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There was a thread last week on rec.pets.cats.ancdotes re: pilling of cats, which reminded me of our experience last autumn. This is further proof that Yukon is Stupid.
Most of us on RPCA like to think we're pretty good at pilling cats, and I too have a fair bit of practice. So when the vet supplied antibiotic pills after removing a largish skin tag from Yukon's side, I figured, No Problem.
My first try was to hide the pill in a small amount of Cat Food. Our herd are fed twice a day, 12 hrs apart, a mixture of canned food and dry crunchies together (the "bones") -- so I thought Yukon would think the pill was a peice of kibble and eat it down. He ate the Cat Food in thirty seconds, leaving a nice clean damp pill in the centre of the dish.
So I broke the pill up into a small amount of Cat Food. He wouldn't eat it at all. Sniffed it and then looked around for something else.
Right, I guess it's going to be the hard way then. So I held him with my legs, and popped his mouth open by pressing on the jaw hinge. I dropped the pill as far back as I could and held his mouth closed, but he spit it out as soon as I let go. Okay, I thought, I guess I didn't hold it closed long enough. I held it until he swallowed a couple of times -- or maybe he was trying to cuss at me. Either way, I figured the pill was gone. But, wait, there it is on the floor again. Drat.
Maybe I held his mouth closed too tight and he couldn't swallow? I tried holding his mouth more lightly. We were now working on pill #3. Once again he held it in some cheek pouch like a hamster while tossing his head around to escape me. Yukon is still about 17 lbs (9 kg) even after losing weight, so he when he tosses his head, he takes me with him. And as soon as I'd had enough, he presented the pill again.
By now I was thoroughly exasperated. I've pilled this darn cat before! Why not now?
And for some reason, I put the pill on his placemat on the floor, pointed to it, and declared, "Cat Food!!" Yukon looked at me doubtfully. "Cat Food, Yukon! Cat Food! Eat it!" He sniffed it and mouthed it a little and then checked with me again. "Eat the Cat Food Yukon! Yummy Yukon Cat Food!" With a feline shrug, he chomped it down. He even found and swallowed the peices that broke off on the first bite. As long as it was a Pill, forget it. But as soon as it was declared Cat Food, down it went. I gotta wonder what else Yukon would eat if I told him it was C.F.? Dingbat.
Editor's note:
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