Pill time with a cat: it’s nobody’s favorite. For most, it’s a bitter pill indeed because cats are masters of avoiding things they don’t want to do. Yet, as we’ve shared before, giving your feline their medicine can be manageable with the right planned approach. Here’s another case where a cat named Digit has learned to enjoy taking his daily pills!
“When your cat’s eyeliner game is better than yours,” shared Kait.
Digit with his mom, graphic designer Kait Lewis. Images and media via Instagram/pixel.n.friends
Digit Needs to Take Pills for Life
When Digit was nine months old, he became very sick. He had lost all energy, and a vet discovered he had an alarming 4% red blood cell count! On average, it should be 25-45%, or the cat is anemic.
“He was not only anemic, he was minutes from no longer being here,” Digit’s mom, Kait Lewis, explained.
Multiple tests showed that Digit has uncommon “pure red cell aplasia.” Put simply, Kait explained that his body “can’t get red blood cells out fast enough.” After he seemed to recover, he relapsed a year later and almost passed away three times. But with multiple blood transfusions, he pulled through each time, showing a strong will to fight for life. Now, he requires daily medications and frequent checkups for the rest of his life.
Video by Pixel and Friends:
A Year of Pill Time
Making pill time or “pilling” with Digit bearable was a learning curve. But Kait got there with help from some experts.
“A year difference. Digit and I have come a VERY long way. I’ve learned a lot through my incredible community, through vet techs that have seen my videos, and through incredible behavioralists,” she shared.
As you’ll see next, Digit now looks forward to pill time, but at first, he resisted like most cats. It was a struggle for both cat and caregiver.
“I don’t want you to think Digit and I naturally knew what to do right off the bat, and I don’t want you to feel discouraged. It was a rough start a year ago, and it was a long journey to get Digit not just cooperative for pill time, but excited for it,” she wrote.
Although there were many difficult moments along the way, she never gave up and neither did Digit.
“With time and patience, and allowing yourself and your pet to sometimes fail (don’t put so much pressure on yourself!), you can make pill time a positive experience, too.”
Video via Instagram/Pixel and Friends
Pill Time Is Finally Enjoyable and Even Exciting!
Flash forward to today, and we have reached relatively easy peasy pilling! To help make the experience more enjoyable, Kait gives her baby a choice of which pill to take first: the smaller one or the considerably larger pill.
Ameowzingly, Digit puts up his paw to choose the smaller pill first. Giving him a choice helps him find the experience more pawsitive.
“Just casually giving my cat the option to pick which pill to start with so he feels more in control of pill time. Just normal cat lady things.”
When he’s done, he knows he gets attention and a Churu, so what’s not to love? Although followers online call her a cat whisperer, Kait says it was just a matter of becoming educated.
“I appreciate you all calling me a cat whisperer, but honestly, I took the time to learn cat body language and positive reinforcement with cooperative care techniques through Chirrups and Chatter.
We previously shared how the Cat Behavior Consulting and Education company’s founder, Tabitha Kucera, shares helpful insights into a cat’s complex behaviors, such as how to know when a cat could be in pain.
Videos via Instagram/pixel.n.friends
You can see more about pill time and much more on Instagram/pixel.n.friends and Facebook. And Chirrups and Chatter is on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Kait, a graphic designer, created a beautiful coloring book to help cover Digit’s ongoing high medical costs. A GoFundMe has raised $5,853 with a $9,500 goal.
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