I love animals, so it makes sense that I have a few pets.  A part of owning pets is the veterinarian.  I have been very lucky to find two wonderful vets to help take care of my beautiful companions.  One of my friends is a 14 year old cat named Dude.  Dude has a thyroid problem and has to take a pill every day.

If you’ve ever needed to give a pill to a cat, you may know my struggle.  He hates them, and seems to be able to find the pill in anything I put it in, rejecting it and leaving it laying on the floor.  I have tried everything from peanut butter (which works great for the dogs) to butter, cheese, and cat food treats.  He always spits it out.  But then I found:

PROSCIUTTO

Prosciutto is a dry cured ham sliced very thinly and is popular in Italian cuisine.  Yes, its a bit spendy sometimes, but so are vet bills.  I take a piece of prosciutto big enough to wrap the pill in twice over, and Dude eats it every time.  When I open the bottle of pills, he now comes running, eager for his “treat”.  He used to run and hide.

I know this post may seem trivial, but some of the little things in life are the thing that cause us stress.  I used to spend up to 20 minutes trying to get this cat to take the pill, chasing it around the house, and sometimes getting scratched as I tried to make him eat it.  Now it takes 2 minutes, no one gets hurt, and he enjoys his treat.

Its the simple things in life that make me smile.  And the prosciutto tastes great wrapped around a piece of fresh mozzarella too.