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What's worse than pilling a cat - giving eyedrops!
Current 3 out of 4 of us have conjunctivitis - that's me, Thenie and
Cindy (Motley the tortie terror is fine, but will probably end up with gummy eyes). Dr Vet has kindly prescribed 2 sets of drops - antibiotics (5 days) and anti-inflammatory (2 days) both 3 times daily. Now I thought that pilling a cat could be difficult, but at least you can appeal to a cat's greed and hide a pill in something yummy. Eyedrops are much, much worse, especially when you're a single kitty-mother and you have to manage the restraint part as well as aiming the drop at the right place. So far I've done 2 doses per cat and my hands tell the story of each dose. Thenie the 6 year old was okay. For a "hunting, shooting and fishing" country cat that regularly brings home mice and pigeons (but never saves any pigeon for the rest of us) she is very mellow about having drops put in. She grumps about it, but soon forgives and just wants a cuddle. Cindy the 14 year old has already remodelled several of my fingers. Dr Vet removed most of her teeth 6 years ago (chronic gingivitis), but thoughtfully left an upper and lower fang that meet. And they meet through flesh as well, or at least through the web between thumb and forefinger. Her claws are like little razors. Worse, I feel so guilty as she sulks for ages afterwards and won't come near me even if I'm offering heavy duty kitty treats! Of course, each sessin is worse because she knows what's about to happen. I have 4 more days of this to look forward to! I'm estiamting that by day 3 I will need antibiotics as well - but for my fingers, not my itchy eyes! And my doctor told me off today about my high blood pressure and racing pulse - I bet he's never had to wrestle an angry cat (you know they can turn 180 degrees *inside* their fur and you somehow end up looking at their tail and not their eyes?) and try to persuade it that the nasty eye drops will make it feel better! Anyhow, I'd better mop the blood off the keyboard and see if Cindy has finally forgiven me. I cuddled her and she purred, but it was her "angry sulky purr", a sort of "I'm only purring under duress" purr. In anticipation, when I went grocery shopping today, I bought every type of favourite food and kitty treat that the supermarket stocked. It looks like I'm going to need them! |
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#3
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I have the little story someone wrote about how to give a cat a pill,
but I am not sure where it is stored right now. This one? 1. Pick up the cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow. 2. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from under chair. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process. 3. Retrieve cat from bedroom and throw soggy pill away. 4. Take a new pill from foil wrap. Cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten. 5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse in from garden. 6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between the knees. Holding front and rear paws, ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold cat's head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously. 7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make a note to buy a new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines from hearth and set aside for gluing later. 8. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with it's head just visible from beneath spouse's armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force cat's mouth open with pencil and blow down straw. 9. Check label to make sure that pill is not harmful to humans. Drink glass of water to take taste away. Apply band-aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap. 10.Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with spoon, flick pill down throat with elastic band. 11. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put door back on hinges. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for last tetanus shot. throw t-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom. 12. Call the fire department to retrieve cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap. 13. Tie cat's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining room table. Find heavy duty pruning gloves from garage. Force cat's mouth open with small trowel. Push pill into mouth followed} by large piece of fillet steak. Hold head vertically and pour 1/2 pint of water down throat to wash pill down. 14. Get spouse to drive you to emergency room. Sit quietly while doctor stitches finger and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Stop by furniture store on the way home to order a new table. 15. Arrange for vet to make housecall |
#4
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What's worse than pilling a cat? Cathaterizing the cat everyday for 2 1/2
months to remove urine from its bladder. Kitty is fine now. wrote in message oups.com... Current 3 out of 4 of us have conjunctivitis - that's me, Thenie and Cindy (Motley the tortie terror is fine, but will probably end up with gummy eyes). Dr Vet has kindly prescribed 2 sets of drops - antibiotics (5 days) and anti-inflammatory (2 days) both 3 times daily. Now I thought that pilling a cat could be difficult, but at least you can appeal to a cat's greed and hide a pill in something yummy. Eyedrops are much, much worse, especially when you're a single kitty-mother and you have to manage the restraint part as well as aiming the drop at the right place. So far I've done 2 doses per cat and my hands tell the story of each dose. Thenie the 6 year old was okay. For a "hunting, shooting and fishing" country cat that regularly brings home mice and pigeons (but never saves any pigeon for the rest of us) she is very mellow about having drops put in. She grumps about it, but soon forgives and just wants a cuddle. Cindy the 14 year old has already remodelled several of my fingers. Dr Vet removed most of her teeth 6 years ago (chronic gingivitis), but thoughtfully left an upper and lower fang that meet. And they meet through flesh as well, or at least through the web between thumb and forefinger. Her claws are like little razors. Worse, I feel so guilty as she sulks for ages afterwards and won't come near me even if I'm offering heavy duty kitty treats! Of course, each sessin is worse because she knows what's about to happen. I have 4 more days of this to look forward to! I'm estiamting that by day 3 I will need antibiotics as well - but for my fingers, not my itchy eyes! And my doctor told me off today about my high blood pressure and racing pulse - I bet he's never had to wrestle an angry cat (you know they can turn 180 degrees *inside* their fur and you somehow end up looking at their tail and not their eyes?) and try to persuade it that the nasty eye drops will make it feel better! Anyhow, I'd better mop the blood off the keyboard and see if Cindy has finally forgiven me. I cuddled her and she purred, but it was her "angry sulky purr", a sort of "I'm only purring under duress" purr. In anticipation, when I went grocery shopping today, I bought every type of favourite food and kitty treat that the supermarket stocked. It looks like I'm going to need them! |
#5
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Sparks wrote:
I have the little story someone wrote about how to give a cat a pill, but I am not sure where it is stored right now. 15. Arrange for vet to make housecall One of my previous cats, Holly, would not take pills and bit my finger to the bone when I tried to pill her. The vet (a locum, not the usual vet) accused me of being a wimp. She said a few bad things about rescue cats being tatty and unhealthy and I complained to the practice manager, that locum has never been there again. I challenged the vet to give Holly a pill. Holly clawed her way out of towel wraps and eventually the vet gave her an antibiotic jab. Holly had weak hind legs, but to compensate, she had unusually powerful front legs and shoulders. Cindy forgave me after several hours and lots of bribes. This morning was much less of a struggle and she forgave me straight away and *begged* for the rewards! |
#6
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#7
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We used to crush the pills up with the back of a spoon and mix them with canned sweetened condensed milk. The cats would lick them right up. |
#9
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"Linda Terrell" wrote in message
... Have you tried wearing leather gardening gloves? Leather gardening gloves are great for holding onto a cat, but it's impossible to manipulate a tiny, fiddly bottle of eyedrops into a squinty blinking eye when wearing them! I've found that my cats love a play session with long feathers and I use that as a reward after doing the drops. It seems to get them over the sulky bit and is reducing their resistance to being medicated because they associate it with having fun straight afterwards. It works out a better bribe than cat treats and a lot more healthy for all of us! I use welder's gauntlets when handling young feral cats. With the real tinies, I don't want to risk hurting them (always a danger when wearing anything that makes your hands less sensitive) so I just grit my teeth and accept that I will bleed and I will heal. Luckily kitten claws and teeth do much less damage than those of half-grown ferals (at least kitten teeth/claws don't go as deep). I make chain mail (armour) and I'm sometimes tempted to reinforce the backs and arms of my gauntlets with sections of chain! -- Sarah H Messybeast: http://www.messybeast.com Dragonqueen: http://www.shartwell.freeserve.co.uk...l-acronyms.htm Doctors' acronyms decoded |
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