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My cat has renal failure and one of the meds I need to give her is Azodyl. I tried giving her the whole pill and it pissed her off and made her hesitant to come around me. She is 18 years old and I cannot force her to take a pill. I just tried a pill pocket and as she was eating it, I heard her bite into it.

Is it safe for my cat to have opened Azodyl capsule in her mouth?

I've searched online and found no answers. I hope this doesn't hurt my cat, because I know everything that is in Azodyl is bacteria related.

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  • Just a update for everyone: My cat just finished a 48 hours of a IV. She is doing great! Plan: give my cat subq starting every other day, so my cat stays hydrated. My cat's #2 was dry and hard with no smell and little balls. As soon I got home, my cat took a #2 and it was normal and boy did it stink! LOL I wish that happened at the vet! LOL The IV/hydration was the 100% answer. Thank you everyone that added a comment and gave me advice.
    – Yankeeownz
    Jan 17, 2018 at 19:33

2 Answers 2

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Crushing the capsule in mouth is not harmful to cats. But it greatly reduces the benefit of the medicine.

Azodyl capsules are refrigerated to keep moisture intact and prevent heating. Otherwise the bacteria will die. And the capsule is meant to keep the bacteria together until it reaches the intestine where finally the capsule dissolves and bacteria is released. If taken in crushed form, most bacteria won't reach the intestine.

If you want your cat healthy and your cat is not buying pill pocket there is no other alternative but to force feed.

Depending on whether your cat likes fish or chicken you should prepare fish or chicken soup. You should keep a syringe ready. Then you have to hold your cat in such a way that his nose points at ceiling. If your cat is not docile enough you have to take the help of another person.

Then open the cats mouth and quickly puf the capsule in her mouth and push it as back in the mouth as possible. Then close the the mouth and hold it so that the cat is not able to open the mouth. Rub the cat's throat to encourage him to swallow the capsule. There is gap in between front teeth and back teeth of cat. Use it to insert the syringe and push in the chicken or fish soup. It is to ensure that the capsule does not remain stuck in oesophagus and reaches stomach.

Hope this helps.

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  • Do you have a reference for the above? According to one article The Azodyl was sprinkled on the food since this is commonly how the product is used (making cats take capsules is often difficult) the same article questions if the drug actually benifits the cat at all.
    – James Jenkins
    Jan 8, 2018 at 17:45
  • @Sonevol's I just wanted to make sure there were no serious medical conditions by my cat chewing it and not swallowing it whole.
    – Yankeeownz
    Jan 9, 2018 at 0:30
  • @Sonevol's I hit post by accident. To add on: a few hours after my cat chewed the cat treat with the capsule inside and broke the capsule: I noticed balance issues and my cat became very fatigued. As my cat was walking, she slowed down and just fell on her side twice. I will not give my cat Azodyl any more. My cat is 18 going on 19 and when I gave her the capsule the first time by placing it in her mouth and have her swallowing, this bothered her way to much and she is hesitant now. I know it is only a matter of time before the renal failure takes over, I'm just
    – Yankeeownz
    Jan 9, 2018 at 0:37
  • @Solvel's The arrow button on my phone is a done button. Finish my previous comment: I'm just doing my best to keep her comfortable for the time she has left. I'm going to continue what I've been doing: fish oil, UTI paste (cranberry base) vitamin paste and KD foods for kidney/renal issues and subq fluids every 2/3 days.
    – Yankeeownz
    Jan 9, 2018 at 0:42
  • @JamesJenkins vetdepot.com/azodyl.html the article clearly mentions administering azodyl as a whole. Also it mentions the composition of azodyl and the number of benefits it has.
    – Sonevol
    Jan 9, 2018 at 3:49
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I had the same problem with my cat. We couldn't manage to give the pills and nothing worked, but then our wet told us to try so called "Tablet Syringe" (try googling it) and it was a great help for us - all problems solved.

With this tool even my brother who was taking care of the cat when we were on vacation had no problems giving the pills.

First you put the pill on the top of the "syringe", then you push the sides of the jaws with one hand so cat opens its mount, put the syringe (which is plastic and harmless) into the cat's mouth and shot the pill straight into the throat. You may be afraid of not shooting it into the trachea, but we have applied many pills this way and never it ended with choking.

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  • Thank you for the advice and sorry for the late response. I've looked into using the pill gun. I'm undecided if to use it or just do not give my cat the pill.
    – Yankeeownz
    Jan 17, 2018 at 19:32

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