My husband accidentally hit on a way to almost always make the cat swallow - put the pill in, then *immediately* pour about a teaspoon of milk into her mouth. She'll swallow reflexively to keep from "drowning." (Milk is better just because that'll bribe her a bit; if she doesn't like it or you don't have it, any liquid will do.)

he discovered this the day we had to cut the pill out of the fur of the OTHER cat, who was passing by at the critical moment....