Tips for medicating a scared cat while on vacation?

[Freddieandchip]

I am going on a vacation for a few days in November. One of my cats is scared of everyone besides me. He takes fluoxetine every day for anxiety and it took a while to find a method that works for him. He won’t take it in a lockable treat, wet food, or in meat, the only way I can get him to take it is in pill pockets or a piece of cheese when he occasionally gets tired of the pill pockets. I’m worried because he doesn’t come out at all when I have visitors so they probably wouldn’t be able to give him the medication and watch him take it. I also have other cats so they wouldn’t be able to just leave it out for when he does come out incase one of the other cats eats it. I really don’t want him to miss any doses because he develops cystitis from his anxiety and the one time that I ran out he started having issues when he had only missed 3 doses. I found a pet camera with a treat dispenser online which seems like the best option right now but there are still some issues with that. One thing that helps is that he is the largest and most dominant out of all of my cats, he’s always the first one to get to treats but it’s not 100% reliable. I really don’t want to board him because of his anxiety issues, I think he will be the happiest at home where he is comfortable.

 

[Mac and Cats]

Do you have a friend or family member close by that would be able to give him the pill and would be willing to come over several times a week prior to this trip? I have a friend with a cat who is terrified of everyone except her. the more she has someone over the more willing he is agreeable to come out when they are home. This is a cat I trapped in a humane trap and my friend later adopted him. He doesn't do this as much with me and she thinks it's because he recognizes my voice. I'm not sure that's true. But I had a cat who was very scared of everyone for years. He wouldn't even come out to my now husband when we lived together. Eventually he started getting more comfortable, but it took a while and a just a lot of "Being around". Maybe if you have someone willing to come over a few times a week for a half hour and just hang out and maybe offer treats, he would be more inclined to come out?

 

[Freddieandchip]

Do you have a friend or family member close by that would be able to give him the pill and would be willing to come over several times a week prior to this trip? I have a friend with a cat who is terrified of everyone except her. the more she has someone over the more willing he is agreeable to come out when they are home. This is a cat I trapped in a humane trap and my friend later adopted him. He doesn't do this as much with me and she thinks it's because he recognizes my voice. I'm not sure that's true. But I had a cat who was very scared of everyone for years. He wouldn't even come out to my now husband when we lived together. Eventually he started getting more comfortable, but it took a while and a just a lot of "Being around". Maybe if you have someone willing to come over a few times a week for a half hour and just hang out and maybe offer treats, he would be more inclined to come out?

I can definitely try that with my mom! She will most likely be the one taking care of them, he used to love her when I lived with her but once I moved and he started seeing her less he became more and more scared. Thank you for the advice !

 

[iPappy]

I can definitely try that with my mom! She will most likely be the one taking care of them, he used to love her when I lived with her but once I moved and he started seeing her less he became more and more scared. Thank you for the advice !

I would definitely give this option a go. When he gets more used to her, you could do a practice run and stay out of the room and see if your Mom is able to get him to take his pill, once he's not scared I'm sure he'll be fine with it