Impossible Cat

[susieqz]

it sure is good that drifter decided she likes brushing.
everyday she gets a good brushing, outdoors.
i got out lots of dirt, but also a bunch of loose hair.
this seems to have fixed my allergy problems.

mag, did that pill thing work?

 

[maggiedemi]

I haven't done it yet. I'm going to watch some more videos today. I'm just terrified that the tablet will go down the wrong way. I wonder what would happen if I just stuck it in their cheek with a treat? You're so lucky that Drifter is such a good girl. But Maggie did let me brush her yesterday! I was so shocked I nearly fainted. There is hope for her...

 

[foxxycat]

don't worry-it wont go down the wrong way. just put the pill popper at the back of tongue=they will swallow instinctively. That's why I have a chaser of water in a syringe lying right by where I do meds. it will be ok-just coat the end with butter that's sticking out-it will slide down better-margarine is fine-anything that's slick will work but oil may degrade it so that's why I stick with butter. Besides never had a cat not like butter....

 

[susieqz]

that's great that mag decided she likes brushing.
isn't it funny that they hate it, then all of a sudden they love it?
if mag won't eat a pill mixed with one tablespoon of tuna, might she not eat it mixed with 3 or 4 tablespoons full?
one would think that at some point, the flavor would be diluted enow for her to tolerate it.
maybe if you got her real hungry first?

drifter seems to mostly sleep thru the night. when i wake to check, she's on the couch.
this indoor at night thing is working well.
when i oversleep, she meows me awake, then, when i say ''outside?'', she gallops to the door, so she can
hold it thru the night.
this seems to be what she wanted. she doesn't want to be indoors at all, during the day.
it was getting hard to throw her out at night.
this is the opposite of what i wanted, but now that i understand it protects her from coyotes,
i'm happy with it.

 

[maggiedemi]

Last time I mixed it with half a can of wet food, then poured tuna juice on top, and they wouldn't eat it. I can get the pill gun in their mouth no problem, I just put it against the space in their teeth on the side of their mouth and they open right up. I just get nervous at the last part and quit before I shoot the pill. Drifter's turning into a little angel, that's so cool that she slept through the night.

 

[maggiedemi]

I've been trying the 2 meals a day this week instead of 3 and it's working pretty good. I give them 1/2 cup each of dry food at 7am and they share a 5.5oz can of Friskies at 7pm. It takes them a few hours to eat it all though. Thanks for the tip, they seem more excited about their meals now.

 

[susieqz]

maintaining the joy of eating is important.
they aren't all that hungry if it takes hours to finish.
could somebody please tell me the average weight of a good sized cat.?
drifter is a just a bit taller than my old barn cats.
she does seem longer tho.
are most cats long coupled?
i received my dontral today.
it says 1 tab/4kg of weight.
as i recall, 4 kg= 8.8 lbs.
i've been assuming she weighs 10-11 lbs, but i have no scale.
$7.75/pill.
by the way, i got 4 pills.
adding shipping, that's $7.75/pill.

it says retreat every 3 months.

 

[maggiedemi]

Do you have a human scale? You could weigh yourself while holding her, then subtract it. One tablet might be enough. I use 1 1/2 pills for Demi since he's big, 12 pounds. Then I do it again two or three weeks later. After that some people do it every 3 months, but my vet recommends every 6 months.

 

[susieqz]

i threw my bathroom scale out, when i got upset with it.
do you think 1 1/2 could be an overdose?
these directions say nothing about a second dose 3 weeks later.
every 6 months? well, that works because i won't dose in winter.

 

[maggiedemi]

You do a second dose 2 or 3 weeks later to kill the roundworms that hatch. I don't know if that would be an overdose, I can't really guess from the photo how much she weighs. Orange, can you tell from the photo of Drifter a few pages back? Maggie weighs 9 pounds now so I guess I'm gonna give her 1 1/2 too. It's hard to say, I wish you had a scale.

 

[maggiedemi]

The pic of Drifter is on page 19, Orange, do you think she weighs 9 pounds?

 

[susieqz]

orange may have abandoned us.
i was gonna PM her to see if she's all right.
if you feel that 1 1/2 pills won't hurt a 9 lb cat, i can use that. no way is she less than 9 lbs.

um, have you used this dose before?
i tab is good up to 8.82 lbs.
that's awful close to 9 lbs.
sounds like 1 1/2 would be an overdose for mag.

 

[maggiedemi]

Well if you go with one tablet, then you will have the other 2 to use again in 6 months. I might stick with one tablet for Maggie too, she is right on the line between 1 and 1 1/2. Let me know how it goes.

 

[orange&white]

Sorry y'all....for some reason this thread drops off my notification list once in a while and I lose out for a few days.

It's too hard to tell from a picture how much a cat weighs. Even in real life I would guess that Misfit weighs more than Farrell, but Misfit is 7.5 lbs and Farrell is a little over 9 lbs. Drifter does "look like" she weighs more than 10 pounds...or maybe "around" 10 pounds. (I think you need a new scale, Suz.)

1 1/2 pills should not overdose Drifter. Wormers are fairly safe even at higher doses. I would do 1 1/2 now and 1 1/2 in about 3 weeks as a "starter". After that, I would do 6 month minimum for an outdoor cat.

I've caught up on what I missed. It's great that she's sleeping inside and the brushing is making her a "non-allergenic" cat. Sounds like things are going great!

 

[susieqz]

they sent 4 tabs so i have plenty, reguardless.
i just wanna do it right.
looks like 1 tab for 9 lbs, 1 1/2 for 13 pounds.
do you have a pic of a 9 pound cat?

glad you are still here with us, orange.

yeah, i have not been receiving notifications from this thread either.

 

[susieqz]

petmeds says from 9-12 lbs 1 1/2 tab is the dosage, so small overdoses seem to be no problem.
according to my data, that is a small overdose for most of that group.

 

[maggiedemi]

So are you going to do 1 1/2 then? Let me know how it goes, and I will give Maggie hers next week. I showed Drifter's picture to my Dad and he says she looks about the same size as Maggie, who is 9 pounds.

 

[susieqz]

ok, drifter will be the guinea pig.
since i seldom get an exact half, she'll get the smaller half.
tell dad thanks.
i'll take his word for it.
i meant to give it tonight, but i had to go bring a plant in, because it may be under 32 degrees. she jumped into the garden. with the door opened, i looked at her n said ''well?''. n she galloped in n attacked her bowl.
since this stuff may taste bad, i want her hungry.

 

[orange&white]

You know how bacteria has become resistant to antibiotics these days. They think that because people "under-dosed" - stopped taking a 7 day course after 3 days, these bugs came back stronger. I wonder if the same might happen by under-dosing drugs like wormers...like if you don't give a certain minimum per body weight, the worms don't go away, and maybe come back stronger? Just a thought.

I really hate giving any chemicals/drugs to cats (or myself...I resist even taking an aspirin for a headache) but in the case of wormers and antibiotics, I tend to lean on the side of giving a little too much instead of a little too little.

 

[susieqz]

well, 1 1/2 is a bit too much, but i won't repeat the dose till late spring.
i have to take care of her, she's the only one i have to lie on my legs n pass gas.