Petroleum Jelly As A Snack To Get Cats To Ingest Medication
Okay this might be a weird one, but Im going to list it anyway. I use petroleum jelly to prevent hairballs, and a few of my cats absolutely go crazy for the stuff.
I dont use much, a blob the size of two pieces of kibble once a month to once a week if the cats are coughing a lot, and things all go down a lot easier that way.
I know if I had to, I could use petroleum jelly to mask medicine because of how much my cats like it.
It wouldnt do a good job of masking bad tastes, however, so I do think there others are better alternatives. Especially if you dont know if your cat likes petroleum jelly.
Part 2 Of 3: Preparing Your Cat
Its Not Always Torturous
Good news! There are cats who are totally chill with taking pills. There can be a wide range of cat behaviors when trying to pill a cat. Some cats are so easy, and some cats are so hard, says Karen Doc Halligan, DVM, a veterinarian who practices at the Marina Veterinary Center in Westchester, California, and the author of Doc Halligans What Every Pet Owner Should Know. You just dont know until you try. I have pet parents who give their cats pills on a daily basis, so it can be done with love, patience, and sometimes ingenuity! But before you attempt any strategy, your cats nails should be trimmed, so if they do try to scratch, you wont get hurt. Speaking of nails, heres how to bathe a cat without getting scratched.
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How To Give Your Cat A Pill
Medicine for cats usually comes in pill form. With medication in hand, keep this in mind: cats are smart creatures that don’t take kindly to changes in their routine, and they won’t make it easy on you. Unlike your dog, who will happily scarf a pill down in a spoonful of peanut butter, you’ll have to approach your cat in a calm but calculating way.
If you have a cooperative cat, try putting the pill directly in her mouth. Don’t toss the pill into her mouth because you run the risk of a choking hazard . Instead, place it on the center of her tongue near the back of her mouth, then gently rub her throat to encourage the pill to go down, advises the ASPCA Pet Health Insurance. Offer her a fresh bowl of water to wash it down.
How To Give A Cat Liquid Medicine In Food
Most forms of liquid medication can be fed to your cat along with food. In our experience, it is better to use a good solid wet cat food for this process. Again, rather than trying to give your cat its full dosage quickly, focus on small doses over a few minutes.
- Put the required dosage of the liquid medication into a small plate.
- Break off a small part of the wet cat food.
- Dip the wet cat food into the liquid medication in the plate.
- Hand feed it to your cat to make sure that it swallowing the food.
- Repeat this process until the required dosage of liquid medication has been consumed.
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Crush Medicine And Mix With Tuna Juice Give Via Eyedropper
Many medications for cats can be crushed or powdered, or capsules could be opened at home. ;Your veterinarian technically should not do this for you, as it is the practice of compounding without a license to guide the results. ;But you may alter medication at home without violating any laws. ;Your veterinarian can advise you if you cannot split or crush certain medications.
Powder the med. ;Mix with cream cheese, tuna juice from the cat, pureed favorite meat, pate, butter, whatever your cat finds yummy. ;If you mix with liquid, use an eyedropper or oral dosing syringe to administer the medication orally. ;If you use a creamy, pasty food, then smear the mix on the roof of your cats mouth , or smear the paste on e front paw. ;Cats hate mess and usually lick the paste off! ;Do not dollop. ;Your cat will shake the paw and you will have a glop of medicine on the wall!
Try These Tricks The Next Time You Have To Give Your Pet Medication
Have you noticed that your pet seems to develop jaws of steel when its time for a dose of medicine? As you struggle to pry apart your furry friends teeth, you know you only have one chance to drop the pill in his or mouth or squirt the contents of the dropper full of liquid medication. If you miss that chance, the pill ends up on the floor or the liquid drips down your pets face. Giving your pet medication doesnt have to be a stressful experience for either of you if try a few of the following tricks.
Hide the Medication
Concealing a pill or liquid medication in food isnt a new trick, but its one of the easiest ways to get your pet to take medication. If you want to try this sneaky approach, keep these things in mind:
Change the;Flavour
Cherry and bubblegum flavours make medications more palatable to young children, but they dont tempt your pets taste buds. Luckily, compounding pharmacies can add flavours pets enjoy, including beef, fish, chicken, cheese and liver. If the pill or liquid medication tastes good, your pet may accept it willingly.
Make It Easy
A few of these tips may make giving your pet medication less challenging:
When All Else Fails, Place the Medication in Your Pets Mouth
A pill gun, a device that shoots the pill into your pets mouth, is a good option if youre worried that your pet might bite you.
Keep your pet healthy with regular visits to the veterinarian. Contact us to schedule your pets next visit.
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Liquid Antibiotics For Cats
Often, certain diagnoses require administration of liquid antibiotics for cats.Giving liquid antibiotics may be a harrowing process considering thestress level the cat may already be experiencing. There are a few keytips to follow which may help make the application of liquidantibiotics for cats a much easier process.
Dont: Use Milk Or Cheese To Get Your Cat To Ingest Medication
Some cats adore the taste of milk and/or cheese, and while cats are lactose intolerant, some cats can have quite a bit of it before they feel any of the effects.
Still, you shouldnt evergive cats milk or cheese to mask medicine, because, as Dr. Tawnia Shaw, DVM pointed out;in an interview with PetMD: some medicines do not do well if taken with high calcium foods. Doxycycline, an antibiotic, for example, gets bound to the calcium and then does not get absorbed.
Is it possible your particular medication is fine if its taken with milk or cheese? Yes but I dont think its ever worth the risk.
There are other snacks that are a lot better options if you really need to try something besides your cats main meal.
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Gelatin Capsules And Melt
Gelatin Capsules are squishy and easy to stick in a cats cheek pouch. ;The melt-strips are omega-3 fish oil thin strips, like the breath strips that have become popular in the past few years. ;Recently published research shows cats and their people like taking the gelatin capsules and the thin strips. ;They havent studied flavors, which may make the cats like them even more, or actual medication in the delivery capsule or strip, which may make the cats like them less, but the early research is encouraging! ;You may have the option of rolling a little thin strip and tucking it into your cats cheek pouch, instead of pushing a pill down the ol gullet!
Some compounding pharmacies have come up with custom melt-in-cats-mouth little gel tablets. ;Ask your veterinarian for options until you are satisfied you can humanely medicate your cat!
Other Tips For Giving Your Cat Liquid Medication
- Always check with your veterinarian to see if its safe to give your cats medicine with food.
- Have the proper amount of medication drawn up and ready. Most liquid medication comes with a syringe to help administer the correct amount.
- Ask your veterinarian if this approach is appropriate for the particular medicine prescribed.
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Dont: Mix Medication Into Your Cats Regular Food
The issue with mixing medication into your cats food really comes down to the way you do it.
If youre placing the medication into a cats regular food meal and expecting he or she to eat the whole lot, medicine included, you might end up with your cat refusing to eat the food entirely .
This is obviously no good, as you dont want any cat to go on a food strike.
A food strike is a game your cat can win. Cats are often picky eaters, and will usually not conform to your wishes and finally give up and eat when theyre hungry.
Since theyre such picky eaters to begin with, altering the taste of their regular meal with medicine means you chance the entire meal going to waste.
Another bad alternative? Your cat might end up eating part of the food/medicine, but not ingesting the entire lot, and thus not getting all the medication he or she needs.
After a nibble or two, your cat might walk away from the meal dissatisfied with the taste, and youll never know how much medicine he or she actually consumed.
Or, if the medicines not mixed in evenly, you never know, your cat could eat around the medicine entirely. Cats are clever.
Unless
The trick to making the mix of food and medicine work is masking the medicine into a snack, rather than a full fledged meal.
How you deal with this if youre trying to use your cats regular food: take away the food for a few hours , wait until your cat is good and hungry, then play with your cat quite a bit until he or she is tired.
Part 3 Of 3: Administering The Medication
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How To Get Your Cat To Take Liquid Medicine
Getting your cat to take any form of medication can be a challenge. We recently published this article on getting your cat to take tablets. This time we are focusing on how to get your cat to take liquid medicine.
It is usually easier to give a cat a liquid medication than medication in tablet form. These tips and tricks will help you get your cats medication into it quickly and get it on the route to recovery.
Understanding The Medication Instructions
When your veterinarian prescribes a new medication, make sure you completely understand the instructions before you leave the office. He will likely explain the route of medication into the body how often the medication should be taken , duration of treatment , and other special considerations . You should also ask how you can expect your pet to respond to the treatmentand how quickly he will be feeling better.
Some medications dont have very strict dosing instructionsfor example, your veterinarian may simply say you should administer the drug as needed. Other times, you may be able to give a medication once a day even though the package says twice a day. But since other dosing guidelines must be followed precisely, you should always ask your veterinarian before making adjustments. And dont hesitate to speak up if the dosing instructions dont work with your schedulein some cases your veterinarian may be able to recommend another medication that can be given on a different timetable. For example, if your work schedule does not permit dosing every 8 hours, your veterinarian may be able to recommend a medication that can be given less frequently.
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Apply With A Gentle Touch
“Transdermal formulation is applied topically to the cat’s ear skin for absorption into the bloodstream,” Dr. Freeman says. “Not all medications are readily absorbed this way, so be sure to ask your veterinarian if this is a viable option. You should always wear gloves or wash your hands well after applying this type of medication as to not absorb it yourself.” If your cat loves a good cuddle session, you can wait until she is relaxed and purring before gently applying the medication to the skin.
How To Give Your Cat Medication
There may be times when you need to give your cat medication and that can be a tricky task, especially if youve never done it before or if your cat is uncooperative. Here is expert advice on how to get the medicine down.
To get your cat to take his medicine, you may have to employ a few sneaky tactics, whether the medicine comes in a pill, a capsule or is liquid. Luckily, there are a few simple things you can try to help you keep your pet still so you can give him the medication that will make him feel better. But first you must be clear on what the veterinarian recommends.
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Giving Your Cat Oral Medications
Relax! Your cat will reflect your emotions. If you are anxious, your cat will likewise react. Relax and be calm. At lease initially, it might be helpful to have another person available in case you need assistance.;
Prepare all of the medications that you are about to give, before you fetch your cat. Tablets and capsules should be individually set out and liquids drawn up into an oral syringe. It might be helpful to coat tablets with butter or some other savory substance such as tuna or anchovy paste. This not only makes the medication tasty, but also lubricates it, which might make it easier to medicate a reluctant cat.;
Placing your cat on a slick or slippery surface, such as a smooth counter or tabletop will help to keep your cat from getting a grip with its claws and running away. Alternatively, it might be helpful to wrap your cat in a towel or blanket to restrain its legs.
Approaching with your hand from the back, or top, of your cat’s head, gently and calmly grasp the top of your cat’s head, positioning the tips of your index finger at opposite corners of the mouth on your cat’s upper lip.
Gently tilt your cat’s head back, so that its chin is facing upward.
With your other hand, hold the pill between your thumb and index finger, and place downward pressure with your middle finger on the front of your cat’s lower jaw. Combined with the upwards head tilt, this will cause your cat to open its mouth.