I can’t believe that I’m the first person to post this !
ETA: I would not really advocate this kind of treatment for an animal, but I thought it was funny anyway!
Yeah, I came across that site last night after spending an hour and 10 minutes trying to get a pill down my cat’s throat. She just had 2 important surgeries within a week and it is vital that she take her antibiotics and painkillers.
I feel for you, and I don’t think pills are easier than liquid form. The first few days (after the first operation), I had liquid painkiller and it was easier to administer-- with a syringe into the side of her mouth, pushed in so that it goes to her throat and makes her gulp.
She took to holding the pills in her mouth. Even if I put water in her mouth to ensure that she swallow it, she ends up spitting out a soggy messy pill. I’ve held her mouth shut for an eternity, it seemed, and she still didn’t swallow it.
I finally went by the vet’s today and asked a tech to demonstrate. She did so, it looked easy, I hope I can duplicate her technique at the 6:00 pm feeding.
I took her to the vet because she was sneezing and sounding hoarse. The vet pronounced her nose and lungs to be clear, but she had a temperature (104) so the vet prescribed antibiotics just in case.
She ate a very small amount of food, and one crunchy treat, this morning. She is drinking and peeing plenty.
At this point I wonder if the major trauma involved in seeing the vet (I couldn’t crate her in time for the first appointment, had to do it the next day) and the subsequent trauma of medicine-giving isn’t what’s making her hide out and not eat… maybe even giving her the temperature. I’m tempted to just let her be for a couple of days.
Oh dear. I must be really bent out of shape about all this. That made me cry.
She will be fine, really. It is natural to be upset…I sat crying holding my boy trying to get him to eat.
It probably is just the fever and not feeling well that has her hiding. She wants left alone and to rest in a dark place. Let her do that, except make sure she gets the medicine. Cats are amazingly resiliant and can get through almost anything. Just hang in there. But if she doesn’t drink enough and you can’t get the medicine in her, make sure you call the vet.
This evening: she is affectionate but independent, making walking circuits of the house for over an hour, instead of cuddling. This was good. She doesn’t hate me, and she wasn’t asleep. While putting her to bed for the night, I dripped most of one dose of antibiotics down one of her forelegs. Surely she’ll lick it off.
I used to smear medicine on my cat’s face or paws- she would always clean it off. When she got to be really old, she needed some thyroid meds, and my vet has a pharmacy that does compounding. She had them make up some stuff that is a transdermal med- it gets absorbed through the skin. I just squirted it in her ear twice a day, and that was that. I don’t know if it’s an option for something like antibiotics, but if the smear-it-on-lick-it-off tactic doesn’t work, you might want to ask your vet about it.
Don’t assume that she’ll groom the medication off. Besides, depending on what exactly you have, it’s possible that the antibiotic could be destroyed while it dries up, waiting for your cat to eat it. You need to get the meds down her throat. If it’s really proving impossible, ask your vet about injectable antibiotics. They are more expensive, and don’t work for everything, but they might work for you.
In the mean time, here are some tips that I’ve given clients before.
Step 1: Get a syringe to give the cat its dose. It’s way easier and more accurate. Ask your vet to give you one (they should have, but maybe it got lost in the shuffle)
Step 1a: Practice the right way of holding a syringe. DO NOT try to balance the damned thing with two fingers and your thumb on the plunger. Make a fist around it such that the plunger is by your thumb and the squirty end comes out by your pinky. Now you can use your thumb on the plunger and get way better stability and control.
Step 2: Swaddle kitty with a towel and/or place her on the kitchen counter or somewhere elevated that she doesn’t normally go. It will make it easier for you to do your job and might throw her off of fussing momentarily. Tuck kitty under the arm that is not holding the syringe (I’m right handed, so I usually use my right hand for holding kitty’s skull and my left hand for working the syringe)
Step 3: Put the palm of the hand that isn’t holding the syringe on top of her head and grab her cheekbones with your thumb and fingers.
Step 4: Rotate kitty’s nose straight up towards the ceiling. This is the bit most clients get wrong. Her nose has to be pointing at the ceiling. You’ll see her lips part as her jaw goes slack. This is critical. Only now will you be able to open her mouth effectively.
Step 5: Place the tip of the syringe behind her canine tooth. There’s a spot there where she doesn’t have any teeth, so there will be a gap between her jaws. Use that opening to lever her jaw open.
Step 6: Drop a pea-sized amount of medicine on her tongue. This is the other crucial part that most clients get wrong. If you put a big dollop, she’s just fling it out again with her tongue. By putting just a little, her attempts to fling will result in her smearing the medicine down her throat, which is to say that she’ll swallow it.
Step 7: let kitty fuss with that drop of medicine until it’s gone, then repeat. You’ll need to let go of her head occasionally so she can rest, but don’t let her un-burrito or get out from under your elbow, unless you are in danger of exsanguination.
Step 8: Once all the medicine is gone, love on Kitty profusely and offer a fancy treat.
Note: if she’s not eating normally for anything longer than a day, call the vet. Cats go into liver failure pretty quickly when they don’t eat
Common Kitty tactics and counter tactics:
*Don’t let kitty have access to high shelves or underneath beds where you can’t reach. She’ll anticipate medicine time and will hide, making the whole ordeal worse.
*If she tries to back out from under your arm, work her around so something sturdy is behind her butt. A good place is usually on top of the dryer, with kitty facing out so the control panel of the dryer is behind her, and you standing to the side of the dryer, kitty under your arm.
The tips above work well for giving pills with a couple of modifications.
1.Get kitty in the same position, with her nose to the ceiling.
2.Using the ring finger/pinky of the hand holding the pill, pry kitty’s jaw open by pushing down on the tiny front teeth of the bottom jaw.
3.You’re now in prime position to drop the pill at the back of kitty’s throat.
4.At this point, you want to use your newly empty hand to hold her jaw shut, but you don’t want it closed vice tight. Keep her nose pointing towards the ceiling and support her jaw with your free hand just enough that she can stick her tongue out.
5.When the tongue comes out, she’s swallowed the pill.
Hey, Sattua - sorry it took me so long to reply.
St. Joe is just east of Champaign-Urbana on I-74. I thought of you as we drove by there today - we went to the Champaign Area Fish Exchange’s auction. And yes, they will mail the meds, and quickly, if it is needed. Just something to keep in mind for future, uhm, endeavors in medicating kitteh.
Even though I live in Indiana, I’m from Illinois and I spend a lot of time over there - heck, I even work back in the state now.
How is Pudding doing today?
BTW, my new kitten Tiburon required meds - I knew there was NO WAY I was going to be able to pill the skittish rascal. Thankfully, he was none too picky about having it mixed in his canned kitten food. Yay!
If you’re still having trouble with the liquid meds, I second the syringe recommendation. Try to find one with an attachable extra long tip like this. That way, you can squirt it into the back of her throat so that she doesn’t taste the medicine. It was the only thing that worked for us the last time we had to give oral antibiotics.