| My method works for me, so maybe it will work for you. I put the
cat on the counter table or ironing board (to get them up to my
body level). I tuck the cats body under my left arm, and part the
gums on the left side of the cats face with my left hand. Then,
with the loaded syringe in my right hand, I stick the tip through
the side teeth on the left side of the face and slowly squirt the
medication in.
The alternate method for difficult cats is to hold them by the scruff,
with their back feet supporting their body weight on the counter,
and then slide the syringe between the side cheeks, between the
teeth, and slowly squirt the medication into the mouth.
Be sure to squirt the medication slowly, allowing time for swallowing,
or you could cause them to inhale the medication. Inhaling the
medication can result in Inhalation Pneumonia, and that is definitely
something that you would want to avoid.
Another tip, when pilling a cat, put the pill on the back of the
tongue and give it a slight push down the back of the throat. I
know that this is not always possible, but try.
If you want to make sure that the cat has swallowed the pill, there
are a couple of things you can do. First, the cat will stick it's
tongue out as it swallows the pill, watch for that sign. Second,
if you blow lightly on the cats nose, you can trigger the swallowing
response. I have had great success with that one, except with Laci,
who hates it when I blow on her, she usually follows up the swallowing
with a soft swat of the paw at my face. Never with claws out, so
it has kind of become a game with us. Thankfully, she isn't sick
very often!
Jo
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My method for giving liquid medicine is to sit down, put the kitty
on his back on my lap (so back of head is resting on my knees);
Then I put my left hand kind of behind his head, parting the
back of his mouth with my finger tips. Then quick as a flash, I
squirt the medicine in, and its usually down his little throat
before he knows what hits him. I have to confess this works better
with Iago, who's California-mellow, then it does with Molly, who's
a bit uptight about such things. However, another trick I've
discovered that works equally well with Molly, is that they actually
like the taste of some medicines (amoxicillan for example), and
in those cases, I simply squirt it on their food.
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| I'm a new-to-cats person and would like to share my experience at
kitty medicating. Coelura is a squirmer, so I wrap her in a towel
and hold it snuggly at her neck. Then I put her between my knees
and with the same hand that holds the towel, tip her head up.
Liquid stuff is easy - just poke it in the side of her mouth and
she opens. I use the same method at the side of the mouth to
get pills in, then I hold her mouth shut and stroke her throat
until she swallows. Earmite medication is trickier, though. I
have to have a friend hold her in the towel while I clean her
ears, put the drops in and massage it into her ear. When we let
her loose we have to stand clear because she shakes her head and
stuff goes everywhere. :-)
Carol
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| Just wanted to share a rather scary experience we had with our male cat and
earmite medication. I had been giving him his medication every other day for
about a week when we noticed he was having a problem with his eye. My daughter
felt he was rubbing it too much. We took him to the vet and for the first time
I noticed what looked like a contact lens on his eye.
It turned out to be an ulceration. This can be quite serious if not caught in
time (which very fortunately we had). It can cause blindness or even the loss
of the eye. The vet and I both felt it was probably caused by the earmite
medication getting in his eye from shaking his head after it was applied.
We had two medications to rectify the situation...one to dilate the eye (only
used when needed to avoid further injury to the eye) and an antibiotic cream.
The salve to dilate the eye creates a terrible taste in the cat's mouth and
causes them to drool immediately. Well, our Hamlet (Hammy for short) proved
Pavlov's theory after only one application. From then on he drooled whenever I
advanced on him with a tube of either medicine.
By the end of the first week there was noticible improvement and he was declared
cured by the end of three weeks. Needless to say, we were all very relieved.
So I guess the moral of the story is to watch your cat's behaviour whenever you
are giving them medication for possible problems. Guess I should go into the
Intro of Cats note now and describe this lovable lump of fur and his house mate.
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