Cats are cats. Any cat lover knows they can transition from sweet and cuddly to stubborn and sassy with a mind of their own. That is especially the case when cats need to take medicine orally.
“Cats are incredibly difficult to medicate and there are just not a lot of good options,” says Amy Nichelason, a board-certified canine and feline practitioner and clinical assistant professor at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine.
Because of these challenges, pills sometimes must be forced into a cat’s mouth and throat — a method called dry swallowing. This approach can negatively affect the human-animal bond, increase inflammation of the esophagus, and make cats more apprehensive about future treatment. Liquid medication is typically easier to administer to cats, but acceptance of these formulations also depends on the flavor and type.
Hoping to contribute scientific evidence to this everyday predicament, Nichelason and colleagues recently compared flavor acceptance in liquid medications among cats. They published their findings in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Although general cat flavor preferences are known, this was the first study to examine the acceptance of differently compounded flavors for cat medications.
In the study, healthy pet cats received a variety of flavorings, like chicken, beef, and fish, in unmedicated oil- and water-based liquid formulas. Owners gave the cats different flavors at home and observed which their cats ate. However, no flavor stuck out as the favorite.
One interesting finding was that cats didn’t like sweet flavors in water-based formulations. This surprised Nichelason and her peers because cats lack the gene to taste sweetness, so it was intriguing that they actively disliked the sweet flavor.
Another standout finding was that owners struggled to accurately predict which compounding flavor their cat would like; owners’ perceptions of their cats’ preferences were only moderately associated with flavor acceptance.
Although no individual flavor was an overall winner, the cats favored oil-based flavorings over water-based flavorings. There were some trends toward flavor preferences (specifically, chicken and fish), but these findings were not statistically significant.
That said, cats remain picky. Sixty percent of cats didn’t like any of the oil-based flavors, compared to 85 percent that disliked the water-based flavors.
“It matches what we see in clinical practice: cats are just really hard to medicate,” Nichelason says.
Still, the study provides a stepping stone for improving cats’ compliance with medicine and guides what veterinarians should prescribe.
“The moral of the story is to try something that has the best odds of working,” Nichelason says. “What I took home from this as a veterinarian is that I should avoid sweet flavors and use oil-based flavorings when possible.”
Nichelason offers a few general recommendations to lessen the stress of medicating finicky felines:
• Try different formulations — chews, liquid, or tablets — based on what your cat likes. If you aren’t sure of their preference, many compounding pharmacies can provide unmedicated samples for your cat to try before adding a medication.
• Reward your cat with a treat or extra affection after any medication to reinforce a positive outcome.
• Be honest with your veterinarian. If the medication formulation isn’t working and it is creating stress, let your veterinarian know so you can work together to
create a better medication plan.
Britta Wellenstein
This article appears in the Spring 2023 issue of On Call magazine.