Hello Payne!
I don't know if you mentioned this aid, either -- but I also take a bath towel and swaddle the cat first so that he or she cannot use his or her arms and legs to ward off my hands. Then I put the cat between my legs with the cat oriented facing a bit towards the right, reach my left arm around and behind the cat (as if to hug); put my left hand behind his head, feel for the jaw hinge and apply gentle pressure. The cats jaw should snap open. You have to have the pill ready in your 'pilling' hand. I then quickly place the pill all the way in the back of the cat's throat on the back of the tongue. I will sometimes precede ALL of this by giving the cat a tiny bit of butter right below his nose to get him juiced up from licking it off. Release the jaw, drop my left hand to the tops of the shoulders and gently massaging the throat with my right hand til I hear the cat go "gulp". Some cats prefer to be sitting upright (in which case I put the cat between my legs); some I can pill while they are swaddled and being held somewhat on their backs like babies (in which case I craddle the cat in my left arm). All of these directions are for a right handed person; lefties can switch the hands to suit their handedness. Cats will tense up (if not run and hide) upon hearing you open the pill bottle, too, so I always open the bottle, get the pill out, set it to one side, then go do something else to lull the cat's fear for a minute or two -- and I'd keep the towel handy rather than making a show of getting one out. Cats seem to have a sixth sense about a LOT of stuff; I had one cat I simply could not approach for any purpose while wearing a coat. It also helps to pill the cat right after he or she has awakened or when the cat is already relaxed. A tense, alert, wide awake cat --even one really ill -- is a fearsome thing of raw strength, razor sharp teeth and tearing, painful claws. You can practice opening a cat's jaw well before you ever need to pill a cat to get a feel for where the hinge is and how little pressure it really takes. I learned this from a veterinarian. The quicker you can get the cat's jaw open (and with the least amount of fear and fuss) the better the likelihood you can also get the pill at the 'tipping' point for an almost automatic "gulp" once you have it in there. I love cats so much and I never feel so inadequate as when my Sweetie is ill.