How do you get a cat to take medicine???

[robbie3982]

FI and I took Katana to the vet today for the first time just to have her checked out since we just got her from the rescue place a week ago today. She''s been sneezing a lot (at least every few minutes) the last few days so I brought it up. The doctor said that her throat sounded a bit rough, but he thought she was fine. As a precaution though, he gave us antibiotics. He said to give her 1mL twice a day with this little dropper. It sounded easy enough...

We cannot get her to open her mouth! Is there some trick to this??? I had dogs and a cat growing up, but I don''t remember my mom ever having to give the cat medicine. I know when she had to give the dogs medicine there was a place she could push on the sides of their mouths that made them open them. Is there some trick like this for cats?

 

[bluehue]

Here is the trick-

There is a space on the side of a cat''s mouth where the teeth end, but the lip continues. Slide your finger past the teeth in the back and the cat will do a little gag where it opens its mouth. Put the dropper where your finger is but on the other side and squirt the meds down the cat''s throat. It will get easier.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

One of you has to hold her while the other forces her mouth open and give her the medicine. When ours was sick we had to give her pills (SUCH a pain) and after my DH threw it down her throat he massaged her neck so she HAD to swallow it. Then we gave her a treat but she still hated us for awhile. Good luck. Hold her in a towel to protect your skin from claws!

 

[DiamondSmitten]

Robbie, I found we could usually squirt it between our lil Laila''s teeth on the side where they are spaced further apart. We had to give her a huge needle into her bath and give her fluids thru it for 10-15 min a day... now THAT"S a challenge....

 

[AmberGretchen]

If you can''t get the liquid to work (I''ve also heard that tilting their heads back and holding it there will atuomatically make them open their mouths), you should ask your vet about pills - those can get stuck into pill packets, which worked like a charm for our kitten who was so stubborn with pills that he wouldn''t swallow them even after we held his mouth closed and massaged his throat for 5-10 minutes at a time!

 

[tiffanytwisted]

I second the towel idea. We just went through this with our cat. We wrapped her in a towel, one of us held her as tight as we could while the other one pried her mouth open and put the dropper in the back of her throat, if you get it in the right spot it will make her swallow, and then held her mouth closed and massaged her throat to ensure that she swallowed all of it. We still ended up with some of the antibiotic on us, but she got most of it.
Good luck!

 

[jaz464]

You shouldn't even have to open her mouth. Just push the dropper into the side of her mouth. Push it in far enough that it will send the medicine down her throat.

 

[VegasAngel]

This is how I do it:


Sit my cat in my lap facing away from me. I use my right hand to hold her face. I dont use those small droppers I use one of those big droppers you get in baby kits because it''s nice and long so i just put in & squirt, done.

 

[robbie3982]

Thanks so much for the advice everyone! Sticking the dropper in the side of her mouth seems to be working the best. It''s so funny because she fights so hard to prevent us from giving it to her, but when we''re done, she runs away and licks the mess we''ve made off her lips and seems to really like it. haha.

I just hope it makes her feel better. The poor thing couldn''t stop sneezing all weekend.

 

[JCJD]

Just realized you''re giving the meds in liquid form, but here''s how I give my Sammy pills. The syringe full of water might be helpful for liquid meds too if the cat doesn''t like the taste.

I sit Sammy on the floor and then kneel over her. You have to hold their shoulders between your knees and keep your feet together behind them so they can''t squirm out either direction. Then, I lift her chin up, slide a finger in the side of her mouth to get her mouth open. Once open and tilted up (not straight up, but towards the ceiling), you take the pill and put it as far back on their tongue as you can. Give the pill a push to the back of the throat, close the cat''s jaws but keep their head pointed up at an angle still, and rub their throat so they are encouraged to swallow. While doing this, take a syringe (no needle obviously!) full of water and squirt water slowly into the side of the cat''s mouth (through the side teeth), all while rubbing the throat gently. The cat should swallow, I usually make sure Sam swallows about 3 times (a full syringe of water). Make sure you watch the cat for a few minutes to make sure they don''t spit the pill out under the bed or something. If the pill is especially gross tasting (not coated or you have to give portions of pills), I like to wrap it in a little corner of American cheese. You can put them in little pats of butter and freeze them too. Pill packets (treats with a hole in them) work if your cat swallows down treats without chewing, but Sammy is a pretty meticulous eater and chews everything thoroughly. HTH!

 

[sparkel]

I don''t think there is anything more hilarious than trying to give a cat meds. I had to give mine pills once it was awful. My bf and i had to hunt him down and then I would hold the cat in a towel and he would force the cat to swallow them, the whole time the cat was frothing at the mouth trying to avoid taking them. It got so bad that the cat eventually started frothing at the mouth like crazy when you looked at him even if you weren''t giving him a pill (I''m talking puddles of drool on the floor here) It took a good couple of weeks for the cat to trust us again poor thing.

Rebecca

 

[moremoremore]

Very carefully.

HAHAHA. LOL. Just kidding.
I put Vinny on the edge of the bed, facing away from me. I bend down and "hug" around him...and shove the dropper in the side of his mouth! It gets easier!

 

[finerthings]

If she seems to not mind the flavor of the medication, then I''d try mixing it up with a tablespoon of the meat variety of baby food. Cats love the chicken, beef or turkey baby food that you get at the grocery store. Make sure that you only give a portion size that she will lick up right away, then you''ll know she''s getting all her dose of medicine. Good luck and I hope she''s feeling better.

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 3/12/2007 1:32:54 PM
Author: moremoremore
Very carefully.

HAHAHA. LOL. Just kidding.
I put Vinny on the edge of the bed, facing away from me. I bend down and ''hug'' around him...and shove the dropper in the side of his mouth! It gets easier!

I do what MMM does. The vet also showed me how to hold the cat by the scruff (just to lift her front up, her hind legs still support her weight) and give them the pill while they''re ''scruffed.'' They kinda go cat-atonic (pun intended) when they''re held that way.

 

[AmberGretchen]

If you''re trying the baby food technique, check the ingredients carefully to make sure the baby food doesn''t have any onions in it - onions are toxic to cats.