The continuing saga of medicating my cat

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My darling little furball started sneezing on Monday, and when it hadn't gone away by Thursday, I took her to the vet. Turns out she most likely has feline herpes, and now we are going through the usual song and dance routine to get her to take her meds. I have learned from past mistakes and opted NOT for drugs in pill form when the vet gave me the options. One of them (Lysine) comes as treats, which we've been very successful with so far. I put a few in her dish last night and she gobbled them right up. I think all medicines should come in treat form, it would REALLY make my life easier.

Medicine number two (antibiotic), on the other hand... oy. It's another liquid that I'm supposed to feed her via dropper. The first dose last night wasn't so bad, once I'd bribed her with catnip so she'd even come close to me (she knows when something's up), chased her around the apartment a few times, finally tackled her and squished her between my legs while trying to pry her mouth open, and only spilled a little bit on my carpet. :\ This morning... well, I sort of squirted it in her face by accident (OMG NOT MY FAULT SHE WOULDN'T STOP WRIGGLING!), which makes it highly unlikely she'll ever let me try THAT again.

Meanwhile, I have been nursing a cold of my own. The sore throat started this weekend and progressed into full-on nasal congestion over the course of the week. I have gone through an obscene amount of tissues. And I'm only a little ashamed to admit that when Chelsea started sneezing, I thought, "Is it possible for cats to get human colds?" Our new nicknames are Sneezy and Sniffles.

In other news, we saw a new vet this time, who was young and really cute. Too bad I was a snotty, tissue-wielding mess.

However, I did get a new camera recently (actually, it's a hand-me-down from my parents, and my mother took the liberty of taking pictures of herself and Patches before she gave it to me. "I knew you'd want them," she said), and have been taking pictures of Chelsea being adorable, so expect another kitty picspam soon.

Comments

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Medicine number two (antibiotic), on the other hand... oy. It's another liquid that I'm supposed to feed her via dropper.

Oh, joy - they HATE the dropper. Prepare to dress assuming you'll be covered with liquid for the duration.

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Hahaha, at least it's only a week...

[xlivvielockex.livejournal.com]

Ask your vet if you can mix the liquid in with some wet food. We have one cat that will not, no matter what, hold still for the dropper, even with two of us. For all her meds so far, the vet said it was fine to mix in some wet food. We use the Fancy Feat Anytizers cause they have a lot of liquid. She never notices the difference. :)

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Oh, the vet said I could, but I've tried that before and she won't eat it. :(

[xlivvielockex.livejournal.com]

Oh I hate it when they do that! We had one cat that did that once. Have you tried the burrito method where you wrap her up tight in a towel to keep her legs immobile? Or if you get her by the scruff of the neck and pick her up and do it that way? Right now I'm having to med 10 cats a day, 2x so I'm full of tricks. LOL

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Yeah, I even tried putting it in tuna, which she loves, and she wouldn't eat it. She's such a stinker. Last time, when she had to take pills, I bought those pill pockets - she ate AROUND the pill and spit it back out!

I haven't tried the burrito this time around, although it's not really her legs that are the problem. It's that she keeps turning her head away, so I can get her immobilized between my legs fine, but I need one hand to hold her head steady, one hand to pry her mouth open, and one hand to work the dropper. *needs moar hands*

[jongibbs.livejournal.com]

Lol, cats and pills don't go together well :)

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I know - that's why I tried to avoid pills this time around, thinking that other delivery systems would work better. But thus far, I'm not having any more luck with those.

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

Kitty picspam! I approve of this plan. :)

Heh. Cats are fun to give meds to. My family had a couple diabetic cats that required a daily insulin shot. One of them handled it just fine. The other DID NOT WANT.

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A shot would probably be easier than this - it's not hard to grab her and hold her down. It's the putting things in her mouth part that's problematic.

Also - happy birthday! *gives you cake*