How To Medicate A Small Lion?

One trick that works with some cats if you're having trouble kneeling on the floor: Put a sturdy laundry basket on a table and put the cat in the basket to prevent him/her from backing away while you're administering meds. Our old vet taught me that one.

Kflowers said:

Okay, let's think, this is going well, really it is. You're getting the hang of it. Now, there will other times in the future that you'll need to lower to the ground - knees on the floor - cause cats are short.

Go to a garden store, or Home Depot or the like. They sell sturdy knee pads for gardening. They are too stiff for cycling, skate boarding and the like, but they are excellent for kneeling. Take your time, look around, read the reviews. Remember, you can always make a little padding from a washrag to put in them, or fold up some of those shoe-liners (Dr. Scholl's?)

Click to expand...

I’m gonna bookmark this. But today is the last day so NO MORE MEDS!!!

Ps. Battle scars.

jcat said:

One trick that works with some cats if you're having trouble kneeling on the floor: Put a sturdy laundry basket on a table and put the cat in the basket to prevent him/her from backing away while you're administering meds. Our old vet taught me that one.

Click to expand...

That is so clever. All these years of cats and pills and laundry and I never thought of it. Sharing knowledge is a remarkable thing.

Something like this?

Yep, that pill the cat scratches if I've ever seen them. They look good. If you want them to go flat faster, put warm to hot wet compresses on them. Right after the incident, if you need the pain to back off use cold compresses. Like this isn't way too late to tell you that for this time, but it's just possible it might happen again.

I know you'll find this hard to believe but just this morning Sweet Gum (named after that tree) was all, 'Mom, pick me up, pleeeeeeease. Hold me!!' Mom did. Cuddle cuddle. "NOT LIKE THAT!!! Good thing the box of band aids had one big enough to wrap halfway around my wrist. Nope, not taking it off to take a picture. I don't want to see it for awhile.

You do want to cover new scratches with band aids until the bleeding stops if you're going into town. More hygienic for you, and keeps your kit from getting a bad rep.

Oh I’m scabby now. I’ve been reapplying like crazy then putting mederma on top of it. Luckily this isn’t my face but still. Can you believe it’s the same cat now though?

See attached. *eye roll*

Yes, been there, done that, got the t-shirt and the flight jacket

I feel fortunate that my kitty is mostly accepting of medicine. She acts like a little kid, turning her head away, but she will let me cradle her without a towel to administer meds.
I did this really cool thing the last time I had to dose her.
I sucked up the 1/2 ml and squirt it into another 1/2 ml of that fancy bisque gravy stuff, mixed it up and coated the outside of the syringe with the bisque.
She was much more accepting of the medicine after she got to lick the bisque, I just shoot the stuff in her mouth lol.

Kal_shadowsmom said:

I feel fortunate that my kitty is mostly accepting of medicine. She acts like a little kid, turning her head away, but she will let me cradle her without a towel to administer meds.
I did this really cool thing the last time I had to dose her.
I sucked up the 1/2 ml and squirt it into another 1/2 ml of that fancy bisque gravy stuff, mixed it up and coated the outside of the syringe with the bisque.
She was much more accepting of the medicine after she got to lick the bisque, I just shoot the stuff in her mouth lol.

Click to expand...

speaking of which.... i need gravy to add to his pates. i cant even brush him with the zoom groom because he never lets me near his butt. suggestions please lol.

So I had to give pills 3 times a day to one of my cats a twice a day to another one for a month. Two different times, and two different problems. What worked for me was to sit on the floor cross legged, put a towel on the leg to help prevent digging in of claws, and drape the cat over the left leg because I am right handed. Hold them by the scruff with the left hand, loosely if possible, and push the pill into the corner of the mouth with the right. The one who didn't mind pills to much usually just took them. Once in a while they would get spit out but then you just pop it back in again. The one who didn't like pills was more of a problem. For him I had to tighten up on his scruff and pull back which causes them to automatically open their mouth. Tilt their head up, mouth drops open, drop in the pill and don't miss. Let go with the left hand and close the mouth with the right and hold it closed and the head tipped up and they automatically swallow, but not always. The real problem came after a few days of doing this when they figured out the routine. Sitting down with towel on leg ---- time to go hide. Ya can't pill me if ya can't find me!

I figured out a way to do ear drops too. The stupid bottle say to just put x number of drops in the ear. Yeah right. When the first drop hits, if it gets there, they are done with that. So I thought really what is the worst part-- having something cold and wet drip in your ear, you would react to it also. So I went to using a dropper instead. Squeeze the bulb and fill the dropper to the right amount which you figure out ahead of time. Then run the dropper down their ear and fold the ear around it. Then squeeze the bulb gently to let the stuff run down the inside of their ear. They almost don't notice it. And if you pull the dropper out and rub the ear right away they usually won't immediately shake it all out.

The ONLY way I could ever medicate Casper, who is white too by the way,was shown to me by a vet, after two other vets with assistants could not pill my cat. Scruff him and pull up until his front feet are off the ground, it instantly quiets them and they stay still. I know, it sounds terrible, but when the medicine is potentially lifesaving, it is a last resort. It saves a lot of injuries too, I had LOT of blood trying to pill him! Then slip the dropper in the side of their mouth. It was over so quick, and was so easy I was amazed. It was really much less traumatic than trying to burrito him or hold him down. With pills I cook up bacon which I keep in the fridge, and squish the pill into a small piece with a tiny piece of Pill Pocket as a 'cement'. it may take a couple of times, but cats love bacon and eventually they gobble up a piece with the pill in it.

di and bob said:

The ONLY way I could ever medicate Casper, who is white too by the way,was shown to me by a vet, after two other vets with assistants could not pill my cat. Scruff him and pull up until his front feet are off the ground, it instantly quiets them and they stay still. I know, it sounds terrible, but when the medicine is potentially lifesaving, it is a last resort. It saves a lot of injuries too, I had LOT of blood trying to pill him! Then slip the dropper in the side of their mouth. It was over so quick, and was so easy I was amazed. It was really much less traumatic than trying to burrito him or hold him down. With pills I cook up bacon which I keep in the fridge, and squish the pill into a small piece with a tiny piece of Pill Pocket as a 'cement'. it may take a couple of times, but cats love bacon and eventually they gobble up a piece with the pill in it.

Click to expand...

is scruffing still safe on an 10.14lb cat lol

If you leave his back legs on a stable surface, or your thigh. You must support his weight by holding the back half or letting him stand/sit on something. You must NOT pick up his weight with the scruff. You can hold his top half and front legs off the ground.

Am I only confusing you? Maybe someone else can try.

Kflowers said:

If you leave his back legs on a stable surface, or your thigh. You must support his weight by holding the back half or letting him stand/sit on something. You must NOT pick up his weight with the scruff. You can hold his top half and front legs off the ground.

Am I only confusing you? Maybe someone else can try.

Click to expand...

That is why I said to drape them over your leg (thigh) because the back feet stay on the ground and you can also pin them with your arm to your leg if they start squirming. Different cats react differently to scruffing. I have one that all you need to do is lightly grab her with one finger and thumb. She just looks up at you as if to say "what, you have my attention" ? It is really going to depend on how combative they get. With them draped over your leg you have the advantage of leverage because your not really picking them up so much as standing them using your elbow more than anything else.

Yes, lift him up by the scruff, which quiets them, leaving the back legs on the ground.LOL, by the way, he weighed 15 lbs.! But like I said two different vets with two assistants each, and my husband could not pill him, they all carried scars!

badw0lf said:

speaking of which.... i need gravy to add to his pates. i cant even brush him with the zoom groom because he never lets me near his butt. suggestions please lol.

Click to expand...

I don't know if you want to do like a blitz attack with the brush on his hindquarters, that would make it harder down the line to brush him. You could always try a distraction method.

Stand him on a bed or flat surface, ply him with treats and while hes enjoying his good fortune, brush his bum. Do this enough and he might be more inclined to let you brush him if he knows hes going to get something good out of it.

Kal_shadowsmom said:

I don't know if you want to do like a blitz attack with the brush on his hindquarters, that would make it harder down the line to brush him. You could always try a distraction method.

Stand him on a bed or flat surface, ply him with treats and while hes enjoying his good fortune, brush his bum. Do this enough and he might be more inclined to let you brush him if he knows hes going to get something good out of it.

Click to expand...

saw my groomer get good results with the groom zoom brush and when i do it there's.....nothing there..same result with the petting brush. it's me.

My fluffy cats like the 'dog rake'. Yep, that's what it's called. Look it up on Amazon. It's rather heavy metal. I was surprised. They hated the cat brushes and combs, but this they liked. Of course, the dogs liked the cat brushes. but that is the way of all beings.

Only brush the pantaloons if you enjoy bleeding. Just saying. I had the vet trim the really fluffy occasional trouble with being chased by poop pantaloons once a year.

Kflowers said:

My fluffy cats like the 'dog rake'. Yep, that's what it's called. Look it up on Amazon. It's rather heavy metal. I was surprised. They hated the cat brushes and combs, but this they liked. Of course, the dogs liked the cat brushes. but that is the way of all beings.

Only brush the pantaloons if you enjoy bleeding. Just saying. I had the vet trim the really fluffy occasional trouble with being chased by poop pantaloons once a year.

Click to expand...

that looks 100x worse than the furminator lol dang

Well it is supposed to be for 50+ pound dogs. Think chows, St Bernards, Great Pyrenees, thick coated German Shepherds... Now go have a cup of tea and a bit of a sit down. I've got mine right here.