How to outsmart a cat...?

Taffycat

Taffycat

Crunchy Cat
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Cats are not easy to fool. They seem to be capable of very intelligent anticipation, so their humans are unlikely to get away with anything sneaky... such as administering medicines, for example.

Recently, one of our little buddies needed regular doses of a thyroid pill. So following a discussion, cat-to-human, it was decided that he would agree to take the medicine, if it was crushed and added to some crushed kibble. This should then be offered from the palm of either myself, or hubby, where it would be licked up with happy purrs.

As I perform the crushing ritual, using a pestle and mortar, the subject of the medication immediately appears and sits beside me, observing attentively. He knows exactly what is happening - but he is an honourable feline and he has no intention of breaking our agreement.

Unfortunately, no such agreement has yet been struck for the administration of.... eye-drops! In the vet's surgery, he obligingly sat still, whilst Mr. Vet popped a drop into each eye. "Oh he's very good, isn't he." Remarked Mr. Vet cheerfully.

Yes, he IS very good. He doesn't deliberately set out to cause injury, and usually keeps his claws sheathed. But he really, really, does not approve of eye-drops, particularly when administration is being attempted on his home territory!

This is supposed to happen twice, per day, to both eyes, however, it is surprisingly difficult to aim a small squeezy bottle-nozzle into the eye of a squirming, wriggling, protesting cat! I have previously managed the task perfectly well - on dogs! - but felines...? The drops seem to end-up everywhere, barring their actual target!

If we get his legs under control, his head swivels about like a gyroscope, so that the drops end up in his ear! If we manage to steady his head, his rear end sashays him backwards and he escapes from our grip in seconds! :wall:

When I look on YouTube, there are a whole bunch of most obliging moggies, who are sitting there, performing beautifully for the camera...... ooh, hey, perhaps that's the answer! Maybe pointing a camera at our little buddy would have the desired effect...? Meanwhile, if anyone has any bright suggestions, please bring 'em on! :lol:
 
... try the camera, it will work, maybe?

or


1014181.jpg


:)
 
You Cant - simple. Even with chain mail gloves.
We put the pill wrapped in bacon and did not work, but putting it in a shrimp did.
As for eye drops Ms Vet did a great job, we however much we pleaded cat did not let it happen.
End game was a nice big injection on day 1 day 8 & day 14, which Ellie did not enjoy from Ms Vet.
 
Aaaaah, Tuffycat,, I can offer no assist, ~ only most knowingly nod at your woe/s in administering meds to kitties. Though,,, a friend of mine administers whatever is required to her cat(s), by kneeling on the floor behind her kittie so that the cat cannot back up. Also wrapping up w/a towel.

I wish you the best in accomplishing your task(!) :)

Most kitties are pliable while at the Vet, as they are not in familiar territory w/all the assorted smells and sounds and thus sit obligingly in shock or fear whilst being administered to. Well,, "most" kitties: ~

Our very first kittie was totally uncooperative at the Vet, to the extent that she closed her throat and refused to swallow the meds put in her mouth via eye dropper by the Vet, and the liquid instead ran out the side of her mouth. The only administration she begrudgingly "allowed" me the last months of her 16 years of life, was twice-daily intravenous infusions to ease her through renal failure. For her thyroid woes ( at age 8 ), she was given a radiation treatment ( 1 injection ), and was returned to us a week later ( after the radiation level in her body went down ). This treatment totally cured her and she lived another 8 years.
She also successfully survived cancer, ~ having 2 tumors which were in exact same spot on either side of her chest, removed [ Vet declared this most rare ], and no further treatment necessary. ]
She was a fighter to the end, our little Briquette :)
 

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Thank you all for the suggestions and good wishes. :thumb:

@darcy it's good to see you, and thank you also for your kind suggestions. I love the photo of Briquette, what a pretty little soul she was. One always has to marvel at their fighting spirit, I think; I also feel certain that they "know" when we are trying to help them, even though the treatment might not be pleasant. Experiences, such as you had with Briquette, also illustrate the "nine lives" thing, when one hears about cats coming through such serious illnesses and surgical procedures. Cats are amazing creatures.

Two of our cats (we have four altogether) have experienced thyroid problems. Our vet speaks highly of the radiation injection, but, here in the UK they now insist that an animal be quarantined for several weeks. The vet considers this a bit cruel, because the owners and pets miss each other so much during their enforced separation. (Actually, the same insistence was made when my husband had his thyroid problem treated several years ago. He was given a drink of radio-active water to zap his thyroid. Afterwards, he was told to keep away from other people - including myself! lol Yeah, like that could happen in our small house!) But, I digress.

Our vet runs a specialist, cat-only clinic. The atmosphere there, is wonderfully calm and most of the cats that we see, are quite laid-back about being there. The aforementioned thyroid problems are first treated with meds, and regular blood-checks, so that the dosage can be tweaked as necessary. If they don't respond well to this, then surgery is sometimes necessary. This happened to our eldest cat last year. He came through it well and seemed to be totally untroubled by the experience - which was great, of course.

Now, one of the other cats has a similar problem with his thyroid, but it was discovered more recently, so he is still taking meds at the moment. They are not a problem though, he takes them from my hand quite happily. (This is the same cat that we are attempting to treat with eye-drops! lol)

Regarding the eye-drops... I have tried a variation of "body-blocking his rear escape-route" but boy can he wriggle! lol He always looks so apologetic afterwards, as if to say, "Aww I'm sorry, but that little bottle is just freaking me out!" He has not once used his claws, he just wriggles very effectively. Afterwards, he always nuzzles-up to (seemingly) let me know there are no hard-feelings.

I have a feeling that he would actually come-around to allowing the indignity of the eye-drops to happen, given enough time. But naturally, the problem needs to be treated right now, so he probably can sense my anxiety when I'm not able to administer the treatment properly. We have another appointment with Mr. Vet tomorrow, so perhaps he will be able to suggest a different kind of medicine. Perhaps a gel, would be a little easier, we'll have to see what can be recommended.
 
Radioactive cats huh?

At least you will be able to find him in the dark. :D

And, two cats and one husband with thyroid problems? There seems to be a link somewhere. :D
Not you is it, TC? :p
 
Hi, Taffycat, and thank you very kindly : )
{ Briquette is gone nigh on 8 years now, and we still do miss her immensely; she is remembered with tears, ~ but also with loads smiles when hubby and I recall her many antics :) }

How good that you have a cat-only clinic available to you, ~ that in itself makes the experience less traumatic [ no barking canines, etc. ]. And cheers that your eldest cat came through it so well, a welcome relief decidedly :) .

I am surprised at the lengthier quarantine in the UK, ~ though it may, or may not have changed here in the US since Briquette was treated. Her radiation treatment also addressed a wee heart woe of hers as well, and so we decided upon it after great consideration, and cost, I might add. { But they are worth it, are they not? :) ]. She was taken to a clinic some 60 miles from us, but we were able to monitor her 24 hours a day via webcam. It was of *some* solace to us, but of course, as far as she reckoned, she was in a strange place without her humans.

I truly hope that since the thyroid problem was discovered recently, that the meds will be sufficient [ 'twould be a great relief both to you, I'm sure, ~ and your kittie(!) ]. And as for your kittie's rascal-ness at dodging the eyedrops, that is brilliant of you to reckon on the idea of some sort of gel. I wish you greatest success, Taffycat :)

Let us know how you get on : )
 
@darcy many thanks for your very kind wishes.

Sometimes plans are just destined to be thwarted - today's visit to the Vet, being a case in point. We had to postpone the appointment, because I have injured my back. It feels pretty excruciating right now, so sleep was impossible last night - in fact I sat up in a chair all night, being somewhat afraid to even attempt to lie down in bed, in case I couldn't get up. Consequently, my husband didn't get much rest either, because he insisted on staying up with me, in case I got into any trouble during the night. So, we are in a bit of a pickle right now.

The vet was very understanding when we explained the predicament, and I'm really hoping that we can make it early next week. :nod:
 
@Becky it was. One of those silly sets of circumstances... I needed to run an errand in town, but couldn't park anywhere close. The walk was uphill, which left my back muscles complaining a bit, but I didn't think much of it - other than to mentally scold myself about not getting enough exercise recently.

The next day, we had a grocery delivery. The delivery guy was the driver who always likes to be speedier than his colleagues, so when I opened the door, it was to find him standing there or offering several heavy boxes, which he thrust at me. Like a complete lemon I took them, but had to put them down on the floor... that was when I felt a 'pull' and realised I was in trouble. I thought it might settle if I was careful... wrong! A 20 mile car journey left me struggling to get in or out of the car. Embarrassingly, I've had to borrow two of hubby's walking sticks, just to move from room to room.

Doh! Not really been my week.:wall:
 
Eek! :eek: Sounds like it has gone into spasm, which is always unpleasant. Heat can help relax the muscles (I have this heat pad which has been extremely useful in the past!) and if you speak to your doc they should be able to give you a muscle relaxant like diazepam if it carries on too long. Take it easy and get a bell so that you can ring for your husband when you need anything :thumb:
 
Becky said:
Eek! :eek: Sounds like it has gone into spasm, which is always unpleasant. Heat can help relax the muscles (I have this heat pad which has been extremely useful in the past!) and if you speak to your doc they should be able to give you a muscle relaxant like diazepam if it carries on too long. Take it easy and get a bell so that you can ring for your husband when you need anything :thumb:
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I believe you could be right regarding the muscles going into spasm. This happened to hubby in the past, and we have lasting memories of how incapacitated he was for a time.

The heat-pad idea is wonderfully soothing, I have this one which has replaceable thermal cores however, I really like the pad you have linked-to. It looks larger and flatter too, which I can imagine would be very comfortable in use. Many thanks for that recommendation.

Unfortunately, I am one of those very awkward people, who are not able to tolerate medication. I always get so embarrassed when I'm offered drug therapy of any kind, because they always react very badly on me. (Makes me feel like the "patient from hell!" I'm sure doctors don't believe me when I explain the situation... so they usually insist. But when things invariably go awry, about all they can say is "oh, er, yes... I see what you mean..." :rolleyes: Even topically applied gel, such as Ketoprofen, (which can be very effective) tends to cause a reaction (and I know how unlikely that must sound.) Lol, I'm just an odd-bod!

I'm using a TENS machine right now, which I have had some success with in the past. But I always remain open-minded about it, because I believe that much depends upon the problem one is attempting to ease. Anything is worth a try though. :thumb:
 
Oh my goodness, TCat, I am so very sorry to hear of your back woes, and hope that relief comes to you soonest.
{ I am certain kittie feels the same for you :), ~ though probably does not mind the few days' reprieve from the dreaded vet visit ;) }.

[ ,,, and after reading your last post, I see we have more in common other than cats, ~ I, too, am an "odd-bod"! }. Blimey.

Becky said:
Take it easy and get a bell so that you can ring for your husband when you need anything :thumb:
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Most excellent advice, Becky! ;) :)
 
darcy said:
[ ,,, and after reading your last post, I see we have more in common other than cats, ~ I, too, am an "odd-bod"! }. Blimey.
Click to expand...
Hail fellow odd-bod! My goodness, it is so nice to find that I am not alone in being so med-sensitive. :thumb:
 
:eek:Only just read this, commiserations on the poor cat but even more on your poor back you take it easy TC I know all about back problems, you just take it easy get well soon.:bow:
 
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