Neighbour making formal noise complaint.

[little chickadee]

For me, this is one of life's eternal questions. I've tried the wrapping in a towel one, and the special pill thing you get from the vet. The cat always manages to injure me or spit the blasted thing out though.

 

Any other hints or tips, as my finger really really hurts and has a large hole in it. (This was after my husband had "securely" wrapped Claude in a towel.

Edited November 4, 2008 by Guest

[Cinnamon]

OK, this is how we dose Chilli.

 

Wrap him in a towel, especially around his big kicking legs

Head up (the cats,not yours!). open the mouth (easier if someone else is holding the cat), pop the pill in as far as you can get it.

Close the mouth them lift the head up so his neck is stretched up & stroke the throat,which prompts a swallow reflex.

 

It not nice.he hates it,I hate it,but it has to be done

 

Good luck - oven gloves at the ready

[Aunty e]

I crush them into a tea spoon, add water, make a liquid, suck it into a syringe and squirt it down their throat. I'm quite good at syringing cats, and don't need any help (kneel on floor, stick cat between legs, cat's head between knees, squeeze jaw open and squirt). If you're not able to crush them for whatever reason, I strongly recommend the addition of a pill-giver to Cinnamon's instructions. Keeps your fingers further away from teeth and actually does help avoid the spitting-out-the-pill-thirty-seconds-later thing that my cats do, even if I massage their throat for ages.

[Olly]

I usually crush them and mash in a little tuna, pate or something similar with a strong taste. The downside to this is that if your cat is smart and eats everything else on the plate EXCEPT the bit with the pill in, you then have to force lumps of medicated tuna down its throat!

 

I think Aunty E's suggestion is probably the best one if you've got a real fighter, I have done that before and it's quite effective.

[MadMitch]

I sit mine between my legs and then pretty much the same as Cinnamon.

If this fails I crush it and mix in a very tiny bit of marmite, bovril or anything really sticky. Then I rub it in the fur on the front paw. They hate it and have to lick it off straight away.

[Joojoo]

Like this... http://www.mamarocks.com/how_to_give_your_cat_a_pill.htm

 

In all seriousness try coating it thickly in Dairy Lea. Mine all woolf it down.

[Nutmeg]

We get a little piece of cheese and mould it between fingers into a little ball, push tablet into it, wrap in a little piece of ham, smear a little bit of meat paste or marmite to taste and stand back while he gobbles it up and then throws himself at your feet for seconds!

 

Tried for many years with the towel technique and it was a two man job always ending in bits of tablet spat all over the place.

 

Never fails with the cheese ball method

[little chickadee]

I've tried putting the pill into food before, and while it works very easily with dogs I've always found cats far too savvy. But..... we tried him with various different treat foodstuffs. Marmite was a no no, but moulded cheese balls went down very well. I then cut the pill into 4 bits and hid them inside moulded cheese balls. I think we fooled him with the trial runs, as they didn't have anything in, and he ate them no problems. We've still got 3 more days to go though, so will he wise up tomorrow? !

 

Thankyou for your suggestions. My hand still really hurts from yesterday. (I got several long scratches, a hole in one of my fingers and a really deep long scratch right by the side of the nail of my little finger - ouch) but luckily no fresh wounds

[Yorkshire Pudding]

Mixing it with marmite always gets it into Marmite.

[Lewis]

The vets on work experience get someone to hold the cat steady, open the mouth and pop it down the throat.

Im not 100% sure, but I don't think you should crush tablets because it could overdose the cat!

The tablets are a specific shape, and have a specific surface area so that the tablet is 'dissolved' at a certain rate, and then the medication will last for the correct amount of time.

Some tablets (and injections) last for quite a few days, and if you crushed them up, it would overdose the animal.

 

Check with your vets.

[Lewis]

I asked the vet and he said it's always best to dose the whole tablet directly, but most tablets can be crushed into food without having an overdose effect.

 

So check with your vet when you get the tablets .

[Alfred]

My method which nearly always works is as follows.

Get a small syringe with water in it ready. Get a good grip of cats scruff with left hand and lift cat slightly, tipping head back (slowly and firmly) till cat is looking at ceiling. Usually they will open their mouth by themselves at this point. Drop the tablet to the back of the mouth with right hand, then squirt a little water gently into mouth to encourage swallowing.

the advantage is you only need one person, your hands are away from the claws and teeth, and you don't have to restrain the cat much.

Most cats don't mind being scruffed at all.

Giving a bit of water is a good idea as it helps prevent irritation of throat caused by some drugs.