How to Feed a Cat Supplements

by susanrm

1.7K38

Intro: How to Feed a Cat Supplements

My cat has chronic renal insufficiency. I address this with a homemade diet and a number of supplements, most of which I grind with a mortar and pestle and add to his food. There is one supplement, though, that can't be crushed, and other methods of getting them into him all fail; they must taste too bad, and at his late age (15) I'm not going to traumatize both of us by forcing them down his throat.

Therefore, I put them in a Pill Pocket and feed them to him. Here is a video of how the process goes. You can see that by doing it this way, taking his medicine becomes a joy, not a pain!

All that is involved is to 1) take the supplement and put in in the pocket, and 2) smush it closed. Then watch as your kitty goes crazy for the num-nums. Just watch your fingers in case he misses the treat!

And if you're wondering if it's worth it, it is. Since I started doing this process consistently, his blood tests showed that his condition first stabilized, then started improving. He acts healthy and happy these days, with good energy, clear eyes, and no more overly dry skin.

If you are interested in the homemade food I give him, let me know in the comments, and I may publish another article on that.

8 Comments

sunshiine 12 years ago

I thought this instructable was interesting and would benefit the instructable community more with a step by step. A step by step would probably be a featured ible and you would receive a lot of viewers and comments making it popular. I hope you will consider doing this. Thanks for sharing.

susanrm 12 years ago

Hi Sunshiine! There really isn't much more to this -ible, which is why I did it this way. I did add a little more text explaining the steps. Do you think this works? Otherwise a step-by-step would probably be about two steps long.

sunshiine 12 years ago

I see now, when I first watched the video, the video was dragging and pausing. I did not catch the pill pocket package. I have never heard of them. I also was interested in the recipe of the diet you were giving hime. You mentioned it made a difference in his blood test. I think if you make this video with a step by step on mixing the diet ingredients it could be a winner.

susanrm 12 years ago

Hi Sunshiine, thanks... if I get other feedback from people wanting the food, I will make a step-by-step on that. It's a lot (a LOT) more involved than the supplements.

sunshiine 12 years ago

Your welcome! Do they make these pockets for dogs?

CatTrampoline 12 years ago

They do indeed! And most dogs love them. However, my dog suddenly refused to eat them after a year of happily munching his pills in them. He will still take his pills in a ball of canned food or wrapped in cheese so it's not a big deal.

Some cats like the kitty pill pockets and some don't. They come in salmon and chicken flavors. I've had 2 cats snarf them down, and 2 absolutely refuse. They are definitely worth trying.

susanrm 12 years ago

There is also a hypoallergenic version which seems to be extra-tasty (and is more expensive). Making your own pockets for cats is not an easy task, or I would do it. This method works great for my cat, but other options could include mushy food that a cat will eat, like liverwurst.