is filled, put the top on. If it won’t push shut far enough that it feels like it will stay closed, you have put too much in a single capsule.

Now your pill is ready to give in a much smaller form factor that will go into your cat more easily.

If your cat isn’t easy to pill, a good pill shooter can make the task easier for both of you so you can get that pill far enough into your cat’s throat for her to swallow. Look for a pill shooter with a soft tip. They do a better job of holding the pill until it is time to release than the ones with hard plastic tips.

Be sure to follow up pills with a syringe of water or something to eat to be sure the gelatin capsule makes its way down the throat.

Cupcake: With a little help, I will feel all better soon. Watch out, Newton!

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Planning for Unexpected Veterinary Costs

Do you have a plan for what will happen if your cat has expensive health issues? I was faced with this in the past few weeks.

One Sick Cat

First, Pierre got sick. He was really sick, and he had to be hospitalized. The day he was hospitalized, the first treatment plan I signed to approve was over $800. Then the vet brought me an updated treatment plan with additional tests for $1200. The final bill for just that day while he was hospitalized at the vet on IV and running tests was over $1400. It was scary to worry about him, and also scary to know how fast we were running up bills trying to help him get better.

That wasn’t his only vet visit that week. Pierre was actually at the vet four days that week, for diagnostics, supportive treatments, and medication. Plus there were two visits to an outside pharmacy to get medicine that we could get him to take.

Another Sick Cat

About the time Pierre started feeling a little better, Cupcake stopped eating. Then she started throwing up.

There was nothing sadder than seeing Cupcake looking miserable under the kitchen table while we prepped breakfast for the cats. That’s the time of day when she would normally be “helping,” but instead she just sat under one of the kitchen chairs, and then she refused to eat. There was obviously something really wrong. So back to the vet we went.

With Cupcake, we jumped right to diagnostics to try to figure out what kind of bug the cats were transmitting. The last thing we needed was Cupcake passing this around any further. The idea of medicating Ashton when she won’t eat pill pockets is kind of terrifying, so the sick cat merry-go-round needed to stop before it got to Ashton.

That resulted in lots of medications for Cupcake’s symptoms, but frustratingly, we got no real diagnosis of the root cause of the problem. At a year old, Cupcake bounced back pretty fast. Much faster than Pierre, who is nearly 14. So she didn’t need as much help as he did. She felt better after only a couple days of medication, and she was soon trying to steal treats from Pierre while he had sub-q fluids administered at home.

After over a week without yet another cat having to visit the vet, I think we can safely say that this outbreak of whatever it is has finally left the building.

Pet Insurance

When all was said and done, between Cupcake and Pierre, we ran up $2703 in vet bills in 8 days. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that we have pet insurance. Some people think pet insurance is something you have to start when a cat is young, but that isn’t necessarily true. I enrolled Pierre when he was 12 years old, but while he was still healthy and had no major illnesses. As a result, I was able to say “do whatever you need to do for him” without wondering how I would pay for his treatment.

That’s why I have insurance. It isn’t because I expect to get every nickel back that I paid in premiums. I would rather have a cat who is so healthy that we never have to use the insurance so I “lose money” on it. For me, it’s peace of mind that I can authorize necessary treatment rather than choosing not to treat for financial reasons.

When all was said and done, insurance reimbursed roughly half of those vet bills, over $1300. I chose insurance plans for both Cupcake and Pierre with $500 deductibles, so most of what I wasn’t reimbursed was their deductibles. I could have chosen a smaller deductible when I signed them up for insurance, but I never expected they would both be sick the same week!

Vet Emergency Fund

Insurance isn’t the only way to go, of course. Even if you have insurance, it’s a good idea to set up a savings account to cover vet bills and contribute to it regularly. It takes time to accumulate savings so you should start as early as possible.

Kitten plays with coins. Image credit: depositphotos/viktoriagam

Since it takes time to accumulate savings, an unexpected veterinary bill soon after you start it can overcome the savings you have begun to collect. Young, healthy cats are your best chance to build savings against future vet bills.

Regardless of the way you prepare yourself for future vet bills, the important thing is to have a plan ahead of time. The past few weeks have proven to me that you’ll be grateful to your past self for the planning ahead when you’re in the middle of a crisis.

Avoiding Permethrin Poisoning in Cats

When I was a little girl, my family had a cat named Suki. I loved the animal shelter more than I did visiting the zoo, and I picked Suki out myself.

Suki (left) and Ming (right), the first cats of my childhood. Photo courtesy Hank Weisman.

Back in the 80s, we didn’t have spot-on flea treatments or any of the other advances in flea control we do today. What we had were flea collars and flea dips you had to bathe your dog or cat in. We also had whole-house foggers that would spew chemicals into the furthest corners of your home, hoping to kill off all of the fleas.

Living in north Florida, we didn’t have the kind of harsh winter that killed off all the fleas like you get in some parts of the country, so fleas were a real problem. When Suki and our dog at the time had a persistent flea infestation, they were both subjected to frequently repeated flea dips to try to get it under control.

One Sunday morning when I was eleven years old, Suki threw up her breakfast. That’s not so unusual for a cat. But what was unusual was that a while later she started convulsing and wouldn’t stop. It went on and on, and it was terrible.

My mother sent my sister and me off to Sunday school with a carpool ride, and she went to the vet. I couldn’t concentrate on anything anyone was saying that morning. I just wanted to know how my beloved cat was. Suki never came home, and I never saw her again even to say goodbye.

Fast forward 30 years or so, and I read a description of permethrin poisoning in cats from flea products. It brought the awful scene from that Sunday morning flooding back. I had the sinking realization permethrin, found in flea dips, had killed Suki.

Permethrin Toxicity

Many flea solutions contain the pyrethrins, an insecticide with an active ingredient permethrin. This is a synthetic form of a naturally occurring extract from the Tanacetum cinerariifolium flower, part of the chrysanthemum family.

Tanacetum cinerariifolium flower. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

But instead of being a flower, permethrin is a neurotoxicant. It kills fleas by over-exciting their nerves.

Unfortunately, cats are especially sensitive to permeterhins because they can’t metabolize them quickly enough. As a result, permethrin is the most common cause of poisoning of cats in the US. They can cause neurological symptoms like tremors, seizures, and hypersalivation. In some cases, they can even cause death.

Permethrin has been eliminated from most products labeled for cats, though you may still find it today as an ingredient in flea dips labeled for use for both cats and dogs. Products are allowed to be labeled for use in cats when they contain low levels of permethrin. To be safe, always use a product specifically labeled as safe for cats, and avoid pyrethrin and permethrin ingredients.

Cats can be exposed to permethrin by being given a flea product labeled for dogs, or by spending time in close contact with a dog who has had a topical flea product applied. They can also be exposed to it when it is used in insectisides for the garden.

There is no antidote for permethrin/pyrethrin poisoning in cats. Treatment is limited to removing as much of the toxin from the skin as possible to prevent absorbing more and to supportive care.

Questionable Internet Flea Treatment Advice

Today, with the convenience of the internet, it’s easy to reach out to others who love the same things we do for advice and support. As a result, I am often among groups of animal lovers online. Far too often, I see people giving the advice that you can save money on cat flea control by buying a big dog flea medication then splitting the dose up among many cats.

Spot-on flea treamtent. Photo credit: depositphotos/Thamkc

When I see this, I try to warn that it is dangerous, pointing out permethrin poisoning is a risk if you don’t know what is in the dog flea treatment. Answers have ranged from “I’m in rescue and I know what I’m doing” to “I have done it plenty of times and nothing bad has ever happened.” I don’t want to argue with people on the internet, but I don’t want to stand by and watch cats be killed like my Suki, either.

Recently, I have started leaving Facebook groups when this issue comes up because I don’t have the heart to have the same argument over and over again. Even if the person who asked the question reads my warning, the next person who skims past trying to find a quick answer won’t, and I can’t stand to see the tragic results show up in the group later.

A Safer Flea Treatment Plan

If you need to use a flea product for your cat, consider a bath with a few drops of Dawn dish soap, which is often used on kittens too young for flea chemicals. If you use a chemical flea treatment, make sure it’s a flea product labeled for cats and doesn’t contain permethrin. If you are at all unsure about the product, ask your veterinarian about their experience with it.

Also, make sure you know how much your cat weighs. Flea treatment is generally applied by weight, and you can overdose a cat if you guess their weight wrong. Your vet will be happy to set up a weigh-in for your cat if you don’t have an appropriate scale, possibly even at no charge.

Keep your cat safe and happy this flea season!

Research and further reading

Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Toxicosis in cats erroneously treated with 45 to 65% permethrin products.
Journal of Feline Medical Surgery, Feline permethrin toxicity: retrospective study of 42 cases.

Triple Vet Visit

Both Pierre and Newton went to visit the vet the same day last week. Pierre was scheduled for his six month senior exam, and Newton was scheduled for a dental cleaning.

One of the fun things about going to our vet is seeing the names of the other cats who are coming in that day. I want to meet the person who named their cat Xanax. Not to mention Kittenator!

Pierre got examined first thing. He was such a good boy for his weigh in.

I had been worried that he may have lost weight, but it was only a fraction of an ounce. If he hadn’t had to skip breakfast because of Newton’s dental, he probably would have weighed more than during his last visit.

He was really patient for the rest of his exam, too.

Pierre: It would be okay if we just skipped this part, though. I’m perfect!

While getting Newton’s paperwork in order for his dental procedure, I let him out of his carrier for a few minutes. He took the opportunity to check on his brother.

Newton: What are you in for?

Usually, when Newton is loose in the exam room, he is running all over, and he is especially trying to get out the back door to the procedure area. It was interesting to see him choosing to stay close to Pierre, instead.

Newton: Don’t worry, I know the way out. It’s that door. My girlfriend lives back there.

Pierre: I’m fine right here, thanks.

Newton’s dental went fine, and he has nice, clean teeth now.

When it was time to pick him up, I brought Cupcake with me for a weigh-in. People have been asking me how much she weighs recently, and I didn’t know, so this was an opportunity to find out. She weighs almost 8 lbs now!

She considered climbing up onto Dr. Avok’s shoulder until she realized “You aren’t my human!”

This was the first time I had three cats to the vet on the same day, and it’s good to know it’s possible to accomplish, even though I don’t plan to do it again any time soon.