I cant get my cat to take his medication!

CDaniels1987

As some of you may be aware, our 10 month old male kitten has been to the vets 3 times this week including 1 trip to the emergency vets.

He has a slight infection and stress related cystitus, he has some Pencillin for the infection and some of meds for his cystitus, these have to be mixed in with his food which was fine at the start of the week, then yesterday morning he only ate a bit of his food and then did not eat any food on the night, we got kinda worried because he normally eats all his food, so this morning I tried giving him a bit of food without his meds in and he eat that, so then gave him more of the same food with his meds and he wouldn't touch it, then my other cat started crying as if she had finished her food and when opened the door he ran to her bowl and finished the little bit off that she had!!!

The penecillin isn't a major problem because the vet on monday said he didn't really need it but because he had been to emergency vet night before so she gave him as a percaution, that finishes tonight and the meds for his cystitus finishes on monday morning!

What to do? he was really quiet yesterday but thats more than likely because he had no food in him!

How do you guys give your cats their meds?

Money_maker

Got my kitten to take her painkiller by putting it on a little grated cheese before her normal meal. She doesn't eat all her food anyway so didn't want to risk her not having it. Used to use tinned tuna for my boys.

Oliver14

Cats are very crafty and drugs can taint the smell off food so they frequently eat around medicines (well mine do) . You could try mixing it with something strong tasting such as Tuna or Fresh Chicken.

What form is the medicine in ? If pill i've always found the best way as hard as it is is to with another person hold the mouth open and put the pill in and massage untill they swallow )keeping moth closed of course). Not easy but it ensures they get their medication.

The other thing if its liquid or powder. Mix the powder with some Cat Milk pull it up into a syringe then hold mouth open as per pill giving and start injecting and they will automatically start licking it as they swallow.

CDaniels1987

one is tablet form which we have been crushing into his food and the other is powder, we tried tinned tuna in spring water last night and he just drank the water around it! might have to try the powder tablet in some milk actually.

Well this morning's meds is wasted anyway so will have to try tonight!

McKneff

Be positive (with the pills) left hand over her head, thumb and middle finger at each side of her mouth, pull her head back whilst opening her mouth, drop the pill in and then massage her throat. Give her a biscuit before hand and one as a reward afterwards. Talk to her all the way through.

Dazedandconfused

I had this problem too in the end the vet gave me a syringe and I had to grab cat in towel twice a day and slowly syringe meds into his mouth stick the syringe behind the fang put a few drops in cats mouth and then wait til swallows. It was absolutely horrible to do but he's better now so worth it!!

rising_from_the_ashes

I've had to resort to the same method as dazedandconfused with my current two.

My old cat used to take his meds crushed in his meat - thank goodness as he was on them for 8 years and don't think I could've put him through that every day for that length of time.

Thankfully your cat's nearly finished his medication so only a couple of days to go.

Dazedandconfused

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

I've had to resort to the same method as dazedandconfused with my current two.

My old cat used to take his meds crushed in his meat - thank goodness as he was on them for 8 years and don't think I could've put him through that every day for that length of time.

Thankfully your cat's nearly finished his medication so only a couple of days to go.

yep my cats course of meds was 15 days and that was more than enough. For about a month after if he saw me in the house holding a towel he would hide.

beverleyhills

The vet showed us this method:

Crush the pill in a piece of folded paper the size of a cigarette paper. Open the cats mouth and shoot the powder in to the back of the mouth.

You can get a gadget with a plunger, various designs, to shoot the pill into the open mouth. Ask your vet.

We used to wrap our cats in a towel to protect us from flaying legs.

Dee_Mented

One of our cats was unable to pass urine just over a month ago which necessitated a trip to the emergency vet at 1am, then a two day stint in our own vet's where he was catheterised etc. He is on two different meds twice daily, one powder and one tablet. I crush the tablet and mix it with the powder, mix it thoroughly with a little processed cheese slice, and he loves it! I asked the vet about it, and was given the go ahead to do this, as long as he takes the medication. He gets all excited when he sees me with the bowl and I have no problem getting him to eat it.

Dee

unrecordings

I used fresh liver - the freshest you can get - crush the tablet and mix the whole lot into a smooth paste. If you manage to leave a few grains in the paste and you get a refusal, then simply work the grains out, pop it back in the fridge and try again an hour later on a different dish. It's worked so far !