by: Jennifer Oldfield

Cartoons about medicating your cat, then needing to go to the hospital are funny…until you can relate!  My story isn’t one of injury, but rather I am the one who, after trying to medicate my cat, now either needs to

a) clean up all the spit out pieces of medication or

b) clean the liquid off my floor, walls, ceiling, and husband!

Then of course I need to call and request a refill <sigh> because I’m out too soon.

It can be very frustrating giving a cat medications and some ways and types of meds will work better for some than others.  Here at the clinic we have lots of tips and suggestions for how to handle and get the medication into your cat, and our team of veterinarians and technologists do their best to give help on this.  However, every cat is different and sometimes you need to find what will work for your particular cat.   Trial and error is often a key to this.

My cat, Pekoe, is a sweet girl, and as many girl cats are, she loves attention…on her terms!  One of those terms is NOT being held.  She hates restraint, of any kind!  She doesn’t want you to pick her up, hug her, essentially HOLD her in anyway.  Let her sit beside or on you for love and attention and she is in her element.   So when she recently became sick and I was told by the doctor that I would need to give her medication – a liquid – my shoulders sagged and I sadly replied, ok….   I mean the health of my pets is paramount and if medication is what she needs to be better, than medication it is.  It is important to note the dosing requirements: 1mL once daily for 5 days, then 1mL every 3 days until done.   On the inside as I prepare the first dose, I am thinking great… cats are smart, if the dose doesn’t go well, you won’t be able to try that method again.  They know and they won’t fall for it twice.

Dose 1 – My husband, whom Pekoe loves best, holds/restrains her while I attempt to syringe the medication into the side of her mouth.  Only maybe 1/3 of the medication is swallowed, the rest is on my couch and my husband.

Dose 2 – Home with just my younger children I mix the medication into some yogurt and put it on her feeding dish with nothing else.  She sniffs it and stares at me like I must be kidding.  So I roll a few pieces of her food around in it.  She eats the pieces with the least amount of yogurt on them and leaves the pieces that are mostly covered.  I take a spoon, scoop up the remaining yogurt and wipe it in and along her mouth so she has to clean it off.  (I consider this mildly successful as at least 3/4 of the medication is ingested this time).

Dose 3 – This is my eureka moment!  After using the spoon to get some of it with yogurt in her mouth last time, I think, how can I make this work using the spoon.  In the video below you will see the method that still worked, even on our final dose, dose 8.

I drew up the medication in the syringe and put it on the spoon, I then hold my cat’s scruff so she can’t back away (of course she doesn’t love this, but it is necessary, as it is the minimum restraint I can provide), I use the spoon to get her jaw open and put it just far enough into her mouth that I can dump the meds in, and essentially down her throat!  Pull out the spoon, let her go, and have a small moment of happy victory!  All the medication is in her, I restrained her as little as possible, and the whole process is over quickly, and the biggest added bonus – I could replicate this procedure over and over and still be successful!

Pekoe is doing well and has had her recheck exam – no more meds needed! <insert happy dance here!>

Note: We have had a small technical difficulty with our video, we hope to have it back up soon!