Yuck. My cat, Pudding, is running a fever and the vet gave me liquid antibiotics for her. She HATES HATES HATES taking it though… it took me four tries to get one whole milliliter dose into her and now she runs and hides whenever she sees the dropper. She won’t eat food that has the medicine in it. I’ve wasted three doses, trying that with different food. She’s getting lethargic and didn’t eat last night. Please someone give me some comforting advice! I’m so worried about her.
Can you get the antibiotic in a pill form? I think it’s actually easier to give cats pills if you use one of the “pill popper” things. Just pry open their mouths, insert the thing, and deliver the pill to the back of the throat where they will automatically swallow.
Also, pharmacies can make up a fish tasting base for most liquid medicines. Ask your vet about it. It’s a bit more expensive but most cats like the taste.
Putting it in milk worked for my cat, after he started eating that is.
Before that I would make a ‘kitty burrito’. Take a towel or blanket, hold the kitty by the scruff of the neck so she hangs straight down and wrap her up. Hold her so her head is resting in your elbow to control head movement and do what must be done. It helps to keep the medicine hidden until they are wrapped up.
Ditto (except I just use my finger). Liquid medicing means they just spit half of it back out…
what 
said. easiest way to dose kitty without losing a limb or other appendage. been there, don’t that, myself.
That’s how I used to do it until I had a cat that needed several pills at a time, multiple times during the day. He got really good at spitting up the pill even when I thought I had it right. The pill popper thing was actually less traumatic 'cause it’s so fast.
LOL. i see that i need to go back to school to learn how to type. and use the little smiley things.
I just finished a five-day treatment of two different medicines for my cat. The vet tech gave me a syringe to fill instead of the eye dropper, because she found that easier than the droppers. I would agree, plus I got more accurate measurements, and I was able to fill the syringe up with both medicines at once and just give her a single dose.
Two things I found that helped were to avoid making direct eye contact with the cat when you approach, and don’t let her see the syringe until you have her in hand. I tilted her head back and forced her jaw open, then put the liquid as far back into her throat as I could without choking her. I didn’t let her go until she swallowed.
Do you have a helper? This is really a two-person job. One person to thoroughly and confidently restrain the kitty on the floor. This person needs to use a firm grip and immobilize the cat. The second person will administer the medicine. Approach the restrained kitty from behind to the extent possible. Using your fingers or the dropper, pry open the cat’s mouth behind the teeth. Squirt the medicine or drop the pill down the throat. Hold cat’s chin up until it swallows the medicine.
Sattua, there’s a pharmacy in St. Joe that I used who would mix up glipizide in fish oil and mail it to me for my diabetic cat. The name is St. Joseph Apothecary. You could give them a shout out - as long as the meds aren’t time-release, you should be good!
Hi DWD. Unfortunately, I have moved to Illinois recently. No more Mighty Wabash for me 
. I’m sure the pharmacy would still mail me the stuff… but the problem is that Pudding isn’t interested in food or treats. She has always eaten her dry food as a duty rather than a pleasure, and been indifferent to any kind of treat. She has flat-out refused to eat wet cat food or turkey baby food, with or without the medicine in it.
I just went home for lunch and tried to do the Kitty Burrito. She got loose and ran before I could get the medicine into her. I have only had her for two weeks–she was only just starting to get really comfortable with me and my house when all this started. Now she almost distrusts me. It’s breaking my heart and makes it basically impossible to give her the medicine.
The best I seem to be able to do is to drop the medicine onto her paws and hope that it sticks and that she licks it off. It’s not at all satisfactory, but it’s the best I’ve got.
Doesn’t help that I live alone, and am only just getting over the flu. I really don’t have the strength to chase her around.
Try mixing it with meat-flavored baby food (chicken, lamb, turkey, veal, etc). Our cats look forward to their antibiotics, and they all hate taking medicine. Just be sure you mix in enough baby food and stir well to completely cover up the medicine. Unless your cat is very weird, this will probably work. 
Oh, and it’s 100% vet-approved, at least by my vets.
She’s weird. Very, very weird. I left her in the utility room (her safe room) with the laced turkey baby food and nothing else overnight, and she wouldn’t touch it. She doesn’t eat treats either. Or tuna. Or caviar.
Sattua - My now-deceased cat had CRF and would far rather get her IV fluids sub-q in her sides than her meds. What I found worked best was wrapping her in a towel and administering it through a syringe with a bit of tubing attached. That way you can get it way back in the throat.
I’d prepare the syringe and have everything waiting (hidden in the side of a chair), then catch the kitty and put her in the towel. Sit down with her and shove the tube in the corner of her mouth and it’s done quickly.
StG
I require more detailed instructions. I just tried, and failed, and freakin’ traumatized her in the process.
I apologize–I read through the thread very quickly, and I didn’t notice your comment (right above my reply! Even more embarrassing!) about how your cat doesn’t like baby food. I’ll read more carefully next time.
Wrap tight!
If I might ask, what are the antibiotics for?
My cat had a URI and didn’t eat for almost two weeks with us having to force antiobiotics into him. If she has something similar and can’t smell, she’s not gonna eat until it clears up. We went through that ordeal, trying to tempt him with anything and everything with no results until he could smell.
When attempting the burrito, you have to wrap her up tightly. You’re not going to hurt her, so make it tight enough that she can’t move. I also highly recommend getting a needleless syringe, it makes giving her the medicine a lot easier. Push the end up against her teeth and hold her jaw so she has to open her mouth. As soon as you get an opening, squirt the stuff in and hold her mouth shut until she swallows. It sounds cruel and tramautic, but she WILL get over it. My boy would hate me for about five minutes after the medicine but then love me again right away. Hang in there.
Oh yeah, don’t worry about being too rough with the cat. Watch how the vet handles your cat.
First - is she eating at all? How long has it been since you’ve seen her eat? Cats lose their appetites really easily and can get sick quickly when they don’t eat, especially if they’re overweight.
Second - are her symptoms worsening without the antibiotics?
If either of these are true, get her back to the vet. You need a different solution and the cat might need emergency care, especially fluids.