When it comes to medicating a cat you may be coming face to face with a real challenge. If you have a cat that is difficult to pill you may need a trick your cat into taking its medicine. That’s exactly where pill pockets come in, simplifying the process of medicating your cat. Let’s dig into the best pill pockets for cats.
What Are Pill Pockets
So let’s dive into what exact a pill pocket is. A pill pocket is a treat that has hole (or rather a pouch) in the center for you to place medication. Once you have placed your cats medication into the center of the treat you can pinch it closed having a treat completely cover the meds. Due to the pliable nature of the treats they are easy to pinch and form around any medication you may need for your pet.
Do Pill Pockets Work
If you have a food motivated cat then yes pill pockets do work! If you are unsure if they are food motivated then check and see how they do with a standard cat treat like, Temptations. If the go nuts for a food treat then that means your cat is food motivated. A pro tip is to first give your cat a pill pocket without any medication inside them at all.
How to Use Pill Pockets for Cats
First thing first is to prep your cat’s medication. While pill pockets are sized to fit medicine in both capsule and tablet form your cat will in most cases prefer if you can get the size down as much as possible. Not all medication can be cut down smaller so be sure to clear it with your veterinarian first.
Once you have the medicine all set simply place into the center pouch of your pill pocket. Now begin to pinch and mold the treat so it surrounds and hides medicine completely. Then your pill pocket is ready to give to your cat.
If you find your cat only likes crunchy treats I found a quick solution to this problem. Once you have your cats medicine inside a pill pocket simply crush their favorite crunchy treat. Then roll the pill pocket around on the crunchy treat pieces this will effectively add a crunchy outer layer to the pill pocket. I also found this a good way to switch up the flavor of the pill pocket if my cats ever got sick of it.
Pill Pockets for Cats You Can Buy
Greenies Feline Pill Pockets
By far and away this is the most popular options for pill pockets is the options from Greenies. They have three different flavor options for cats a chicken flavor, a salmon flavor, and lastly a tuna and cheese flavor.
The perk of Greenies is they are made with Natural Ingredients plus minerals and trace nutrients. Pill Pocket were made as a healthy alternative to using human food to disguise your kitty’s meds.
Vetoquinol Pill Wrap
Pill Wrap is a moist, juicy, flavorful and shapeable paste that makes giving your cat medicine a breeze. Pill Wrap is perfect for wrapping around any tablet, capsule or wafer. It’s made with only food grade ingredients and loaded with flavor! Best of all this one does double duty, a safe option for both cats and dogs.
TOMLYN Pill-Masker for Cats
The Pill-Masker from Tomlyn is a moist, juicy, flavorful and shapeable paste that is perfect for wrapping around any size or shape pill. Pill-Masker makes giving pills to your pet easy! I recommend getting the cat specific one since the bacon flavor seemed to be more enticing (at least my experience with my cats).
Of course this brand having the stamp of approval from Jackson Galaxy just adds to knowing that this product is gonna be a win with your cat.
Homemade Pill Pockets for Cats
If you are in a pinch or simply can’t afford picking up some pill pockets right now don’t worry there are some simple around the house solutions that could work as well.
Cheesy Pill Wrap
First up is the quick cheese as a pill pocket. A paste cheese like cream cheese can work wonders. I would avoid giving too much of these as dairy can upset their tummies. If you notice any stomach upset or loose poo in the box I would stop giving the cheese and switch to another option.
Turkey
If you have no issues feeding your cat raw you could always go the route of wrapping some ground turkey around your cats pill. It’s best to have freshly ground meat so I don’t recommend serving your cat a ground meat that’s close to expiration date.
Tuna Homemade Pill Pocket
On a similar note to the ground turkey is canned tuna. Cats tend to go wild over anything tuna flavored. Tuna can also take on the molded texture so you can easily wrap it around your cats medicine.
Be careful when giving your cat tuna, they have a few requirements and you should not just feed any tuna you have in the house. Select tuna packed in water, NOT canned tuna in oil or tuna with added salt or ANY other flavorings or seasonings. Chunk-light tuna is a better choice for your cat than albacore, which is higher in mercury.
Trader Joes has a tuna specifically marked as cat safe if you have one near you this can make for a simple and easy selection process.
Conclusion on Pill Pockets for Cats
Pill pockets are an absolutely a fantastic way to help ease the process of medicating your cat. No one likes to have a pill shoved down their throats and this is a great way to let your cat take their medicine on their own.
If you are still having issues giving your cats medication be sure to read our tips on Sneaky and Easy Ways to Pill a Cat. It contains other alternatives to using pill pockets and great to reference if you have a cat with a chronic issue and needs frequent medication like we do.