We Heart Cats

(the pic is of oscar being terribly cute!)

haven’t been on in a while… had alot of kitty drama lately and my heart wasn’t in it.  but this too shall pass!   

giving medications to kitties is a chore… unless you have a wonderful perfect cat… and i’m sure most of us DON’T. 

i have used the pill popper, i have wrapped that cat in a towel, i have sat on ‘em, i have scruffed ‘em…. and i usually end up wearing most of the stuff or finding the pill across the room or under the frig. 

and to think that a 1 pound kitten can whup my ass?  oh indeed.  amazing it is.  i’ve come away covered with the pink stuff and bleeding out of a dozen slashes…. and this is a ONE POUND KITTEN!  they’re very wiggly and very fast! 

now, the vet did show me what i was doin’ wrong with the pill popper.  that’s something you need to watch done - so if you’re gonna use one of those, let your vet show you exactly how to do it.  i wasn’t ‘jamming’ the thing down their throat… not.. JAMMING it so much as being firm about it… because there’s the rubber thing on the end and you have to put it in the cat’s mouth firmly enough and down the throat just a TAD to get that pill to go… and be quick and firm… but like i said, you have to see it done.  so do that.  it did help with one of my cats. 

i have two cats that i’ve had to give meds to… and i’ve wrapped them so tight in a towel they couldn’t move a hair.  so how did the pill end up across the room and i had to use the towel to mop up my blood before i went to the e.r.?  haha! 

the following information is EXCELLENT.  i would give a link to this but on this wonderful wonderful site - 21 cats.org …the health answers come up in a new window without a link to link to.  but PLEASE, go to this site… it’s FULL of amazing things for your cats, things you can do help cats, and the health information section that i don’t know what i’d do without!  

Hold the pill between your thumb and finger in one hand.

1. Use your other hand to hold the cat’s mouth open with the head tilted slightly back. You can do this by placing your thumb and middle finger in the sides of the mouth (keeping the palm of your hand resting under the cat’s jaw or on the back of the head, whichever is easier for you).
2. Place the pill as far back in the throat as you can (do this very quickly).
3. Shut the cat’s mouth and keep holding the cat’s head back slightly.
4. Massage the cat’s throat slightly (to stimulate swallowing) for about 10 seconds.
5. Watch the cat to make sure he/she swallows before releasing his/her head. You may also want to keep an eye on him/her for a few minutes afterwards to make sure there is no vomiting or spitting up of the pill.

Liquids
There are two approaches that can be used to syringe feed that seem to work well.

• Hold the cat on your lap (sit on the floor with your knees bent upwards) so the cat can be sitting with his/her back on your legs, facing your face and sitting up fairly straight.
• Put your hand around the back of the cat’s head so that the thumb and middle finger are placed in the sides of the cat’s mouth. This way the fingers are holding the cat’s mouth open.
• Tip the cat’s head back at an angle (for easier swallowing) and place little squirts of food/medicine into the cat’s mouth.
• For medicine that tastes bad you may want to hold the cat’s mouth shut and the head tilted back with one hand and stoke the throat with the other hand to help the cat swallow rather than just spit it out.

OR…

• Kneel down behind the cat (while the cat is standing or sitting) so that the cat is kind of between your knees and facing away from you.
• From this position hold the cat’s head (same thing with the fingers in the side of the mouth and head tilted) with one hand and feed with the other hand.
• This is easier with a cat that isn’t as trusting or used to lying down or on his/her back.

Tips

If your cat tends to vomit after taking a pill you might want to feed him/her a treat after taking the pill. This will put a ‘good taste’ in your cat’s mouth and help your cat forget about the pill.

• You can purchase a pill gun at your local pet store if you have trouble giving your pet pills.
• You can also crush up pills and hide them in your cat’s food if your cat has trouble with the whole pill-swallowing process.

now like i said, please go here:  21cats.org and visit this amazing website.  you’ll find every health question you can think of answered here plus visit an amazing site for cats. 

and good luck with medicating your cats!  :-D 

link to a previous blog post you might like:  how do they KNOW?  we’re gonna take them to the vet?!

link to a fellow bloggers post you might enjoy…i’m lovin’ this post:  natural pest control