We have a cat with a breathing problem, so the vet gave us some medicine to give him twice a day. The problem is, this cat is very skiddish. He doesn’t let anyone normally hold him, and when we start to try holding him in order to grab his head and open his mouth, he becomes an uncontrollable ball of fury. We tried wrapping him in a towel but this cat simply will not sit still. We’re running out of blood to shed from all his scratching! Any advice?
Get on top of the cat,like you would a horse,squeeze his mid-section firmly with your knees grab the scruff of the neck tightly and insert medicine,much easier if its in a liquid form,if its a pill its best to have someone there to open the mouth and insert the pill.
I always used the towel, wrapped TIGHTLY. Flip them onto their back (you’ll need an extra person), open their mouth (if unwilling, stick your finger into the corner of their lips, they cant bite there) and toss it down their throat. If you just put it in, they’ll spit it back up, you’ve got to try to get it far enough down that its tongue wont reach to spit it back.
Or invest in a tiny (dosing gun? balling gun? pill-shooter? what do they call it for small animals?)
The towel is good. The main thing is to wrap up it’s paws with it, tightly. The front and back paws are equally and differently important. Gotta get all 4. Once you have that, the teeth aren’t really a problem. Stealth, speed and stalking/springing into action are youe friends.
I’m assuming you mean a big towel. Bath towel is good. Beach towel is even better. Kitchen towel… not so much.
Is it a pill that can be crushed?
**** YOU MUST ASK THE VET FIRST!! ****
Some pills are time-released and cannot be crushed - this is very important.
If the vet says it’s okay to crush it up, get some jarred baby food meat at the grocery store, and add the crushed pill to that. The cat will gobble it right up. Or, ask if the medication comes in a liquid form - same thing, add it to the baby food.
What, you missed the missive?
HOW TO GIVE A CAT A PILL
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Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat’s mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.
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Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.
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Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.
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Take a new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.
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Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.
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Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat’s throat vigorously.
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Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered Dolton figures from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.
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Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.
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Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink glass of water to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouses forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.
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Retrieve cat from neighbors shed. Get another pill. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck and leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.
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Fetch screwdriver from garage and put door back on hinges. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus jab. Throw tee shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.
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Ring fire brigade (LAN) to retrieve cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap.
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Tie cats font paws and rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed, pry cats mouth open with small spanner. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of filet steak. Hold head vertically and pour ~ pint of water down throat to wash pill down.
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Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call at furniture shop on way home to order new table.
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Arrange for SPCA to collect cat and phone local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.
© The Innernet, circa 1994
Head butt him. That’ll learn him who’s boss!
Who else missed the word “medicine” in the thread title the first time around?
Ummm, I think that was just you.
Pet stores and vets often have nifty little items called “pill pockets” - pocket shaped chunks of food. A friend who tried the said the cat would eat the pocket from around the pill and spit out the pill, so they worked a compromise - he lets her give him the pill, the he gets the pocket as a treat.
Ask your vet if the medication is available in liquid form - it is much easier to give a liquid. Clip the cats claws first. Don armor, including helm with visor.
Good luck. We once had a cat we called the “Pex dispenser”.
Gotta go with hawksgirl on this one; it’s just you.
The medicine is in liquid form, and comes with a medicine dropper, so at least it’s not as difficult as a pill. My housemate kneeled on him and held him between her thighs while I waited for an opportunity to squirt it into his mouth. This morning he seemed a little bit calmer and after a bit of work we managed to get something down his throat (and on his face, the floor…). We have to do this twice a day…sigh…
If that’s the case, you might try stirring the dose into either meat-flavored baby food of some type or canned food. Use only a little bit so he doesn’t get full before he eats it all.
Unless counterindicated, try to give kitty something especially yummy after the medicine. Positive reinforcement can make it easier. (That’s how I get my cat to let me comb his back legs.)
This has always worked well for me when I have to give liquid medicine to a cat. Put the medicine on a tablespoon of tuna, or tuna juice, or roast turkey, and soon you and Kitty are singing “A Spoonful of Tuna Makes the Medicine Go Down” together. My cats particularly like tuna, turkey, roast beef, and pork. They will eat cheese, but not with medicine on it.
Pills are much harder to successfully insert into a cat, IME.
Buddy the Beagle takes all his medicine with peanut butter. He loves getting his medicine.
(Do cats like peanut butter?)
Before you traumatize the little furball, find out if he likes the taste of the medicine. Mine loves the taste of amoxycillin and licks it right up from a saucer!