For those who might be wondering, YES Kippy is getting treatment for his continuing fatty liver disease. However, at the moment, I am having a lot of trouble medicating him.
The vet suggested giving milk thistle a try, so I ordered some alcohol-free milk thistle seed extract and am currently waiting for it to arrive. These last couple of days, though, Kip was so out of it that I went and got some milk thistle capsules to get him started on while I wait for the liquid to arrive. The vet said to try mixing it in with some food and feeding it to him, but since there is nothing I could depend on that he would eat for sure, I went and mixed it with some water - 98 mg into just a little water (so I wouldn't have to stick the syringe in his mouth too much). Well, that didn't work out at all. I used a tiny 1 mL syringe to squirt the milk thistle-water mixture in his mouth and after each squirt, he decided to start foaming at the mouth.
I get that, like most supplements, it probably tasted really nasty. I don't think he actually ingested a single drop of this stuff, and I'm just going in a revolving circle of wiping away loads of saliva and foam and trying to get a little of the milk thistle down his throat while he's having a fit and scratching me. No such luck; he's been foaming for about 30 minutes and has been alternating between pooping on the floor and vomiting, which I think are due to stress and him being upset with me.
If he reacts like this to the capsules, I imagine he will react far worse to the more concentrated extract. I don't know what to do. How the heck can I medicate this cat when he just makes himself essentially throw it back up? Should I mix the milk thistle powder or liquid with a little canned food or baby food? I'm worried that by force feeding him (again), he's going to just go right off his food from the stress of being medicated.
I'm not used to this. Every other time I've medicated cats, it took a little effort, but I eventually succeeded. Never have I had a cat do this foaming nonsense, and it's so frustrating because I know Kip does not understand why I'm doing this. Just that he's being fed icky stuff, but I want to throw him across the room because I know I'm doing it to help him and he's sabotaging my efforts. And now due to those few bitter drops of milk thistle, Kip is completely out of it, sprawled out on the floor, looking like he's at death's door. He was doing so good today and was so happy and now he's probably going to be off his food and his water for at least a week. He gets lethargic and depressed when he's been under more than 5 seconds of stress, then he gets dehydrated from not drinking and I have to take him to the vet for fluids, meaning he's under more stress, which keeps him off his food and water for even longer.
What should I do? How do I keep him from spitting his meds back up? The vet is no help, she just says to keep doing what I'm doing and it's just making Kip worse. I don't suppose I can give the milk thistle as a suppository, can I? He won't like it, but it has a much better chance of staying in his body.
The vet suggested giving milk thistle a try, so I ordered some alcohol-free milk thistle seed extract and am currently waiting for it to arrive. These last couple of days, though, Kip was so out of it that I went and got some milk thistle capsules to get him started on while I wait for the liquid to arrive. The vet said to try mixing it in with some food and feeding it to him, but since there is nothing I could depend on that he would eat for sure, I went and mixed it with some water - 98 mg into just a little water (so I wouldn't have to stick the syringe in his mouth too much). Well, that didn't work out at all. I used a tiny 1 mL syringe to squirt the milk thistle-water mixture in his mouth and after each squirt, he decided to start foaming at the mouth.
I get that, like most supplements, it probably tasted really nasty. I don't think he actually ingested a single drop of this stuff, and I'm just going in a revolving circle of wiping away loads of saliva and foam and trying to get a little of the milk thistle down his throat while he's having a fit and scratching me. No such luck; he's been foaming for about 30 minutes and has been alternating between pooping on the floor and vomiting, which I think are due to stress and him being upset with me.
If he reacts like this to the capsules, I imagine he will react far worse to the more concentrated extract. I don't know what to do. How the heck can I medicate this cat when he just makes himself essentially throw it back up? Should I mix the milk thistle powder or liquid with a little canned food or baby food? I'm worried that by force feeding him (again), he's going to just go right off his food from the stress of being medicated.
I'm not used to this. Every other time I've medicated cats, it took a little effort, but I eventually succeeded. Never have I had a cat do this foaming nonsense, and it's so frustrating because I know Kip does not understand why I'm doing this. Just that he's being fed icky stuff, but I want to throw him across the room because I know I'm doing it to help him and he's sabotaging my efforts. And now due to those few bitter drops of milk thistle, Kip is completely out of it, sprawled out on the floor, looking like he's at death's door. He was doing so good today and was so happy and now he's probably going to be off his food and his water for at least a week. He gets lethargic and depressed when he's been under more than 5 seconds of stress, then he gets dehydrated from not drinking and I have to take him to the vet for fluids, meaning he's under more stress, which keeps him off his food and water for even longer.
What should I do? How do I keep him from spitting his meds back up? The vet is no help, she just says to keep doing what I'm doing and it's just making Kip worse. I don't suppose I can give the milk thistle as a suppository, can I? He won't like it, but it has a much better chance of staying in his body.
