Cats and medications (pills of all things!) - any suggestions?

[Jason]

Hello all,

Well... for the first time in his pretty long life (13 years and counting), my cat is ill and needs to go to the vet (he's been to the vet before, of course, but never before due to illness).

My question, though, is about giving my cat pills. See, my cat *hates* to travel. Hates it. He screams. He whines. He vomits. He urinates. He, uhm... well, let's just say it's very unpleasant, not only for Izzy but also for me, and for the vet. In his younger years I just did my best to calm him, but now that he's reached what would be considered fairly advanced years for a cat, I am concerned the stress of travel could cause irreparable damage (a heart attack or stroke comes to mind).

So, my vet prescribed some tranquilizers, which should help to alleviate the stress.

The problem I have, though, is two-fold. First of all, these are in pill form. I have no idea how I would get him to take a pill (it's not like I can hand him a glass of water and say "hey, swallow these, ok?"). Does anyone have any recommendations on that?

The other problem I have is that no one at the vets office could tell me how long it would take for these to take affect. I don't want to give them to Izzy too early (thus risking they'd wear off before I got him home from the vet), but if I give them to him too late they might not have taken affect by the time I have to leave.

The <sarcasm>very helpful</sarcasm> suggestion of the woman at the vet's office was "well, give him one today and see how long it takes to take affect, and then you'll know when to give it to him tomorrow." I find that very offensive (what they hell are they thinking - they want me to tranquilize my cat for no reason whatsoever, just so I can "see how long it takes"????? Are they nuts?

So... anyone know how long it would take 5 MG of Diazepam to get a common housecat high?

Thanks,

Jason