Things for which a doctorate does not come in handy, #39391: medicating a geriatric cat

Both of my cats are getting up in age--they'll be fifteen in April--and so they come with the standard complement of elderly-cat issues.  Disraeli recently decided that arthritis and inexplicable allergies were insufficient; no, he needed a defunct thyroid, too.  (He may have been trying to catch up with his sister on that score.)  This means that he requires thyroid meds every day.

As you can see, he's pretty "uh-huh, yeah, no" about that.

Is that a "you just try it" expression or what?

Dizzy is a pill about being pilled (as I explained to the vet, "two people are required, and there's only one of me"), so he gets his meds topically, via a gel pen.  Unlike his sister, who had a yikes-inducing allergic reaction to the pen, Dizzy seems to be getting along with the gel.  Unfortunately, also unlike his sister, he is not, shall we say, all that patient with the situation.  

For those of you who have never used one of these gel pens, you rotate the base of the handle to dispense the appropriate amount of medication. The base clicks when you rotate it.  

You can guess where this is going.

After about two weeks, Dizzy figured out that clicks translated to EVUHL GELZ IN MAH EARZ, and he took evasive action accordingly.   I, having a Ph.D., started concealing the sound by turning on the faucet.  This worked...for a few days.   I, again being the one with a Ph.D., upped the ante by using the very loud vent fan in the kitchen.  This worked...for two whole days.  Tomorrow, I will try the next step: going into the garage.  Which I am not anticipating with any great pleasure, because IT IS EXTREMELY COLD RIGHT NOW.  However, as I completed my Ph.D. in Chicago, I am no doubt inured to extreme chill.  Right?